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]

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.

The late Bishop Epiphanius (1954–2018), Abbot of the Monastery of St Macarius was one of the most beloved and widely-respected Coptic scholars of the 21st century.  Originally a doctor from Tanta, Tadros Zaki Tadros became a monk of the Monastery of St Macarius in 1984 at the age of 29, taking the name Epiphanius al-Makary. As a former doctor, he provided medical care to ill and elderly monks at the monastery, often accompanying them on trips abroad to receive treatment and providing palliative care. His keen intellect and eye for detail caused him to be singled out by the monastery's famous abbot, Fr Matthew the Poor, to work in the monastery's library. At Fr Matthew's command, he was ordained a priest in 2002 (despite his protestations). In 2013, he was elected to succeed Fr Matthew (who had passed away in 2006) as Abbot of the monastery, and was ordained a bishop by Pope Tawadros II: a role he carried out with deep, often confronting, humility (e.g. sitting at the back of churches and lecture halls, and refusing to allow people to make the prostration customary for greeting a Coptic bishop, insisting: "If you prostrate before me, I will prostrate before you!").  Pope Tawadros drew heavily on Bishop Epiphanius' theological learning and his deep monastic experience, appointing him to many delegations and committees, attracting the ire of those who opposed the much debated theological legacy of Fr Matthew the Poor. He was tragically murdered in 2018.

Fouad Naguib Youssef was a patristic and liturgical theologian. As part of the Sunday School Movement, he was discipled by both Naẓīr Gayyid (Pope Shenouda III) and Fr Matthew the Poor.[fn]Fouad Naguib Youssef, “Fr Matthew the Poor,” Bose Monastery, May 2016.[/fn] He was the chief editor of the Word of Life magazine, an English/Arabic publication of St Mark’s Orthodox Fellowship.

Wahib Helmy Kozman Bulus (1931–July, 2021) was a patristics scholar, liturgical theologian and scholar of the Orthodox Centre for Patristic Studies founded by Dr Noshy Abdelshahid. 

He was one of a number of students whom Dr Noshy Abdelshahid sent to Greece to earn postgraduate degrees in Orthodox theology. Kozman earned a Bachelor of Theology from the University of Athens in 1985, followed by a PhD in theology at Durham University in England, from which he graduated in 1992. His doctoral thesis, supervised by the Very Rev. George D. Dragas, was titled “St Athanasius of Alexandria’s Doctrine of Grace,” which was published in Arabic in 1993.[fn]Wahib Kozman Bulus, al-Na‘ma ‘ind al-Qiddīs Athanāsyūs al-Rasūlī, 2nd edn. (Good Shepherd Group, 2010).[/fn]

He lived a celibate life in Alexandria, where he was discipled by Fr Bishoy Kamel and also mentored younger servants. He remained an active contributor to the conferences and publications of the Patristic Centre throughout his life.[fn]Announcement from al-Markaz al-Urthūdhuksī li-l-Dirāsāt al-Abā’iyya bi-l-Qāhira, “Doctor Wahib Kozman Bulus,” July 23 2021, Facebook.com.[/fn]

He departed peacefully in July 2021 at the age of 90.