Pope John VIII of Alexandria

Pope John VIII of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Papacy began	14 February 1300
Papacy ended	29 May 1320
Predecessor	Theodosius III
Successor	John IX
Personal details
Born	Yohanna Ben-Ebsal Bani-Khosaim, Egypt
Died	29 May 1320 Egypt
Buried	Shahran Monastery
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence	Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo

John VIII ibn Qiddis (died 29 May 1320) was the 80th pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church from 14 February 1300 until his death.^[1]

Pope John VIII was born in Meniat Bani-Khosaim. His real name was Yohanna Ben-Ebsal, but he was known as El Mo'ataman Ebn El-Kedees. He became monk at the Monastery of Shahran and was ordained Pope on 19 Meshir 1016 AM (14 February 1300 AD).^[2]

During the papacy of John VIII, severe tribulations befell the Christians in Egypt and heavy taxes were imposed. An official from Morocco was displeased to find the Copts so active in the financial sector.^[2] Many churches were closed in Cairo and in different parts of the country. Exceptions were the monasteries in Alexandria and a few churches in other cities. An envoy from the emperor of Ethiopia came to intercede on behalf of the Christians. Two churches were subsequently opened, one of them was the Coptic Orthodox church of the Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila), and the other was the Melkite church of Saint Nicholas in El-Hamzawe.

Pope John VIII was a contemporary of Saint Parsoma, and presided over his funeral. He was the last to reside in the church of Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo. He was the first to relocate the patriarchal throne to the Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila). He was residing there in the year 1303 AD. when a severe earthquake caused great destruction in Syria and Egypt. Ebn Kabre indicated that Pope John VIII had made some changes in the Liturgy. He died on 4 Paoni 1036 A.M. (29 May 1320 AD)^[2] after 20 years, 3 months, and 15 days on the Patriarchal Throne.

References

[edit]

^ Youhanna Youssef, The Interpretations of the Theotokias by the Patriarch John ibn Qiddis (Gorgias Press, 2020), p. 2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Christianity and Monasticism in Northern Egypt, (Gawdat Gabra, Hany N. Takla, tr.) Oxford University Press, 2017 ISBN 9789774167775, p. 76

Religious titles
Preceded by Theodosius III	Coptic Pope 1300–1320	Succeeded by John IX

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