Anba Selwanes, Bishop and Abbot of St Pachomius Monastery (Al-Shayib) in Luxor, Upper Egypt, passed away earlier this morning, Tuesday 25 May 2021, on account of COVID-19.
A funeral service was held for him at Mar-Marcos (St Mark) Church in Samalout, presided over by Anba Pavnotius, Metropolitan of Samalout. Anba Selwanes then was buried at his monastery in Luxor.
Pope Tawadros II mourned Anba Selwanes, offering—together with fathers of the Coptic Church’s Holy Synod—sincere condolences to the family members of the departed bishop and the monks of al-Shayeb’s.
In a statement, Patriarch Ibrahim Ishaq of the Coptic Catholic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, offered his condolences to Pope Tawadros for the departure of Anba Selwanes after a journey rich of dedication, love and giving. “We ask Almighty God to accept his pure soul in Heaven,” the statement read.
On his Facebook page, Anba Martyros, Bishop-General of Sharq al-Sekka al-Hadeed Churches, posted, “We offer our condolences to all the spiritual sons of HG Anba Selwanes and to all who loved him, inside and outside Egypt. We cannot forget his sincere dedication to monastic life since the late 1970s, and we remember his fruitful service in Cairo and its churches.”
Anba Aghathon, Bishop of Maghagha and Adawa, also mourned Anba Selwanes: “We are grieved to hear the news of Anba Selwanes’s departure. His Grace was the bishop responsible for handing newly ordained priests the Holy Mass rituals. We notice that similar to the Anba Pachomius the Great, the 4th-century father of cenobitic monasticism who lost his life to the Plague epidemic, Anba Selwanes lost his to coronavirus pandemic.”
Born in Southern City of Qena on 16 February 1946, Anba Selwanes graduated in 1971 from Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University. He took his monastic vows in March 1978 at Abba Bishoy at Anba Bishoy Monastery in Wadi al-Natroun, becoming Fr Rweiss. In May 1999, he was consecrated Bishop-General by Pope Shenouda III (Patriarch from 1971 to 2012), and served for 11 years in Egypt.
Then in November 2013, he was seated by Pope Tawadros II as the first Bishop and Abbot of the St Pachomius Monastery in Luxor.
Watani International
25 May 2021