ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

Pope John XIII of Alexandria, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (1484-1524). During his reign, Al-Ashraf was king and seven other kings followed him, with the last being Sultan Tuman Bay, son of Qanṣuwa al-Ghawri, who was killed by Sultan Suleiman I of Constantinople. With his death, the state of the Jarkis disappeared and the sultanate from Egypt was abolished and became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Pope John XIII lived a poor life in terms of material wealth, but he had many writings on church rituals and teachings that were used by people of his time.

The papal headquarters remained as it was in the Church of Our Lady Mary in Zawila, where he was also buried with his predecessors.

His election

During the reign of Sultan Qaitbay, who was characterized by relative calm in the conflict between the Mamluks, the opinions of the bishops and archdeacons agreed after five months of the death of Pope John XII to choose the monk "John" known as the son of the Egyptian, born in Sadfa, Asyut Governorate. He was consecrated on February 10, 1484, in the Church of Our Lady Mary in Zawila, which was the papal headquarters at the time, and he took the name of his predecessor "John" with the title XIII.

The body of Saint Mark

Pope John XIII brought the body of Saint Mark the Evangelist to the church dedicated to him in ancient Egypt on the sea road in 1488.

Role of the Church as a Muscovite

He issued a papal letter to the bishops of Cyprus, the five Western cities, and Ethiopia. He was the one who appointed Bishop Michael of Cyprus as a Coptic bishop on Cyprus and Rhodes, and the Coptic influence is still evident in the inscriptions of churches and palaces there until today. One of the churches there is named after Saint Anthony, and there is a monastery called Anba Macarius, which is "Suri Ajjar" (Monastery of Anba Makarios).

The Copts were one of the classes of people at that time and were included in the general census conducted by the Turks after their rule over the island to determine taxes. He was also the one who restored the body of Abou Seifin.

Eparchies of Western Cities

Historians mention that Christianity ended completely in the five Western cities during the papacy of Pope John VI, during the reign of Saladin al-Ayyubi, after it had been one of the most important Christian centers under the See of Alexandria and its eparchies were richly staffed by bishops. However, we find a Coptic bishop in the time of Pope John XIII until the Ottoman Turks entered North Africa in the second decade of the 16th century, whose name was "Qarayqos". This bishop left his eparchy and returned to Egypt after its conquest by the Ottomans and went to the famous monastery of Our Lady Mary, known as the Syrians, where he spent the rest of his life. We know from the eparchies of Western Cities the following: Africa, Barqa, Barnaqah, Tripoli, Maragheh in Libya, Tunis, Derna, Qabis, and Kairouan in Tunisia.

Ethiopia

It was difficult for the Pope of Alexandria to send a Coptic bishop to his children in Ethiopia due to the disputes between the Mamluk sultans of Egypt and the kings of Ethiopia. This led King David II of Ethiopia to address Portugal to appoint a bishop, and indeed the Roman Patriarch appointed a bishop to the Ethiopians, calling him "Patriarch of Alexandria" despite being Portuguese named (Poaz Parmodaz). However, the situation improved and King David sent two Ethiopian princes who were well-received by Qanṣuwa al-Ghawri, and the Egyptian Pope welcomed them with hospitality and promised to send a Coptic bishop.

Contrasts

At the time when the Copts lived in peace with Muslims under the rule of Qanṣuwa al-Ghawri, this was evident in their joint celebrations