The 118th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.. JR Comments

For the Eastern Orthodox bishop with the same name and title, see Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria. Pope Theodoros II  will be the 118th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark when he takes office on 18 November 2012, a fortnight after being selected.

Whom is the New Pope...JR..

Pope Theodore was born Waǧīh Ṣubḥī Bāqī Sulaymān (وجيه صبحى باقى سليمان) on 4 November 1952 in the region of Mansoura, Egypt. He studied at the University of Alexandria, where he received a degree in pharmacy in 1975. Sulaymān managed a state-owned pharmaceutical factory until 1986 when he became a monk at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi Natrun, a major religious center of the Church, where he studied theology for three years. He was ordained a priest of the Coptic Church in 1989, and became abishop in 1997

The papal selection ceremony took place on 4 November. It was held at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo. About 2,400 clergymen and others chose a list of three candidates: Bishop Theodoros--a former aide to Bishop Pachomius, who had been governing the Church in the interim, Bishop Raphael, and Father Raphael Ava Mina, a monk in a monastery near Alexandria. The three were considered consensus candidates as they were not involved in church disputes, and were neither too conservative nor too liberal.

For the selection, Bishop Pachomios, the temporary ruler (locum tenens) of the Church, sealed a crystal chalice containing the three names with red wax. He then placed it on the altar as he led the Divine Liturgy, during which he told the congregation: "We will pray that God will choose the good shepherd". Following a moment of silence, a blindfolded boy then picked a name from the chalice; it was Theodoros. The new pope declared from the monastery at Wadi Natrun: "[We] will start by organising the house from within. It is a responsibility. Most important is...that the church, as an institution, serves the community." Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi congratulated Theodoros and called for Egyptian unity, and brotherly love between Copts and the Muslim community.