The Coptic Orthodox Church officially appointed its 118th pope on Sunday morning at St. Mark's Cathedral in Al-Abbaseya. The papal ceremony, the first of its kind since the enthronement of Pope Shenouda III on 14 November 1971, was attended by thousands of people, packed in the cathedral. Prominent attendees included Egyptian and Ethiopian Prime Ministers Hesham Qandil and Hailemariam Desalegne, Presidential Advisor Samir Morcos, Nobel Laureate Mohamed El Baradei, former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and 16 active and former ministers. Prominent clergy members from other Christians denominations also attended. President Mohamed Morsy, who had been invited to the ceremony, reportedly sent a representative in his place. A procession of bishops and other clergy made its way to the cathedral doors shortly into the service. As the cathedral bells continuously rung, Tawadros was given a ceremonial key, symbolising his new leadership role and responsibilities. Emotional and in tears, he then made his way down the aisle flanked by the two senior-most bishops. The papal selection wept as more than 100 bishops took turns reading parts of the prayer used in the papal ceremony. Church tradition claims that the first head of the Egyptian Church was Saint Mark the Evangelist, one of the 70 apostles of Jesus. The pope is the “first among equals” of the Holy Synod, the church body made mostly of bishops and responsible for determining the Coptic Church's stance on matters concerning faith. The pope also oversees Pope Tawadros II has been vocal about the withdrawn political role he hopes will experience during his papacy. On Saturday, the Coptic Church, along with other Christian denominations, announced its withdrawal from the Constituent Assembly, claiming that the current draft does not reflect the identity of the Egyptian people. The church's new patriarch was formerly General Bishop of Beheira, where he had a close working relationship with Metropolitan Pachomious, who was the Coptic Church's interim leader since March, six days after Shenouda's death.
