Anba Antonius, Bishop of Manfalout, passed away yesterday after a long struggle with illness. A funeral service was held for him tomorrow at al-Amir Monastery in Manfalout, Assiut, some 350km south of Cairo. Anba Yu’annis, Bishop of Assiut, presided over the funeral service.
Born Zakariya Ezzat in Qena, Upper Egypt, in May 1951, he earned a degree in dentistry from Cairo University in 1977. He worked in Qena, some 600km south of Cairo, for three years then took orders at the al-Surian Monastery of the Holy Virgin in the Western Desert in December 1980, under the name Yehniss al-Suriani. In June 1986, he was ordained a priest by Pope Shenouda III who, a few days later, consecrated him as Bishop of Manfalout in the name Anba Antonius.
Watani International
18 March 2018