For other people known as Peter VII, see Peter VII

Peter VII

Peter VII was king of Kongo from 1896 to 1910. When he succeeded in 1896, he was too young so his uncle Henry regented him until 1901. He died in 1910. He may have been a grandfather of José Eduardo dos Santos. His oldest son, Nkomba, was there to succeed him in 1910....

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Pope Peter VII of Alexandria (Petros or Boutros El-Gawly) was the 109th Coptic

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

Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

 of the See of St. Mark

Mark the Evangelist

Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....

 (24 December 1809 - 5 April 1852). He was born in the village of El-Gawly in Upper Egypt, and known as Mankarius while a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 at St. Anthony Monastery on the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

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During his papacy, sensing intimations of pressure from Roman Catholicism, the Coptic Church intensified her teaching, her preaching, and her pastoral work, and the Coptic Pope himself intensified his writing on matters of faith and doctrine. During the period, many private and public patriarchal libraries were founded.

When the Russian Czar sent his delegates with an offer to put the Coptic Church under his protection, Pope Peter declined the proposal by asking, "Does your Emperor live forever?" When the envoy answered that he would die, like all humans, the Pope told him that he preferred the Protector of the Church who wouldn't die.

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 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...

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The papal throne stood vacant for a little over one year before his successor, Cyril IV

Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria

Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria , was the 110th Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark . He was born David in 1816. Despite his relatively short papacy, he is regarded as the "Father of Reform" of the Coptic Orthodox Church in modern times...

, was elected.

Also during the papacy, Saint Sidhom Bishay http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/7_17.html#4 was martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

ed at the hands of Muslims in Damietta

Damietta

Damietta , also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo.-History:...

. His martyrdom made possible the raising of the Cross openly during Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 funeral processions, for this practice was previously forbidden.

Source and further details

• Coptic Orthodox Synaxarium (Book of Saints)

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A different Peter VII was the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria from 1997 to 2004. See: Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria

Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria

Petros VII was the Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa from 1997 to 2004.-Biography:...

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