Cairo: Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, presided over the Divine Liturgy and the ordination ceremony of new bishops on Sunday at St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. Attending were members of the Holy Synod, a large group of priests, deacons, and worshippers.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the ordination took place on Saturday evening as part of prayers marking the Feast of the Entry of Christ into Egypt. The ceremony saw the ordination of eight new bishops and the enthronement of Bishop Elaryon as the new Archbishop of the Diocese of Beheira and its surrounding areas. It was also announced that the Diocese of Beheira, Matrouh, and the Western Five Cities would be divided into three dioceses: the Diocese of Beheira and its subsidiaries, the Diocese of Borg El Arab and Ameriya, and the Diocese of Matrouh and the Western Five Cities. Additionally, a bishop was ordained to head the St. Macarius Monastery in the Mountain of Qalali, a position previously held by the late Bishop Pachomius.

The ceremony included a procession where the new bishops-to-be walked through the congregation. Following the reading of the Episcopal pledge, Pope Tawadros officially enthroned Bishop Elaryon as Archbishop of Beheira and its surrounding areas. The Pope, along with the bishops and metropolitans, blessed the vestments of the new bishops in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Pope Tawadros then announced the names of the eight newly ordained bishops: Father Gabriel Al-Mahri as Bishop Pachomius, Father Andras Al-Syriani as Bishop Karas, Father Theophan Ava Mina as Bishop Mina, Father Daniel Al-Gurgi as Bishop Baqtor, Father Discorus Al-Antony as Bishop Discorus, Father Ologius Al-Baramousi as Bishop Ologius, Father Yakobus Al-Bishoy as Bishop Athanasius, and Father Ignatius Al-Syriani as Bishop Ignatius.

The ceremony was attended by 102 metropolitans and bishops, as well as priests and churchgoers from the dioceses of Beheira, Borg El Arab, Matrouh, Dirmwas, Qena, and Southern Germany, among others.