Pope Shenouda III (1923–2012) was the 117th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church. During his papacy he distinguished himself as a prolific writer,  popular preacher and fierce defender of Coptic rights. He remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary Coptic history.

Metropolitan Athanasius (May 2, 1923– Nov 16, 2000) was the bishop of Beni Suef and Bahnassa in Egypt from 1962 until his departure in 2000. Born Abd al-Masih Bishara, he was a Professor of English Literature before he joined the monastery.[fn]Maged Kamel, “Bishop Athanasius (1919–2000), the Late Bishop of Beni Suef.” ACCOT, 2020.[/fn]

He is particularly remembered for his work in establishing orders of consecrated women.[fn]See Pieternella van Doorn-Harder, Contemporary Coptic Nuns. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995.[/fn]

Saint Bishoy Kamel was a priest of the Church of St George in Sporting, Alexandria, who wrote widely on Scripture, the liturgy and Orthodox spirituality. He was born Sami Kamel in 1931 in Damanhūr. After earning a science degree in 1951, he began to teach high school science at Ramleh Secondary School. At the same time, he continued to study, earning diplomas in Psychology, Education and Philosophy from Alexandria University. In 1957, the university appointed him an associate professor in the Higher Institute of Education.[fn]John H. Watson, “The Transfigured Cross: A Study of Father Bishoi Kamel (6 Dec 1931–21 March 1979),” Coptic Church Review 23, no. 1/2 (2002): 10–12."[/fn] In the same period, he was an energetic servant in the Sunday School movement in Alexandria, and thus combined his broad learning and study with a zealous dedication to ministry. In the words of John Watson:

The completeness of his mind and the empathy of his nature were evident from his ability to excel in art, education, philosophy, psychology, science and theology. For Sami, all scholarship was related to the quest for an knowledge of God, so that even the simple tasks of study ha larger meaning.[fn]Watson, “The Transfigured Cross,” 11.[/fn]

After a chance encounter in 1959, Pope Kyrillos VI unexpectedly handpicked Sami to become the priest of a new church being built in Sporting, Alexandria. Despite never having met him before, Kyrillos made the sign of the cross on the young man’s head and said, “God has given us a sign that you are to be a priest. I shall ordain you next Sunday.”[fn]Watson, “The Transfigured Cross,” 14.[/fn] Becoming a celibate priest was not an option, and this meant that Sami — who was single and had no plans for marriage — now had a week to find a wife. Uncertain of what to do, Sami went to consult with his spiritual mentor in Alexandria, Yousef Habib, who counselled him in his uncertainty, and suggested a possible candidate for a quick marriage: Angel Bassili. Habib went straight away to suggest the idea to Angel, and with the Pope’s blessing, the two were quickly married. This remarkable story is recalled by the late Tasoni Angel herself:

It was about ten o’clock at night when Sami arrived. The marriage must be on the next day because of the Advent Fast. When there are fasts in the Coptic Church, there are no marriages. So we had to arrange everything that night and prepared for the marriage at eight o’clock in the evening on the next day.[fn]Watson, “The Transfigured Cross,” 14.[/fn]

Sami was then ordained Fr Bishoy Kamel on Wednesday December 2, 1959, and spent his forty day treat in the Syrian Monastery. He was appointed as parish priest of the Church of St George in Sporting, Alexandria.

In the early 1970s, Pope Kyrillos sent Fr Bishoy and Fr Tadros Malaty to serve for some time in America (Los Angeles).[fn]Magdi Guirguis & Nelly van Doorn-Harder, The Emergence of the Modern Coptic Papacy (Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press, 2011), 181.[/fn] As might be expected, Fr Bishoy quickly became a prolific writer and preacher, and is considered by many Copts as a contemporary saint. He was also a keen and often controversial contributor to church affairs. For instance, he was outspokenly opposed to the possibility of bishops (general or diocesan) becoming Patriarch, as he argued in a controversial pamphlet titled Ecclesiastical Teachings; a position which strained his otherwise friendly relationship with Pope Shenouda III (who had been a general bishop before becoming Pope).[fn]On the tensions between Pope Shenouda and Fr Bishoy, see Watson, “The Transfigured Cross,” 35–36.[/fn] Fr Bishoy was also a lifelong friend and supporter of Fr Matthew the Poor, and insisted on meeting and learning from him even during the period of Fr Matthew’s strained relationship with Pope Kyrillos[fn]Fr Tadros Malaty, General Servants’ Meeting, July 17, 2019[/fn]. When St Macarius’ Monastery began publishing St Mark Magazine (Majallat Murqus) for youth and servants, Fr Bishoy was a regular contributor. In 1976 he was diagnosed with cancer, and after three years of struggling with the illness, he departed peacefully on March 21, 1979. His fellow priest Fr Tadros Malaty recalls that the days of his illness, even when he was on his sickbed, were some of the most effective in his entire service, even though Fr Bishoy himself did not perceive it: “God had hidden from [Fr Bishoy’s] eyes the power of his service during his sickness. Many people found comfort in their sickness or by troubles merely seeing [him] in pain or hearing about his patience and joy!”[fn]Fr Tadros Malaty, Pastoral Work in the Life of Fr Pishoy Kamel, (trans. & rev.) H. Doss, M. Youssef, I. Ibrahim and N. El-Agamy (Santa Monica, CA: St Peter & St Paul’s Coptic Orthodox Church, 1995), 13.[/fn]. On June 9, 2022, Fr Bishoy Kamel was recognised as a saint by the Holy Synod, along with Fr Yustus al-Antoni.[fn]General Session of the Holy Synod, 9 June 2022, https://copticorthodox.church/en/2022/06/09/general-session-of-the-holy-synod-2022/[/fn]

Fr Matthew the Poor (20 Sept 1919—8 June 2006) was the spiritual leader of the Monastery of St Macarius and one of the most renowned Coptic ascetics and theologians of the twentieth century. In the words of his abbot, Metropolitan Mikhail of Asyut, Abouna Matta was “a brilliant scholar, a turning point, a new level of writing and literary activity through the long period of his monastic life”.[fn]Met. Mikhail, “Obituary for Fr Matthew the Poor” in Autobiography of Fr Matta al-Maskin, iii.[/fn] As recently as 2013, the scholar Samuel Rubenson could describe Fr Matthew as “by far the most discussed and most influential theologian in Arabic-speaking Christianity today.”[fn]Samuel Rubenson, “Matta El-Meskeen”, 415.[/fn]

Biography

By Monks of the Monastery of St Macarius

He was born Yūsuf Iskandar in Banhā, a town in the Delta, 45km north of Cairo, on September 20, 1919. He graduated with a degree in Pharmacy in 1944 and practiced as a pharmacist until 1948.

On August 19, 1948, he became a monk in the poorest monastery in Egypt, the Monastery of St Samuel the Confessor in Upper Egypt, taking the name ‘Mattá’ (Matthew). At the Monastery of St Samuel, he started writing his first book, Orthodox Prayer Life.

He was forced to move to Dayr al-Suryān (Monastery of the Syrians) in Wādī al-Naṭrūn in 1951 where he was ordained a priest. He lived a solitary life, a fair distance from the monastery. After two years, Abba Matta was asked to be the spiritual father of the monastery. At that time he greatly contributed to the revival of the Coptic monastic life. He rediscovered the spirit of the great Fathers of the Desert and became a leading model, having received great grace in matters of fatherhood.

In 1952 at Dayr al-Suryān, he published his first book in Arabic, Orthodox Prayer Life. The second and expanded edition was published in 1968. Orthodox Prayer Life was later translated into French in 1977, Italian in 1998, English in 2002, German in 2007, Ukrainian in 2011 and Hungarian in 2016.

In 1954 Pope Yūsāb (Joseph) II, Patriarch of Alexandria, appointed him as patriarchal vicar for Alexandria after elevating hi clerical rank to hegumen. Abba Matta stayed in this position for two years. At the beginning of 1955, he chose to return to the life of stillness in the desert at Dayr al-Suryān. In mid-1956, he left Dayr al-Suryān and returned to the Monastery of St Samuel, seeking greater solitude. He lived as a hermit in the cave of Wādī al-Rayyān ith his disciples from 1960–1969.

In 1969, Pope Kyrillos VI called Abba Matta and his disciple monks to move to Dayr Anbā Maqār (the Monastery of St Macarius), situated halfway between Cairo and Alexandria in the desert of Wādī al-Naṭrūn. The monks found the fourth century monastery in ruins. Since that time, a great revival within the monastery occurred, both spiritually and architecturally. In 2019, there were 130 monks in addition to great land that surrounds the monastery for agriculture.

At Dayr Abū Maqār, Abba Matta penned, until his last breath, many different works that cover vast topics such as mystical spirituality, monastic, spiritual books, in addition to historical researches and Biblical commentaries. His books are now translated into 18 languages.
 

St. Habib Girgis (1876–1951) was the founder of the Sunday School Movement that initiated sweeping educational and theological reforms in the Coptic Church in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. For much of his ministry, he was supported by Pope Kyrillos V. In 2012 he was canonised as a saint of the Coptic Church, along with Pope Kyrillos VI.

Dr Rodolph Yanney (1930–2010) was an émigré Coptologist and scholar, and the founding editor of the prestigious Coptic Church Review.[fn]Yanney, Andrew. “Dr Rodolph M. Yanney.” Coptic Church Review, https://www.copticchurchreview.com/#author/.[/fn]

Bishop Gregorius (Oct 13, 1919–Oct 22, 2001) was the first and only General Bishop for Higher Theological Studies, Coptic Culture and Scientific Research. He was born Wahib ‘Atalla Girgis in Aswan in 1919. He received a Bachelor's degree from the Clerical College (May 1939). He continued to study the humanities at the University of Cairo, earning a Licenciate in Philosophy (July 1944) and a Diploma of Egyptian Antiquities (June 1951). Finally, he undertook a PhD in Egyptology and Coptic Studies at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom (1952–1955) with a thesis entitled “Greek Words in Coptic Usage”. His broad learning in the humanities is on display in his early contributions to the Sunday School Magazine. He became a monk of Dayr al-Muharraq in 1962, becoming Bakhoum al-Muharraqi. Pope Kyrillos VI ordained him General Bishop for Higher Theological Studies, Coptic Culture and Scientific Research in 1967.

Dr Noshy Abdelshahid (September 28, 1931–July 9, 2022) was a consecrated servant and the founder and director of the Centre for Patristic Studies in Cairo in 1978.[fn]Samuel Tadros, Motherland Lost: The Egyptian Quest for Modernity (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 2013): 179.[/fn] He was also a prolific translator, having produced numerous translations of patristic texts from their original languages into Arabic, as well as works of modern Orthodox theologians such as Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. After his departure in July 2022, Pope Tawadros II released the following public letter of condolence to the Coptic Church:

Unto the hope of the resurrection we commit Dr Noshy Abdelshahid: a faithful servant, a patristic teacher, a self-sacrificing consecrated servant (mukarras), a powerful author whose many books and translations, which are rich, spiritual and patristic resources, have enriched Coptic libraries. 

He was a father to many who were discipled by him in service of the Church. He encouraged them to read, research and study, and opened to them fields of rich Scriptural and authentic patristic understanding.

Truly, this is a great loss both academically and spiritually in the life of our Coptic Orthodox Church. We bid him farewell as one of great stature in the Church, who was strongly connected to most of the fathers of our Church. We ask him to pray on our behalf, that Christ might bring our journey and our service to completion for the sake of His Holy Name.[fn]Statement on the Departure of Dr Noshy Abdelshahid, July 9 2022, Coptic Media Center [al-Markaz al-I‘lāmy al-Qibṭy al-Urthudhuksy], Facebook.com, https://www.facebook.com/CopticSP/posts/411256357713025.[/fn]