The three winners who will be candidates for the altar draw that will determine the name of 118th pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the see of St Mark are, in order of the highest votes scored: Anba Raphail, Bishop-General of Downtown Cairo; Anba Tawodros, Bishop-General of Beheira; and the monk Father Raphail Ava Mina
The three winners who will be candidates for the altar draw that will determine the name of 118th pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the see of St Mark are, in order of the highest votes scored: Anba Raphail, Bishop-General of Downtown Cairo; Anba Tawodros, Bishop-General of Beheira; and the monk Father Raphail Ava Mina.
The names were announced in a press conference held at 9:00pm at the premises of St Mark’s cathedral at Anba Rweiss in Abassiya, Cairo, by the acting patriarch Anba Pachomeus.
In elections which saw a voter turnout of some 90 per cent—2177 voters showed up for the elections out of a total 2412 eligible voters, plus the five bishops from the Ethiopian Church who took part in the vote—only two votes were invalid.
Anba Raphail scored 1980 votes, Anba Tawodros 1623, and Fr Rapahail Ava Mina 1530.
The altar draw will be conducted next Sunday after Holy Mass at the St Mark’s cathedral in Abassiya, Cairo; which Anba Pachomeus said would begin at 8:00am. The three names will be placed in a big glass box on the altar and, right after Mass, a blindfolded child will draw one of the names: the name of the new pope.
The new pope will be enthroned on Sunday18 November.
Anba Pachomeus thanked everyone who had helped make the elections the epitome of fairness, transparency, and lucidity. Civic election monitoring groups applauded the balloting procedure and said it was very well-organised and proceeded with the utmost ease and with no violations.
Anba Pachomeus thanked the members of the elections committee—clergy and laymen alike, the judges, the State officials, and the young men and women of the Church scout and guide movement who were responsible for keeping order and aiding and guiding the voters.
He also thanked the congregation one and all for their prayers and fasts which, he said, have been answered in the unmistakable care God has shown for His Church, epitomised in the current process of the choice of a new pope. He reminded that next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday have been declared a three-day fast of the first degree, prior to the altar draw.
But first and foremost, Anba Pachomeus addressed his gratitude to the good Lord who never for a moment abandoned His Church and His people from the day the beloved Pope Shenouda was laid to rest last March. “No matter how heavy the burden of the service entrusted to us the undeserving, or tumultuous the path to the safety of handing the Church over to the shepherd He chooses for His people, God’s eternal arms always carried us through. For this,” Anba Pachomeus said, “we are eternally thankful.”
Watani International
29 October 2012