Pope Agatho of Alexandria

Saint Agathon of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Papacy began	661^[1] or 662^[2]
Papacy ended	677^[1] or 680^[2]
Predecessor	Benjamin I
Successor	John III
Personal details
Born	Egypt
Died	26 October 680 Egypt
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Sainthood
Feast day	26 October (16 Babah in the Coptic calendar)^[3]

Saint Agathon of Alexandria, was the 39th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.^[4] St. Agathon was a disciple^[1] of Pope Benjamin I, the 38th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church so when Pope Benjamin had to flee to avoid persecution by the Chalcedonians, Agathon remained and led the church.^[3]

Agathon served like this until Pope Benjamin returned and died, at which time Agathon was officially named the pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This happened during the time of the Muslim conquest of Egypt and when Muawiyah I was ruling.^[2] Unlike most popes who first serve as monks,^[5] Agathon had never been a monk prior to becoming pope- yet he was successful.^[4] During his time as pope, the building of St. Macarius Church in the monastery at Wadi El Natrun was completed.^[1]

Like many others before and after, according to the Coptic Orthodox Church, he was harassed. Sometime during his papacy, he was persecuted by a Melkite Byzantine Patriarch named Theodocius, who through his authority, levied large taxes on Agathon, made the people hate him and asked that he be killed. For this reason, Agathon stayed hidden in his cell until the threat of Theodocius went away.^[1]^[3] Based on church beliefs, he chose his successor based on a dream where an angel told him who should follow him.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Morgan, Robert (September 21, 2016). History of the Coptic Orthodox People and the Church of Egypt. FriesenPress. ISBN 9781460280270. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Meinardus, Otto Friedrich August (2002). Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 275. ISBN 9789774247576. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Departure of St. Agathon, 39th Pope of Alexandria". Coptic Church Network. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ ^a ^b Atiya, Aziz Suryal. Pope in the Coptic Church. The Coptic encyclopedia, volume 6. p. 3. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
^ "Pope in the Coptic Church". Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.

External links

Synaxarion, Copto-Arabic - Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia

Preceded by Benjamin I	Coptic Pope 662–680	Succeeded by John III

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

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Seven Archangels	Michael Gabriel Raphael Suriel Zedekiel Sarathiel Ananiel
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Popes	Mark I Anianus Avilius Kedron Justus Eumenes Markianos Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Theonas Felix of Rome Peter I Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I Timothy II Peter III Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon Simeon I Alexander II Theodore I Michael I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Abraham Zacharias Cyril II Macarius II Matthew I Gabriel VII John XIV Cyril V Macarius III Cyril VI
Bishops	Abadiu of Antinoe Abraam of Faiyum Alexander of Jerusalem Amun of Scetis Basil of Caesarea Cyril of Jerusalem Epiphanius of Cyprus Eusebius of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Neocaesarea Ignatius of Antioch Jacob of Nisibis James of Jerusalem John of Nikiû John of Jerusalem Karas of California Mikhaeil of Asyut Narcissus of Jerusalem Nicholas of Myra Paphnutius of Scetis Paphnutius of Thebes Polycarp of Smyrna Porphyrius of Gaza Psote of Ebsay Serapion of Thmuis Severian of Gabala Yousab el-Abah of Girga
Monks and nuns	Abdel Messih El-Makari Abib and Apollo Abraham of Farshut Abraham of Scetis Amun Anthony the Great Awgin Bashnouna Hilarion Horsiesius Hospitius Mother Irini Isaac of Nineveh Isidore of Pelusium John Climacus John the Dwarf Macarius of Alexandria Macarius of Egypt Marina the Monk Moses the Black Nilus of Sinai Pachomius the Great Pambo Parsoma Patapios Paul of Thebes Paul of Tammah Paul the Simple Petronius Pishoy Poemen Samuel the Confessor Sisoes the Great Tekle Haymanot Theodorus of Tabennese Theodora of Alexandria
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