His Beatitude Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa
b. 1949
Orthodox
Egypt

His Beatitude Petros VII was born in the village of Sichari in Cyprus on 3 September 1949, In 1966 he was sent from the monastery of Machera to the Apostle Barnabas Seminary in Nocosia, from which he graduated in 1969. In August of that year he was ordained deacon at the Holy Monastery of Machera by Chrysostomos, then bishop of Constantias, who later became Archbishop of Cyprus.

In December 1970 he was invited to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, where he served as deacon to His Beatitude Nicholas VI, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, until September 1974. While there he studied at the Averof Gymnasium, and after graduating, in 1974, he studied theology at the University of Athens, from which he graduated in 1978. While studying, he served at the Church of St. Spyridon in Satadiu, Athens.

He was ordained priest on 16 August 1978 in Cyprus, and on returning to Egypt was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite, and appointed to serve as Patriarchal Vicar in charge of the Patriarchal Office in Cairo.

In October 1980 he was sent to South Africa, where he was appointed priest in charge of the newly established Church of Panagia Pantanassa in Melrose, Johannesburg. In June 1983 he was elected Metropolitan of Accra and West Africa, and was consecrated bishop in August 1983 in his home monastery in Cyprus. The Archdiocese of Accra and West Africa then covered 22 countries.

In October 1991 as a consequence of Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatis being appointed Archbishop of Albania, His Eminence Petros was made Patriarchal Exarch of the Archdiocese of Irinoupolis (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), where he served until December 1994. In November 1994 he was named Metropolitan of Cameroon and West Africa.

In February 1997 he was elected Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria in succession to His Beatitude Parthenios III, who had died the previous year. His Beatitude Petros was enthroned to the ancient See of Alexandria, founded by St. Mark in the 1st century, on 9 March 1997. He is the 129th Pope in succession to St. Mark the Evangelist.

Archbishop Makarios of Kenya
Stephen Hayes

Tillyrides, Makarios (ed.) 2002. Yearbook and Review 2002: Orthodox Archbishopric of Kenya and Irinoupolis. Nairobi.

This article is generated by the Database of African Church Leaders, which is part of the Database of African Independent Churches maintained by Stephen Hayes. All rights reserved.