His Holiness Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria is the 117th Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
By definition of his post he is the head of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria.
A graduate of Cairo University and the Coptic Orthodox Seminary, Nazeer Gayed became a monk under the name Fr. Antonios the Syrian after joining the Syrian Monastery of the Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotokos, where he was later elevated to the priesthood.
Pope Cyril VI summoned Fr. Antonios to the patriarchate where he ordained him Bishop of Christian Education and Dean of the Coptic Orthodox Theological University, whereupon he assumed the name Shenouda, after St. Shenouda the Archimandrite and two Previous Popes Shenouda I (859- 880) and Shenouda II (1047 - 1077).
He has served as Pope of Alexandria since November 14, 1971, presiding over a worldwide expansion of the Coptic Orthodox Church. During his papacy, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III has appointed the first-ever Bishops to preside over the U.K., North America, Australia mainland Europe and South America.
He is known for his commitment to Christian unity and has, since the 1970s, advocated inter-denominational Christian dialogue.
Early Life
Born on August 3, 1923 in Asyut, Upper Egypt, he is the youngest of a family of eight children. By the age of 16, Pope Shenouda was active in the Coptic Sunday School movement.
Mr. Gayed was very active in his church and served as a Sunday School teacher, first at Saint Anthony's Church in Shoubra and then at Saint Mary's Church in Mahmasha.
After graduating from Cairo University with a degree in history, he worked as a high school English and Social Studies teacher in Cairo by day, and attended classes at the Coptic Theological Seminary by night. Upon graduation from the seminary in 1949, he was chosen to teach New Testament Studies.
Monastic Life and Educational Service
On July 18, 1954, Mr. Gayed was led to the monastic life at the Syrian Monastery in Scetes; he was given the name of Father Antonios el-Syriani (Anthony the Syrian, or Anthony of the Syrian Monastery). For six years, from 1956 to 1962, he lived a life of solitude in a cave about seven miles away from the monastery, dedicating all his time to meditation, prayer, and asceticism. Fr. Antonios el-Syriani was among the candidates nominated for the papal throne in 1956, but Pope Cyril VI was the one ultimately chosen for the post.
Later, at the Syrian Monastery, he became a monastic priest under the name of Fr. Antonios el-Syriani. He lived as a hermit.
Ordination as a bishop
On 30 September 1962, Pope Cyril VI appointed Fr. Antonios the Syrian to the bishopric of Christian Education and as Dean of the Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary, whereupon he called him Shenouda. The relevance of the name emanates from the fact that the most renowned scholar and writer in Coptic was Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite. Under Bishop Shenouda's leadership, the number of students at the Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary tripled.
Enthroning as Pope of Alexandria
He was enthroned as Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark on November 14, 1971 , nearly 9 months after the departure of Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria. As he was a Bishop already he could not assume any different name from Shenouda.
The ceremony was the first and yet the only enthroning of a Coptic Pope to take place in the new Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo.
Supervised growth of the Church Worldwide
The papacy of H.H. Shenouda III has coincided with a worldwide expansion of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
In 1989, H.H. Pope Shenouda III ordained the first Bishop to serve the United Kingdom, Bishop Missael. Two years on, H.H. Pope Shenouda established the first diocese, the Diocese of Birmingham (Diocese of the Midlands) and consecreated Bishop Missael as its bishop. Under the guidance of H.H. Pope Shenouda III, the British Orthodox Church, which was originally established in 1866 as a part of the Syriac Orthodox Church, became canonically part of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in 1994. At the feast of the Pentecost that same year, Pope Shenouda ordained Metropolitan Seraphim of Glastonbury as Metropolitan for the British Orthodox Church, and thus joined the British Orthodox Church, as an Autonomous Church, into the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. In the United Kindom there are now over 30 Coptic Orthodox and British Orthodox Churches.
Commitment to Christian Unity
In 1973, Pope Shenouda III became the first Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria to meet the Pope of Rome in over 1500 years. In this visit, Popes Shenouda III and Pope Paul VI signed a common declaration on the issue of Christology and agreed to further discussions on Christian unity. There have also been dialogues with various Protestant churches worldwide.
Pope Shenouda III is well known for his deep commitment to Christian unity. In an address he gave at an ecumenical forum during the International Week of Prayer in 1974, he declared, "The whole Christian world is anxious to see the church unite. Christian people, being fed up with divisions, are pushing their church leaders to do something about church unity and I am sure that the Holy Spirit is inspiring us."
Under his leadership, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has become a full member of the World Council of Churches, the Middle East Council of Churches, the All-African Council of Churches, the National Council of the Churches in Christ in the U.S.A., the Canadian Council of Churches, and the Australian Council of Churches. In May 2000, he established the Office of Ecumenical Affairs, in the Archdiocese of North America.
Pope Shenouda III has emphasised Christian Unity in his work, believing it to be founded upon a unity of faith and not of jurisdiction. As a result, he has paid many visits to the various sister Orthodox churches and their patriarchs, such as those of Constantinople, Moscow, Romania, and Antioch, with the goal of a full communion of these churches with the Oriental Orthodox Churches.
He also won, in the year 2000, the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence by UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura on the recommendation of an international jury.
May our Lord Jesus Christ protect, grant peace and a long life to our Beloved Father His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.
