By Arnold Neliba
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 31, 2023 (CISA)-Pope Francis has given his assent to the election of bishops Ayoub Matta Usama Shafik Akhnoukh for the eparchy of Ismayliah and Thomas Esam William Bolos Faragalla for the eparchy of Al Qusia.
The two separate announcements have been made on March 31 confirming the approval of Pope Francis to the election of the two by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Alexandria of the Copts.
“The Holy Father has given his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Alexandria of the Copts of the Reverend Ayoub Matta Usama Shafik Akhnoukh, currently director of the Office for Human Development of the eparchy of Assiut, as bishop of the eparchy of Ismayliah, Egypt. The prelate has taken the name Pola.”
“The Holy Father has given his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Alexandria of the Copts of the Reverend Thomas Esam William Bolos Faragalla, currently parish priest of the Cathedral and protosyncellus of the eparchy of Assiut, as bishop of the eparchy of Al Qusia, Egypt. The prelate has taken the name Morqos,” read the announcements in part by the Holy See Press Office.
Monsignor Pola Ayoub Matta Usama Shafik Akhnoukh was born on February 19,1971, in Assiut, Egypt. In 1993 he was awarded a degree in social assistance from the University of Assiut and went on to study philosophy at the St. Leo XIII Seminary in Maadi, Cairo.
He was ordained a priest on June 27, 2002, for the eparchy of Assiut. For three years he served as parish priest of Al Nikheila-Assiut, and then parish priest of the Coptic community in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. He is currently the director of the Office for Human Development of the eparchy of Assiut.
His counterpart Monsignor Morqos Thomas Esam William Bolos Faragalla was born on April 15, 1967, in Al Qusia, Egypt. He carried out his studies at the Maadi Seminary in Cairo.
He was ordained a priest on January 4, 1995, for the eparchy of Assiut. Since his ordination, he has provided pastoral service as parish priest of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Kom Esfahat and in Saint George in Dranka, then at the Virgin Mary in the area of Hamra of Assiut,
For one year he was head of the Coptic community in Paris, France. He is currently parish priest of the Cathedral and protosyncellus of the eparchy of Assiut.
An eparchy is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an eparch, who is a bishop and as opposed to the Roman Catholic Church where the pope directly appoints them, in the Eastern rite, a bishop is elected by the Synod of Bishops and assented by Pope Francis.
