Pope Cyril V of Alexandria explained

Type:Pope
Honorific-Prefix:Saint
Cyril V of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Enthroned:1 November 1874
Ended:7 August 1927
Predecessor:Demetrius II
Successor:John XIX
Ordination:1851
Birth Name:John (Youhanna)
Birth Date:c.1831
Birth Place:Tezment, Beni Suef Governorate, Egypt
Death Place:Egypt
Buried:Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Azbakeya)
Nationality:Egyptian
Religion:Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence:Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Azbakeya)
Feast Day:7 August (1 Mesori in the Coptic calendar)
Background:plum
Type:Papal
Saint Cyril V
Reference:His Holiness
Spoken:Your Holiness
Religious:Pope and Patriarch
Posthumous:Saint

Pope Cyril V of Alexandria (Abba Kyrillos V), 112th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark for 52 years, 9 months and 6 days. He was the longest-serving Pope in the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church.[1] He was born as Youhanna (John) in 1824 or 1830/1831 according to different accounts and he died on 7 August 1927.

A monk

He joined the Al Baramous Monastery in the Nitrian Desert, where he served as abbot prior to his elevation to Pope.

The Coptic Pope

The General Congregation Council (Elmagles Elmelly Ela'am) elected him Pope, with seat in the Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Azbakeya in Cairo throughout his papacy. The secretary of the council was Boutros pasha Ghali بطرس غالي, later Prime Minister of Egypt. Cyril spent most of his papacy at loggerheads with the council and objecting to its interference in church matters.[2] At the beginning of his papacy there was a dispute with the council, which Cyril won.

In general, his papacy was an era of regeneration for the Coptic Orthodox Church and he continued the work begun by Pope Cyril IV (1854–1861) in educational reform.[2]

Notable men of the Coptic Church during his papacy included saint Anba Abraam, Bishop of Fayoum, Labib Ekladius, and Habib Girgis.

In 1881 the Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV asked Pope Cyril V to ordain a metropolitan and three Bishops for the Ethiopian Empire. Cyril chose the four monks who had left El-Muharraq Monastery with Anba Abraam: Abouna Petros, Abouna Marqos, Abouna Matewos and Abouna Luqas.[3]

When news of his death reached Ethiopia, Empress Zewditu and Ras Tafari ordered requiem masses to be said throughout Ethiopia, and that government offices be closed for three days.[4]

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. History of the Coptic Church. Iris Habib Elmasry
  2. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/552/chrncls.htm Al-Ahram Weekly article
  3. Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 169
  4. Aleqa Gebre-Igziabiher Elyas, Prowess, Piety, and Politics: The Chronicle of Abeto Iyasu and Empress Zewditu of Ethiopia (1909–1930), translated by Reidulf K. Molvaer (Köln: Rüdiger Köppe, 1994), pp. 503f