Pope John XIX of Alexandria (Abba Youannis XIX), 113th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

A monk

He joined the

Paromeos Monastery The Paromeos Monastery ( cop, ⲡⲁⲣⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ), also known as Baramos Monastery ( ar, البراموس), is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in Wadi El Natrun in the Nitrian Desert, Beheira Governorate, Egypt. It is the most northern ...

in the Nitrian Desert as a monk and was sent to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

to study

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. Afterwards, Pope Cyril V appointed him a Metropolitan.

Enthroning a Bishop as Pope

Before becoming a Pope, John XIX was the Metropolitan of Al Beheira 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 ...

; he is the first ever Bishop/Metropolitan of an Eparchy to become a Pope in the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church; before him the tradition was to nominate a

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

to the Papal position Some argue that the choice of Bishop as Pope (and Bishop) of the City of Alexandria is not canonical (against Canon 15 of Nicea and other Church councils/canons).http://www.rezgar.com/debat/show.art.asp?t=0&userID=981&aid=80855 This issue has caused an ongoing dispute since 1928 in the Coptic Orthodox Church.

References

John XIX of Alexandria 1855 births 1942 deaths People from Asyut Governorate {{OrientalOrthodox-clergy-stub