His Holiness Pope Tawadros II

 

 

 

 

 

His Holiness Pope Tawadros II was chosen by Altar Lot as the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark on 4th November 2012, the same day he celebrated his 60th birthday. Born Wagih Sobhy Bakky Suleiman in the Delta region of Mansoura, the Pope leads the largest Christian community in the Middle East under the name Tawadros II.

His Holiness earned a degree in pharmacy from the University of Alexandria in 1975 and headed a state-run pharmaceutical factory until 1986. During his youth, he received a scholarship from Britain’s International Health Institute, and came to the UK to study at the University of Oxford.

He obtained a clerical degree in 1985 and was made a monk in 1988 at Saint Bishoy monastery in Wadi Natrun, northeast of Cairo. In 1997 he was ordained a Bishop and worked with His Grace Bishop Pachomious, who was appointed acting head of the church after the death of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in March 2012. Noted for his knowledge of theology, he has written a total of 12 spiritual books.

He was formally consecrated Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark on 18 November 2012, becoming the 118th Pope to sit on the throne of St Mark.

 

May our Lord Jesus Christ grant him peace and a long life.