Pope John XVIII of Alexandria (Abba Youannis), 107th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. Pope John XVIII was born in Fayoum,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. His lay name was Joseph. He became 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 dedic ...

in the

Monastery of Saint Anthony The Monastery of Saint Anthony is a Coptic Orthodox monastery standing in an oasis in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, in the southern part of the Suez Governorate. Hidden deep in the Red Sea Mountains, it is located southeast of Cairo. The Mon ...

. At the departure of Pope Mark VII, he was unanimously chosen to succeed him. He was ordained at the church of Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo, on Sunday, 15 Paopi, 1486 A.M. (23 October 1769 AD) The Seat of the Pope during his papacy remained in the

Saint Mary Church (Haret Elroum) Saint Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Haret el-Roum () or the Church of the Virgin of Relief ( ar, كنيسة العذراء المغيثة, Kanīsat al-ʿAdhrāʾ al-Mughītha) is a Coptic Orthodox church in al-Ghūrīya, Cairo near the Convent o ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

Relations with Rome

During his papacy, Pope Pius VI of Rome attempted to attract the Eastern Churches to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Thus, he published the proceedings of the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, B ...

and distributed it in all the countries of the East. Pope Pius VI of Rome even sent an envoy to Pope John XVIII of Alexandria asking him to unite with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The famous scholar and theologian Joseph el-Abbah,

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 ...

Girga Girga ( arz, جرجا ), alternatively Digirga or Digurga is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River. Metropolitan see of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Name The name of the city comes from ...

responded to the message, refuting its claims and defending the

Oriental Orthodoxy The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent ...

Position.

Persecution

During the papacy of Pope John XVIII, the

Copts Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are ...

were persecuted by the Ottoman rulers. The

Jizya Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law. The jizya tax has been understood in ...

was increased to unprecedented amounts of money, and those who could not pay it had to convert to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

or be executed. The commander of the Ottoman army stationed in

seized the treasury of the Patriarchate and confiscated all its funds. Pope John XVIII had to go into hiding for some time.

Ibrahim El-Gohary

Pope John XVIII was a good friend of the famous Coptic layman

Ibrahim El-Gohary Ibrahim El-Gohary (, ar, إبراهيم الجوهري, died 31 May 1795) was Egypt's chief scribe and prime minister during the second half of the 18th century. Biography Ibrahim El-Gohary was born to poor Coptic Christian parents in Qalyub. His ...

. Together, they worked on restoring monasteries and churches. They also prepared the Holy Myron. Pope John XVIII departed on 2 Paoni, 1512 A.M. (7 June 1796 AD) He remained on the papal Throne of Saint Mark for 26 years, 7 months, and 16 days. He was buried in the tombs of the Patriarchs at Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo. The papal Throne remained vacant after his departure for 3 months and 26 days. {{DEFAULTSORT:John 18 Of Alexandria, Pope Year of birth missing 1796 deaths People from Faiyum 18th-century Coptic Orthodox popes of Alexandria Coptic Orthodox saints 18th-century Christian saints