For years, clerical and lay members of the Coptic Orthodox Church have criticized the authoritarian ways of Pope Shenouda III. The standard complaints, that he keeps church finances too close to his chest, refuses debate on issues like divorce, and is too quick to throw his opponents out of the church, have been widely circulated in both the state and opposition press. But his latest controversial move -- refusing to allow prayers to be said over the body of a maverick priest -- has triggered an unprecedented wave of criticism, and may undermine his attempts to keep an increasingly fractious community in line.