Anba Antonious Marcos, has been seated Metropolitan of South Africa in Johannesburg. A delegation of Coptic Bishops was dispatched by Pope Tawadros II to Johannesburg to conduct the seating ceremony. The delegation included Anba Tadros, Bishop of Port Said; Anba Abra’am, Bishop of Fayoum; Anba Psada, Bishop of Akhmim and Saqlta; Anba Ishaia, Bishop of Tahta and Juhayna; Anba Marcos, Bishop of Shubral-Kheima; Anba Maximos, Bishop of al-Salam and al-Hirafiyeen; and Bishop-General Anba Ermiya, Head of the Coptic Cultural Centre.
Anba Antonious Marcos, previously Bishop of African Affairs, was made Metropolitan of South Africa by Pope Tawadros on 9 June at St Mark’s Cathedral in Abbassiya, Cairo, in a ceremony that saw the consecration of four new bishops to Coptic Orthodox dioceses inside and outside Egypt.
The Pope said that Anba Antonious Marcos had served in Africa for over 53 years, first as a medical doctor, then as a monk and Bishop of African Affairs since 1976. Now that he is Metropolitan of South Africa, Pope Tawadros said, the Coptic Orthodox Church has five dioceses in the African continent: the Diocese of Pentapolis in Libya, under the jurisdiction of Anba Pachomius; that of Khartoum under Anba Iliya; Um Durman under Anba Sarapamoun; Kenya and other African countries under Anba Boulos; and now South Africa under Metropolitan Antonious Marcos with his extensive African experience.
Watani International
30 June 2019