Last Sunday, our Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated the consecration of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Abbasia on the 50th anniversary of its establishment. His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, participated by the church’s metropolitans and bishops, consecrated the cathedral, after nearly four years of renovations.
A long history
St. Mark’s Cathedral: It is named after “St. Mark the Apostle” who preached Christianity in Egypt, was martyred and buried on its land. It is the seat of the Pope of Alexandria, the successor to St. Mark. The scenes of the consecration of the cathedral recall the story of the founding that took place in the sixties of the last century.
Foundation Stone
In the days of Pope Kirollos VI, the 116th Pope, the construction of the new cathedral began on the “St. Rewis” land adjacent to the “St. Peter’s Church” (Albotroseya); Pope Kyrollos VI laid the foundation stone on July 24th, 1965 in the presence of the President of the Republic Gamal Abdel Nasser. The stone was placed on a wooden box containing two copies of the Bible, copies of the newspapers published on May 9th announcing the contribution of the government to the construction of the cathedral, newspapers of that day, a cardboard record signed by the President and His Holiness the Pope, a silver cross, and the state currency.
Engineers PhD. Awad Kamel and Selim Kamel Fahmy were awarded to prepare the graphics and design of the cathedral while Dr. Michel Bakhoum was assigned with the structural design. Then Nile General Company for Reinforced Concrete “Sipco” began the implementation of the building, which takes the form of a cross.
On June 25th, 1968, Pope Kirollos VI inaugurated St. Mark’s Cathedral in a festive celebration in the presence of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie, Mr. Mohamed Anwar Sadat, the then Head of the Council of the Nation, a representative of the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar and around 150 delegations from the world churches.
The cathedral witnessed a considerable number of extremely important events during the Copts’ history. On the morning of Wednesday, June 26th, 1968, Pope Kirollos VI held Mass prayers in the cathedral. Upon finishing, the Pope carried the relics of St. Mark to the present shrine where they were placed under the large temple at the east of the cathedral.
On March 12th, 1971, prayers were held on the body of the thrice-beatified Pope Kirollos VI, and then he was buried in the tombs of Patriarchs before being transferred to the Monastery of Martyr St. Mina the Wonder-worker in Mariot, as per his will.
On November 14th, 1971, the cathedral witnessed the coronation ceremony of Pope Shenouda III, Patriarch of the St. Mark’s Evangelism, to become the 117th Pope of the Patriarchs of Alexandria. Also prayers were held on his body after his departure on March 20th, 2012.
On May 15th, 1973, a celebration was held on the occasion of receiving the relics of St. Athanasius the Apostolic Pope, the 20th Pope of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, known as the “Protector of Faith”. A liturgy was held, then the relics were taken in a ceremonial procession to the cathedral, where they were placed in a shrine prepared specifically for them. A grand hall after his name was opened under the cathedral, as a memorial of the 1600th anniversary of his departure.
On November 18th, 2012, a ceremony was held for the coronation of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, God bless his life, to become the pastor of St. Mark’s Evangelism and the 118th Patriarch.
Also in the cathedral, dozens of bishops and hundreds of priests were ordained. President Gamal Abdel Nasser and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi visited it on Christmas Day to congratulate Egypt’s Copts on the occasion. Besides, Emperor Haile Selassie, Prince Charles of the British royal family and a large number of ambassadors and senior clerics in Egypt and the world paid it a visit.
On Sunday, November 18th, 2018, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, together with the metropolitans and bishops, consecrated the cathedral in its refurbished gown and held a liturgy in a celebration filled with joy attended by a great number of the Coptic congregation.
The renovation included the inside and outside of the cathedral, its lighthouse and a large number of Coptic icons up to 200! Some of which reflect some of the events that took place in the Church in the modern era, such as the martyrdom of its children and the acknowledgement of the Coptic Orthodox Church of “Pope Kirollos VI” as a saint. Indeed, talking about “Beautiful Egypt” has no end.
General Bishop Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
