Stéphanos II Ghattas ( ar, إسطفانوس الثاني غطاس) (January 16, 1920 – January 20, 2009), was an eparch of the Coptic Catholic Church. From 1986 to 2006 he served as the

Coptic Catholic Patriarch 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 fol ...

. He was also a Cardinal. His canonization process has been initiated.

Biography

Ghattas was born Andraos Ghattas in the village of Cheikh Zein-el-Dine in the Girga Governorate (now part of the

Sohag Governorate Sohag Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the southern part of the country (Upper Egypt), and covers a stretch of the Nile Valley. Since 1960, its capital has been the city of Sohag. Prior to that, the capital was th ...

), Egypt. Feeling called to serve as a priest, as a teenager he entered the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...

of the Coptic Church 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 ...

, then did studies at a Jesuit secondary school in the city. He then went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he studied at the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

, earning doctorates in both theology and philosophy. He was ordained there on March 25, 1944. He then returned to Egypt where he taught at Coptic seminaries in the country, first at

Tahta Tahta ( ar, طهطا / , ALA-LC: ''Ṭahṭā''; ; , ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile in an area known for its agricultural richness. Tahta had a population of 85,528 in the 2017 ce ...

, then at

Tanta Tanta ( ar, طنطا ' , ) is a city in Egypt with the country's fifth largest populated area and 658,798 inhabitants as of 2018. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia ...

. In 1952 Ghattas entered the Congregation of the Mission, doing his year of novitiate in France. He then served in the Lebanon for six years, after which he was sent to Alexandria, where he was the Superior of the Vincentians in Egypt. He was chosen to be the Coptic Bishop of

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

on 8 May 1967 and consecrated on 9 June 1967 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

by Cardinal Stéphanos I Sidarouss, Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. He was elected patriarch himself on June 8, 1986. Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

granted him the '' ecclesiastica communio'' on June 23, 1986.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him a cardinal of the Catholic Church in 2001. As he was past the legal age of 80 at the time, however, he was unable to participate in the Conclave of 2005. Ghattas retired from the patriarchal office in March 2006, and his successor,

Antonios Naguib Antonios I Naguib ( ar, أنطونيوس نجيب; 18 March 1935 – 28 March 2022) was the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria from 2006 to 2013. He was made a cardinal in 2010. He was bishop of Minya in Egypt from 1977 to 2002. Biography ...

, was elected on March 30, 2006. Ghattas died in Cairo, where he had retired, on January 20, 2009, four days after his 89th birthday,http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/23223.php?index=23223&lang=en and was buried in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Egypt in Cairo.

Notes

External links

Cardinal Ghattas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghattas, Stephanos 1920 births 2009 deaths Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II People from Sohag Governorate Vincentians Pontifical Urban University alumni Vincentian bishops Coptic Catholic Patriarchs of Alexandria 20th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops 21st-century Eastern Catholic archbishops Egyptian cardinals Vincentian cardinals Burials in Egypt People from Luxor People from Bethlehem 21st-century venerated Christians

Biography

See also

Notes

External links