Beautiful Egypt 211 – Pope Youssab I – June 18, 2017

   In the previous article entitled “The Forgiving Pope”, we tackled some of the incidents of Pope Youssab I’s life, the tribulations he went through because of the bishops of the capital and Tennis, Tadros the deacon, and the succeeding bishop of the capital, Abba John. Today, we shall resume the biography of this patient, loving, and forgiving patriarch.

   Bishop John continued reviling Pope Youssab I at the minister of justice’s who was seeking an opportunity to harm the Pope. The kings of Nubia and Ethiopia were in the habit of sending some African youth to the Pope of Alexandria to educate them, which the Pope did do. The bishop of the capital used this by telling the minister these youth were no Christians, thus, accusing Pope Youssab of trying to convert them.

   In effect, the proconsul summoned the Pope by force. When the Pope arrived, the minister started by scolding him and accusing him of kidnapping the youth and converting them. Though the Pope tried to clarify the matter, the minister summoned the youth and forced them to change their creed by force, which they did. Thus, the minister took them from the Pope and distributed them among Egypt’s nobles to be their slaves!

Insults

   It came to pass that during the fifteenth year of Pope Youssab’s tenure that the patriarch of Antioch, Dionysius departed, and Pope John was ordained in his stead. He sent Pope Youssab a letter confirming the unity of creed and faith between the two churches with a delegation consisting of Abba Athanasius, Metropolitan of Apamea, and Abba Timothy, Metropolitan of Damascus, as well as some priests. Pope Youssab received them warmly.

   The minister of justice had a crueler deputy in Alexandria who some people told to insult the patriarch before the Syrian metropolitans, believing that this would belittle Pope Youssab. So, the he brought the Pope and the metropolitans and had the Pope beaten by the soldiers who struck him in the neck for a long time with his head down. Yet, his heart was elevated by prayer of which none was heard save thanking God. This was such a piteous scene that whoever saw him wept, marveling at the Pope’s patience and endurance. The metropolitans said, “Bless the Lord who made us worthy of witnessing the struggle of this father!” Then, they returned to their country, bearing Pope Youssab’s answer to the patriarch of Antioch. The members of the delegation kept speaking of this father’s virtues and endurance.

Proconsuls’ Injustice

   It also came to pass that Egypt was ruled by an unjust proconsul who came over to the papal residence with his servants. Having kicked Pope Youssab out of his cell, he started eating, drinking and amusing himself. He started casting false accusations on the Pope, among which was that he used to write to the Roman Emperor and send him money to entice him to come to Egypt. In effect, he had the Pope imprisoned in a dungeon and ordered him to pay one thousand dinars which boiled down to four hundred.

   At that time, this unjust proconsul got seriously ill. Yet, continued demanding money from Pope Youssab, and no sooner had he received the money and acquitted the Pope, than he died. Before his departure, the Pope foretold the punishment of Egypt’s unjust minister of justice: whereby the Caliph was informed of his cruelty. So, he had him arrested, confiscated his money, and banished him to Baghdad where he remained until his death.

Tribulations Caused by Heretics

   A heretic called Lazarus who was close to the Caliph kept telling him about the churches’ architecture and adornments, luring him to bring their adornments and marble pillars to Baghdad. In effect, the Caliph ordered Egypt’s proconsul to take off the churches adornments and marble pillars!

   When the Caliph’s order reached Egypt, all the heretics who wanted to demolish the Coptic Churches surrounded him and guided him to their marble pillars. Having reached St. Mina’s Church in Marriott, Lazarus was astounded by her beauty. One historian maintains, “When the patriarch was informed, Lazarus went to him and told him, ‘You have all the churches before you. Do what the Caliph had ordered, but keep this church. I will give you whatever you want. But, he didn’t obey and started pulling the colored marble and rare tiles from the church.”

   The Pope was exceedingly saddened. Yet, he started fixing the church later until he restored her original beauty. As for Lazarus, he got seriously poor and sick. So much so that he had nobody to resort to except the Pope who met his evil with good and gave him shelter until his death.

Care and Pastorship

   Pope Youssab I cared about catechizing the sinful and saving them from evil. Likewise, he never ceased from strengthening the congregation in faith which he was handed by his fathers, clarifying all mysteries to it. At that time, the Ethiopian and Nubian Churches were affiliated to St. Mark’s See. In effect, Pope Youssab cared about them a lot, in spite of the tribulations he had been going through since his ordinance.

The Peacemaker

   Pope Youssab I sent messages to the king of Ethiopia and Nubia to be reassured about the conditions of their churches. Yet, he could not visit either due to the wars between Egypt and Ethiopia which the Pope kept praying that they might stop. God did respond to his prayer, for Caliph al-Mu’tasim sent messages to the king of Ethiopia and Nubia, a Zachariah, to pay the taxes of fourteen years, lest war should break out! When the Pope got to know of this message, he sent Zachariah a message, advising him to avoid conflicts, saying, “Cherishers of God! do seek peace amongst you and in the church.”

   When the message reached the Nubian king, he could not leave the country, and sent his son, George, to Caliph al-Mu’tasim, carrying lots of presents for Pope Youssab. On his journey, the Pope received him joyfully, then left him to resume his trip to Baghdad where he was to meet al-Mu’tasim. What a story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center