At eleven o’clock this morning, funeral prayers were held for the departed Metropolitan Athanasius, Metropolitan of Marseille and Toulon for the French Copts. He fell asleep in the Lord on the 22nd of October, and his body was transported to Egypt to be buried in the Monastery of Saint Bishoy in Wadi El-Natroun, based on his wish.
H.H. Pope Tawadros II prayed the funeral prayers, and 27 of the Church’s reverends participated with him.
The General Secretary of the Patriarchate in Cairo and a number of priests and monks also participated in the prayers. The choir of the Clerical College of Anba Reweis sang the melodies and chants of the funeral prayers.
Parts of the prayers were prayed in French, and were prayed by His Eminence Metropolitan Daniel (Metropolitan of Maadi and Secretary of the Holy Synod), His Grace Bishop Eklemandos (General Bishop of the churches of the Almaza Strip, Al Amal City, and eastern Nasr City), His Grace Bishop Marc (Bishop of Paris and Northern France), Hegumen Bishoy Sorial (priest of the French Coptic Church in Paris), and the monk Hegumen Mosa Anba Bishoy.
Dr. Ashraf Sadek delivered a speech of lamentation and condolence in French.
Pope Tawadros began his condolence speech by saying: “In the hope of the Resurrection, we bid farewell to this venerable metropolitan who lived as a loving and quiet person. He got to know the Coptic Church at the age of thirty. He learned about its theology, faith, tradition, and rites with his departed spiritual father, Bishop Mark, in the pontificate of the departed Pope Shenouda III, who welcomed him.” He blessed them joining the Coptic Church.”
He added: “He became a monk and rose step by step until he became a metropolitan.”
Regarding the qualities that the departed metropolitan had, His Holiness pointed to three of them:
1- Authenticity: He was authentic in his knowledge of the Coptic Church. Even though he was not born in it, he became faithful and loyal to it until his last breath, and he was a voice for it in France.
2- Good relations with everyone: He had good relations with the metropolitans and bishops of The Holy Synod. He visited many dioceses and monasteries in Egypt, and his visits were always joyful, full of a good spirit, smiles and love.
3-Peace: He was a peacemaker, so his presence was always associated with peace, applying the verse: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
He concluded by offering condolences, in the name of the Holy Synod, to the French Coptic Diocese of Marseille and Toulon, to the Bishops of France, His Grace Bishop Louka and His Grace Bishop Marc, and to Father Bishoy Sorial; the only Egyptian priest in the Diocese of Marseille and Toulon.
