His Grace

Kyrillos
Auxiliary Bishop of Christian Education for the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii and Dean of the St. Athanasius and St. Cyril Theological School
Bishop Kyrillos
ChurchCoptic Orthodox Church
MetropolisCoptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii
Orders
Ordination20 October 2002 by Bishop Serapion
Consecration12 June 2016
by Pope Tawadros II
RankGeneral Bishop
Personal details
Born
Hany Abdelsayed

Los Angeles, California
DenominationCoptic Orthodox Christian
Alma materGeorgetown Law

Bishop Kyrillos (Arabic نيافة الأنبا كيرلس ) (formerly Fr. John Paul Abdelsayed) is the first American-born bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church.[1] He serves as General Bishop of Christian Education for the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii.[2] He is also the Dean of St. Athanasius and St. Cyril Theological School in Anaheim, California. He also serves as the Head of the Sub-Committee for Ecumenical Dialogue (Discussion with other Churches) within the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church.[3]

Early life and education

Hany Abdelsayed, later Bishop Kyrillos, was born in Los Angeles, California.[4] He obtained a Bachelor of Science in communication studies from UCLA.[1] While at UCLA, he and his twin brother Nagui Abdelsayed (now Fr. David Abdelsayed) spearheaded the first formal Coptic Clubs in Southern California in 1993.[4] After his graduation from UCLA, he obtained a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.[1][2] He practised law before serving as a consecrated deacon from 2000 to 2002.[1]

St. Paul Brotherhood

On October 20, 2002, he was ordained as a celibate priest by Bishop Serapion for St. Paul Brotherhood, joining Fr. Isaac Paul (now Bishop Abraham) as the second member of the order. While serving in this capacity, he also earned two master's degrees in Theology from Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, and a Ph.D. in History of Christianity from the University of Notre Dame, School of Theology in Indiana.[1][2] He also served at St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in Riverside for several years and was involved in ecumenical dialogue with several other denominations.[1] During this time, he published many books and worked to establish a theology school as well as a central education department for the diocese.

Department of Christian Education

Metropolitan Serapion and Bishop Kyrillos established the Department of Christian Education,[5] with a core Sunday School Curriculum, Diaconate Program, Servants Preparation Program, and a special program for children 8–13 on advanced subjects such as Church History, Theology, and Apologetics.[5]

Episcopate

Following the elevation of Metropolitan Serapion, Fathers Isaac Paul and John Paul (Bishops Abraham and Kyrillos, respectively) were chosen to be consecrated as auxiliary bishops for the Metropolis of Los Angeles. In preparation for this, Metropolitan Serapion elevated them to the priestly dignity of Hegumen on March 14, 2016.[1][2] On Thomas Sunday, May 8, 2016, they were tonsured as monks by Bishop Sarabamon at the monastery of Abba Antony in Yermo, California.[1] Finally, they were consecrated as general bishops to aid Metropolitan Serapion on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary in Zeitoun, Egypt by Pope Tawadros II.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Samaan, Moses (June 20, 2016). "Bishop Kyrillos". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii. Archived from the original on 2016-06-24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "His Grace Bishop Kyrillos, General Bishop for Los Angeles, USA". St-Takla.org (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  3. ↑ "Bishop Kyrillos - Coptic Orthodox Church". Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  4. 1 2 "History of Coptic Clubs in Southern California". Coptic Clubs.
  5. 1 2 "About the Department of Christian Education". Christian Education Department. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
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