Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria

Pope Tawadros II or Theodore II ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲑⲉⲟ́ⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲙⲁϩ ⲃ̅', translit=Papa Abba Theódōros II ; ar, البابا تواضروس الثاني, translit=al-Bābā Tawāḍurūs al-Th ānī, lit=Pope Theodore II; born on 4 November 1952 ) is the 118th and current pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark, succeeding the late Pope Shenouda III as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. He took office on 18 November 2012 (9 Hathor 1729), two weeks after being selected.

Early life

Tawadros II was born as Waǧīh Ṣubḥī Bāqī Sulaymān (, ) on 4 November 1952 (25 Paopi 1668) in the city of Mansoura, Kingdom of Egypt. He studied at the University of Alexandria, where he received a degree in pharmacy in 1975. After a few years of managing a state-owned pharmaceutical factory, he joined the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi Natrun to study theology for two years. In 1988, he was formally tonsured a monk by Pope Shenouda III and given the name “Theodore Anba-Bishoy." He was ordained a priest in 1989 (1705–1706).

Bishop

On 15 June 1997 (8 Paoni 1713), he was consecrated as a general bishop by his predecessor pope Shenouda III, with the Greek name of Theodoros, which translates to Tawadros in Egyptian or Theodore in English. Arabic spelling: ْتَوَضْرُوس. He was assigned to serve in the Eparchy of Behira in the northwestern Delta as an auxiliary to Metropolitan Pachomius.

Papal selection

The papal selection process began several weeks before the 18 November/9 Hathor selection. About 2,400 clergymen and others shortlisted three candidates: Bishop Tawadros, former aide to Metropolitan Pachomios; Bishop Raphael, General Bishop in Downtown Cairo; and Father Raphael Ava Mina, a monk in a monastery near Alexandria and disciple of the 116th pope, Cyril VI.

The ceremony to choose the pope from the three consensus candidates was held at Cairo's St. Mark's Cathedral at about noon, with a marked police presence. Metropolitan Pachomios, locum tenens of the Church, put slips bearing the candidates' names in a sealed chalice which was set upon the altar, then led the Divine Liturgy. He told the congregation to "pray that God will choose the good shepherd", and a blindfolded boy took a slip—Tawadros—from the chalice.

Metropolitan Pachomius formally announced that the sixty-year-old Bishop Tawadros was to be the 118th Pope, and would be Pope Tawadros II, after Pope Tawadros I (r. 730–742), who was consecrated 45th Coptic Patriarch and Pope during Egypt's Umayyad Period (658–750). Tawadros II said, from the monastery at Wadi Natrun, " ewill start by organising the house from within. It is a responsibility. Most important is ... that the church, as an institution, serves the community". Bishop Raphael, who came first in the election stage of papal selection, was appointed general secretary of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Papacy

Pope Tawadros II started his papacy amid multiple changes in Egypt, saying that the Orthodox Church is committed to keeping Article 2 of Egypt's draft constitution intact, as it was in the old constitution.

On Palm Sunday in 2017, Pope Tawadros II celebrated the Divine Liturgy mass at the Cathedral of St. Mark in Alexandria just before the cathedral was bombed, killing at least 13 people and injuring at least 21. The pope escaped unharmed. ISIS took responsibility for the attack.

Views and issues

Pope Tawadros II has stated that the 2011 Egyptian revolution was a turning point in the Coptic Church's relations with its youth. Amongst his first tasks is the issue of Egypt's changing political landscape, given the new constitution and more independent-minded congregants who seek their demands outside the church in dealing with the state.

In a short televised speech in July 2013 (Paoni 1729), Pope Tawadros II supported the removal of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi

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