Bishop Serapion
The future Bishop Serapion of the Los Angeles (Arabic الأنبا سرابيون ) was born in Assiut on November 10, 1951. Following his graduation from the Faculty of Medicine at Assiut in 1975 he practiced medicine in Aswan.
Joining the monastery
The Bishop joined the Monastery of Saint Pishoy on April 8, 1979.
He was ordained monk on August 6, 1979, and was ordained priest on July 18, 1981. On December 23, 1982, he was assigned to serve the Coptic congregation in Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva, Switzerland.
General Bishop for social services
On June 2, 1985, he was ordained Bishop for General and Social Services, since then he became a member of The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. During his tenure in this capacity he established three major departments designed for
- the growth and development of services,
- serving the family, and
- international relationship with other churches.
Training centers were created to educate and train 300 workers every year in various trades, which helped in improving their standard of living. Numerous projects were founded and employed large numbers workers. Serving the Coptic families extended to rural areas and small villages where spiritual guidance, medical services, housing, and financial assistance were offered.
Bishop Serapion has represented the Coptic Orthodox Church at the International Council of Churches. He has established long term relationships with other churches in the United States, Canada, and Italy, and was the first Coptic bishop invited to attend the annual conference of the Church of Scotland.
Bishop of Los Angeles
On November 14, 1995 at Saint Mark’s Cathedral at Anba Rowiss Abbassia, Egypt, Pope Shenouda III, consecrated Bishop Serapion to be Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles.[1]
On December 23, 1995, he was enthroned by Bishop Sarabamon, Bishop Hedra, Bishop Rowiss, Bishop Mittaous, Bishop Youssef, and Bishop Karas as Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii.
Visit to Vatican
On Wednesday May 8, 2013, Bishop Serapion traveled to the Vatican to join a delegation of Coptic Orthodox bishops accompanying Pope Tawadros II in an historic visit to meet Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Tawadros’ visit marks the first official visit by the Pope of Alexandria to the Pope of Rome in over 40 years, since Pope Shenouda III met with Pope Paul VI in 1973 and began ecumenical dialogue. This was also Tawadros's first trip outside of Egypt since his election to the papacy in November 2012.
God willing, the two Popes will meet to discuss the ongoing ecumenical dialogue between the Coptic Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
References
- ↑ "Coptic Church in U.S. Receives a Bishop". The New York Times. 3 January 1996. Retrieved 18 November 2010.