After the death of Pope Shenouda III in March, the papal selection is the first in 41 years(Last held on 1971). The new pope will take his post at a critical point, as the Church faces a number of internal and external issues.
Acting head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Bishop Pachomious announced the results of Monday’s vote in a press conference on Monday evening.
Bishop Raphael, 54, of central Cairo received the most votes with 1,980. Bishop Tawadros, 60, of Beheira came in second with 1,623 votes and the monk Father Raphael Ava Mina, 70, came in third with 1,530.
Father Pachomious Al-Souriani received 305 votes, while Father Seraphim Al-Souriani garnered 130 votes.
Pachomious said voter turnout was at over 93 percent with 2,256 voters submitting ballots out of a possible 2,417. There were also 161 Copts who had been invited to vote and did not submit ballots and two votes were marked invalid.
The polls for the papal election at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Al-Abbaseya closed shortly after five on Monday afternoon. Following a prayer, an electoral committee proceeded to count the ballots on live television.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church sent a delegation of five electors to cast their ballots. The Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches enjoy very close relations since Pope Cyril VI granted the Ethiopian Church independence in 1959, and the two churches participate in each other’s papal elections.
The final selection and announcement of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s new pope will take place on 4 November in a service that will begin at eight in the morning. A blindfolded child will select one of the names of the three remaining nominees in accordance with Church law.
