Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria
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Coptic Christianity
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt and the Middle East. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different...
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark (1854–1861). He was born David (Daoud) in 1816. Despite his relatively short papacy, he is regarded as the "Father of Reform" of the Coptic Orthodox Church in modern times. He is credited for establishing a great printing house and printing many Church books.
While abbot of the monastery of St. Antonios, he was sent to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
at the request of Peter VII
Pope Peter VII of Alexandria
Pope Peter VII of Alexandria ' was the 109th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark . He was born in the village of El-Gawly in Upper Egypt, and known as Mankarius while a monk at St...
to mediate between Abuna Salama
Abuna Salama III
Salama III was Abuna, or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church . Originally brought to Ethiopia by Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam, he afterwards attached himself to the party of Emperor Tewodros II for his help to settle the theological disputes and to gain control over the fractured church...
and his opponents in the Ethiopian Church, as well as "prevent the sympathies for the Catholic missionaries and their teaching from increasing further." While he was in Ethiopia, the Patriarch died. The former Ichege Gebre Mariam, who was in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
to press for the Ethiopian rights to the convent in Jerusalem, used this opportunity to exert pressure for his cause. As a result the majority choice for Patriarch Peter's successor, Du'ad, was kept from taking his seat for two years.
As Patriarch, Cyril returned to Ethiopia at the request of viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
Sa'id of Egypt
Sa'id of Egypt
Muhammad Sa'id Pasha was the Wāli self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan from 1854 until 1863, officially owing fealty to the Ottoman Sultan but in practice exercising virtual independence. He was the fourth son of Muhammad Ali Pasha. Sa'id was a Francophone, educated in Paris.Under Sa'id's rule...
, the first recorded visit by the head of the Coptic church to that country. Emperor
Emperor of Ethiopia
The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...
Tewodros II
Tewodros II of Ethiopia
Tewodros II was the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death....
, whom Trimingham described as "unable to conceive how a Christian prelate could consent to act as the envoy of a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
prince", received Pope Cyril unfavorably December 1856. Sven Rubenson records that when the Patriarch expressed an interest in reviewing the Emperor's army, Tewodros suspected him of being a spy, and confined him with Abuna Salama to their house; only after the Ethiopian clergy intervened, were both men released. During a flare-up of tempers between the Abuna and Emperor in November of the following year, which led to the Abuna excommunicating
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
Emperor Tewodros, Patriarch Cyril lifted the interdict against the wishes of Abuna Salama; the Patriarch left Ethiopia soon after.
The Seat of the Pope
Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria
The Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria is historically based in Alexandria, Egypt. It is commonly known as the Holy See of St. Mark, as the Coptic Pope is the successor of St. Mark....
during his papacy remained in the Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral
Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Azbakeya)
Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Azbakeya, Cairo was the seat of the Coptic Pope from 1800 to 1971.Due to Ibrahim El-Gohary's influential position in the government and his great favor to the Muslim rulers, he was able to issue fatwas that permitted the Copts to rebuild the destroyed...
in Azbakeya, Cairo.