Last article talked about Al-Amer Bi AhkamEllah(495-524 AH) (1101-1130 AD), who was assassinated in 524 AH (1130 AD). As for the Coptic Church at that time, it was headed by Pope Mikhail II (1092 – 1102 AD), who assumed the chair of St. Mark the Apostle during the days of both Al-MustansirBillahand Al-Musta’liBillah, in addition to the early period of Al-Amer Bi AhkamEllah’s rule. In 1102 AD, the patriarch was stricken with the Plague and passed away, then was succeeded by Pope Makara II.
Pope Makara II (1102- 1128)
He is the sixty-ninth patriarch of Alexandria; he assumed the patriarchal chair during the rule of the Fatimid Al-Amer Bi AhkamEllahm, and the Ministry of Al-Afdal, the son of the Commander of Armies. After the departure of Pope Mikhail II, the bishops and archbishops of Egypt, Alexandria and Upper Egypt met with the monks of the monastery of Saint Macarius in order to choose a successor patriarch to Saint Mark the Apostle, they gathered on the Feast day of the Cross (which is celebrated every year on the seventeenth of Tut – the twenty-seventh of September), in the Monastery of Saint Macarius in the wilderness of Scetis, where they passed several days praying and discussing who shall be suitable for that great rank. After many days, the gathering council nominated two: Priest Makara of the Monastery of Saint Macarius known as “Al-Musawwar”, and Deacon Younis bin Sanhout, but they agreed on none of them. So they wrote to the chiefs of Egypt asking for their opinion; whichof them they would choose, and their choice fell upon Makara the Priest; they sent to the bishops and priests in the monastery to inform them of their choice. Thus,everyone agreed on choosing Monk Makara the Priest. The bishops, priests, and monks went to Makara, arrested him and brought him to their council, where they told him he was chosen a patriarch, but he refused and begged them to absolve him of such huge responsibility, saying that he would not be fitting for it. Abba SawirisIbn al-Muqaffa mentions: “They acted indifferently to his words, tied him up, clothed him with the garments and put a mark on him … then walked to Egypt.”
Upon arriving atEgypt, Abul-Fadlibn Al-Oskof,a clerk working forMinister Al-Agal Al-Afdal, informed his master of the patriarch’s arrival, asking him to waive the fees imposed by the governor of Alexandria on who is ordained as a patriarch, mentioning that Makara is a bare-handed monk who owns nothing; he lived without possessing a dinar or a dirham. Abul-Fadl asked MinisterAl-Agal Al-Afdalto bring the father patriarch in order to encourage and strengthen him, as usual. Al-Agal Al-Afdalresponded and summoned the patriarch, received him with honor and reverence. It is reported that when Pope Makara II entered the house of Al-Agal Al-Afdal, “He invocated a lot for him, and Al-Agal Al-Afdal saw him a meek, chaste, good-natured, well-spoken man, God granted him luck and acceptance. He drew him closer and honored him abundantly, addressed him gently and ordered a decree to be written to the governor of Alexandria and other governors whom Pope Makara would pass by on his way, demanding them to honor him and exempt him from paying fees, in addition to helping and assisting him in all that he needs.”
Church historians mention that the priests of Alexandria tried to compel Monk Makara the Priest, before his ordination as a patriarch, to sign a pledge to pay exorbitant sums to them annually, but that father; as he did not lust for the position of the patriarchate and yearned to return to his monastery and solitude, he refused and told them: “I am a monk. I have nothing. I own nothing to write with. I will pay for you whatever I can collect every year. You should be satisfied with this condition, or else let me go back to where I was! It is better for me and more beloved to my heart than what you invited me to.” When they harassed him, he fled from them and hid in one of the monasteries, but they found nobody better than him to assume that position; so they brought him unwillingly and ordained him a patriarch, and that was in 1102 AD. And…stories in beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
