Bishop
Tawadros has become Egypt’s 118th Coptic pop on Nov 25, 2012 after his name was
picked from a box by a blindfolded child during Sunday's altar lottery at St
Mark's Cathedral in Abbasiya, Cairo.
The new Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa in the Holy See
of St Mark the Apostle succeeds Pope Shenouda III who passed away last March.
Pope Shenouda led the church for forty years and was chosen in a similar
lottery in 1971.
Bishop Tawadros is auxiliary bishop for Beheira and auxiliary to
ِArchbishop Pachomios (who is currently serving as acting Pope). A member of
the Holy Synod, Tawadros was born in 1952 and studied pharmaceutical sciences
at Alexandria University. He was ordained bishop in 1997. The newly chosen pope was supported by members of the Coptic Laity
Council for "his wisdom, firmness and ability to maintain good rapport
with everyone in his province; both Christians and Muslims alike."
Bishop Rafael, Bishop of Central Cairo and Heliopolis, who is one of the
three leading candidates for the papal seat, also nominated Tawadros for the
position because he is widely respected in the Coptic community.
Following an 8am mass on Sunday, acting pope Bishop Pachomios led altar
boy Bishoy Gerges Mossad, to the altar, where the young blindfolded boy chose
the name of the new pope. The three finalists who entered Sunday’s lottery
were: Bishop Rafael, Father Rafael Ava
Mina and Bishop Tawadros.
The road to choosing a new pope began immediately after Pope Shenouda’s
death, when 76-year-old Pachomios' was appointed as interim pope. The Church
then formed a committee mandated with drawing up a shortlist of nominees to
become Shenouda's successor.
Another committee was also tasked with choosing electors – those members
of the Coptic community who would have the right to cast ballots in the papal
electoral process.
A total of 2,406 electors
were chosen, drawn from among Coptic archbishops, bishops, lay council members
and agents of the archdioceses, as well as prominent Coptic laymen including
Coptic newspaper editors-in-chief and members of the Egyptian Journalists'
Syndicate.
On Monday, 29 October, the five candidates entered the penultimate stage
of the papal election, when the electors chose three finalists. Bishop Rafael
garnered 1980 votes, the highest among all the candidates, taking 32.36 per
cent of total votes.
Bishop Tawadros received 1623 votes, taking 26.53 per cent of total
votes. Father Raphael received 1530 votes, totalling 25 per cent of the votes.
Bishop Pachomios had kicked off the final ceremony early Sunday, by
reading the names of each candidate out loud to the congregation. The names
were written in bold on large rectangle shaped papers. Each paper was then tied
and placed in a black box, which was sealed with red wax.
The new pope is faced with the task of leading Egypt’s Coptic community
in a politically uncertain climate, following the last year's popular uprising.
Islamists and Salafists continue to push their religious agendas, following the
election of a Muslim Brother as Egypt's president and the ongoing
constitution-drafting process.
Challenges also lie within the Church. Bishop Rafael, for his part, said
the new pope must devote himself to reorganising the church from within; set
specific rules for the promotion of monks and priests; make an effort to draw
alienated Coptic youth back to the church; and reinvigorate church services by
preparing servants from the laity capable of keeping abreast with technological
innovations.
The new pope will also have to tackle critical issues including
obtaining state approval to amend the church's 1938 bylaws – which lay down the
rules governing Coptic divorce and remarriage – and the controversial 1957
bylaws regulating papal elections.
Bishop Tawadros will be officially enthroned as Egypt's 118th pope on
the 18th of November.
Source:
- The sun daily news: http://www.thesundaily.my/news
- Ahramonline English news: http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent
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