Pope Kyrillos V (1824–1927) was the 112th Patriarch of Alexandria. He held this office for 53 years (1874–1927), making him the longest serving Coptic Pope. His long reign saw many developments that shaped the Coptic Church into its modern form. Particularly notable is his patronage of Archdeacon Habib Girgis and the burgeoning Sunday School movement.[fn]See Anba Suriel, “Habib Girgis: Orthodox Educator” (SVS Press, 2017).[/fn]

A particularly notable achievement of his papacy was the establishment of the Coptic Theological Seminary in 1893, an institution that would play an essential role in the Sunday School movement and theological revival of the next century.[fn]S. Tadros, Motherland Lost (2013), 107.[/fn]

In the words of Aziz S. Atiya: “He occupied the throne for well-nigh fifty-three years. His loyalty, piety and good intentions were above reproach. But he combined with imperturbable obstinacy, the narrowness of an honest man whose education was limited to the knowledge that he had gathered as a simple copyist.”[fn]A. S. Atiya, The History of Eastern Christianity (2013), 108.[/fn]