Bishop Missael (born 1940) is a diocesan

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

consecrated by

Pope Shenouda III Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria, 117th ...

on 26 May 1991 to oversee the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, U.K. In this capacity, he is a member of

The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the highest Orthodoxy, Orthodox authority in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It formulates the rules and regulations regarding matters of the Church's organisation and faith. The synod is c ...

Early life

On 11 November 1962, a 22-year-old man who joined the Syrian (St. Mary's) Monastery in Wadi Natroun in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

was ordained as a monk, with the name "Missael" after St. Missael the Anchorite, where Pope Shenouda III (117th Pope from 1971 – 2012) and Metropolitan Pachomious (the Patriarchal locum tennis in 2012) were fellow monks. Soon after his fellow monk Fr Antonious was ordained as Bishop Shenouda by

Pope Cyril VI ''This article uses dates and years written in the Coptic calendar, using the A.M. (Anno Martyrum) calendar era, in addition to the Gregorian calendar, using the A.D. (Anno Domini) calendar era.'' Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria also called Abba Ky ...

, Fr. Missael was ordained as a priest on 1 November 1967, and later a

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

on 17 May 1969 by Bishop Shenouda. It is known that Fr Missael served for a period of four years as secretary of Pope Cyril VI. After the death of Pope Cyril VI, Bishop Shenouda was enthroned as his successor in 1971, becoming Pope Shenouda III. He appointed Fr. Missael as his first secretary.

Ordination as Bishop and being sent to the United Kingdom

Pope Shenouda III called his secretary to be ordained as a General Bishop, ordaining him on 25 May 1980; Bishop Missael was sent to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, becoming the first

from the

Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

to reside there. During his time as General Bishop, Bishop Missael consecrated St. Mary & St. Antony's Coptic Orthodox Church in 1985 and established St. Mary & St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Centre in 1989 – both in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. On 26 May 1991 Bishop Missael was ordained as the first diocesan bishop for the Diocese of

by Pope Shenouda III. This was the first

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

established by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in all the lands of immigration (including Europe, America, Australia). In 2006 the Diocese of Birmingham was renamed the

Diocese of the Midlands The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, UK is under the care of Bishop Missael. Background and Foundation In 1991 the first Coptic Orthodox Diocese to be established in the United Kingdom, and one of the first in the diaspora, was the Dioce ...

in the United Kingdom. Bishop Missael is based at St. Mary & St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Centre in Birmingham, and oversees the diocese, which has around 11 churches and communities.

References

External links

Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, U.K.
*https://web.archive.org/web/20100612192502/http://copticpope.org/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20140823034331/http://ukmidcopts.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Missael, Bishop 1940 births Egyptian emigrants to the United Kingdom British Oriental Orthodox Christians Coptic Orthodox bishops Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom Living people

Early life

Ordination as Bishop and being sent to the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links