Yoannis Lahzi Gaid ( ar, يوأنس لحظي جيد; born 1975) is a Coptic Catholic

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

who has served since April 2014 as second personal

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. He is the first Eastern Catholic to hold the position.

Biography

Yoannis Lahzi Gaid was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, Egypt, in 1975. He was one of seven siblings. He studied at the Coptic Catholic seminary in Cairo. He was ordained priest for

Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria The Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria is the Patriarchal and only Metropolitan see of the head of the Eastern ''sui iuris'' Coptic Catholic Church, a particular Church in the Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See, which fo ...

, Egypt. He studied at the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

, earning a doctorate in the

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

of the

Eastern Churches Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

. He edited a volume of texts from the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches. He worked for several years as associate pastor of the church of Santa Domitilla in

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, south of Rome. He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and in 2007 joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See. His assignments included stints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, and as chargé d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciatures to Jordan and Iraq. He also served as an Arabic translator for Pope Francis at his general audiences and in meetings with Arabic-speaking diplomats and government officials. On 1 July 2011,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

appointed him a

chaplain of His Holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

. In April 2014 Pope Francis appointed him as his second personal secretary. He continues to work for the Secretariat of State as well. His appointment was interpreted as gesture of support for Eastern Catholic churches and dialog with the Arab and Muslim world. By the time he took on this position, he was already living in the same residence as Pope Francis, the

Domus Sanctae Marthae The Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha's House; it, Casa Santa Marta) is a building adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Completed in 1996, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, it is named after Martha of Bethan ...

. In rare public remarks for a papal secretary, he praised the development of dialog with Islam, saying that the meeting of Pope Francis and Ahmad al-Tayyib in Cairo in 2017 "gave proof that we can talk, we can talk, we can also love each other people of different religions. Before there was no dialogue, and therefore there was distance, there was also a bit of hostility towards one another. Now there is deep friendship." After the same two leaders issued their

Document on Human Fraternity The ''Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together'', also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement, is a joint statement signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam ...

in February 2019, Lahzi Gaid was named in September as one of the first members of a

committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

to promote its principles. He was also named a member of its executive board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lahzi Gaid, Yoannis Coptic Catholics Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pope Francis Living people 1975 births Clergy from Cairo Translators from Arabic