Anba Suriel also called Bishop Suriel (born Nabil Guirgis; 9 May 1963) is a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, United States. He previously led the Diocese of Melbourne and affiliated regions in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

from 1999 to 2018, and first served as a bishop in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States, in the Archdiocese of North America.

Early years and background

H.G. Bishop Suriel was born as Nabil Guirgis (نبيل جرجس) in

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

on 9 May 1963. In 1967, when he was three, his family migrated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia where they were founding members of St. Mary and St. Mina, the first Coptic Orthodox church in Australia. He was educated at Marrickville West Public School, Tempe High School, the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science, and the

Sydney Institute of Education The Sydney Teachers College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until the end of 1981, when it became the Sydney Institute of Education, a part of the new Sydney College o ...

where he achieved a Diploma of Education. He taught mathematics at Fairvale and

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

high schools.

Beginning of vocation

On a pilgrimage to Egypt and the Levant in 1985, then 22 year-old Nabil Guirgis met

Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria Pope Shenouda III (3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days, from 14 November 1971 until his death. His official title was Pope of ...

. Upon returning to Australia, he began leading youth meetings and conventions in the church and translated one of the Pope's books into English, "The Life of Repentance and Purity". In 1990, Guirgis was the youth representative on the NSW Board of Deacons and the following year at the 7th Assembly of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, he once again met the Pope. At this audience Guirgis stated his desire for a religious life, and the Pope invited him to the

Monastery of Saint Pishoy The Monastery of Saint Pishoy (also spelled Bishoy, Pshoi, or Bishoi), also known as Saint Pishoy Monastery, is a Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox monastery in Wadi El Natrun, west of the Nile Delta in northern Egypt. It is the largest ac ...

, Egypt, where he was consecrated a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

on 6 July 1991, assuming the name of Father Suriel el-Anba Bishoy.

Priest and bishop

On 8 June 1993, then-Father Suriel was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and continued to serve in the monastery before moving to the fledgling St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii, in 1996. There he lived with and studied with the local Roman Catholic community. On 15 June 1997 he was ordained a bishop, keeping his monastic name, and later that year moved to administer the Coptic Archdiocese of North America based in

where his ministry included touring to connect with churches and further establishing the charity BLESS USA. In 1998, he completed another year of study towards his master's of Christian Education at

Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is an Eastern Orthodox seminary in Yonkers, New York. It is chartered under the State University of New York and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. It is a pan-Eastern Or ...

Melbourne

On 10 November 1999, H.G. Bishop Suriel was appointed the first Bishop of Melbourne, Canberra, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand, and was enthroned in his diocese on 4 December 1999. After being appointed to Melbourne he completed his master's degree in religious education at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamation ...

and received his doctorate from

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

on 20 March 2014. His doctoral dissertation was titled "

Habib Girgis Archdeacon Habib Qozman Mankarious Girgis ( ; 1876 – 21 August 1951) or simply Saint Habib Girgis, was a modern-day dean of the Catechetical School of Alexandria. He was the first student for the modern-day Theological School, and was th ...

, Coptic Orthodox educator and a light in the darkness" which was reworked into a book published in 2017. He became associate professor and dean at St. Athanasius College, a constituent college of the

University of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university with a specialised focus in divinity and associated disciplines. It is constituted by twelve theological colleges from seven denominations and three schools. The University of Di ...

where he lectured in religious education, youth ministry, comparative religions, homiletics and pastoral theology. Under his leadership the church established a new Coptic centre and the theological college in Coburg in 2000 and, having outgrown it in two years, moved to the former Carmelite friary at Whitefriars Park in Donvale. In 2015 the church built a new CBD apartment tower and religious complex. The complex includes the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Verena and St. Bishoy and a campus of St. Athanasius College. In 2018, a complaint to the

Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Charitie ...

led to an investigation into the diocese of which H.G. Bishop Suriel was the ultimate decision-maker under the constitution. The commission concluded that there were adequate process, checks and balances in place to ensure the diocese was complying with governance and reporting obligations. He campaigned publicly against the inclusion of inverted crosses in the branding of the

Dark Mofo Dark Mofo is an annual mid-winter arts and culture festival held by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Launched in 2013 as the winter counterpart of the summer MONA FOMA festival, Dark Mofo events take place a ...

festival in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, saying it was particularly offensive to Christians who "witnessed the living reality of persecution, and many other Christians who have lost loved ones or suffered themselves for their faith." On 5 November 2018, H.G. Bishop Suriel formally announced via social media his resignation as the bishop of the Diocese of Melbourne and its extended regions, citing the joy of seeing the church more than double in size and the pain of "insults, death threats, gossip and back stabbings".

Los Angeles

On 15 February 2019, it was announced that H.G. Bishop Suriel would begin serving in the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, alongside Metropolitan Serapion, and would be permanently discharged from the Diocese of Melbourne, along with any form of pastoral care that came with it.

External links

Coffee with Bishop Suriel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suriel, Anba 1967 births Australian people of Coptic descent Australian people of Egyptian descent Australian Oriental Orthodox Christians Living people Clergy from Melbourne People from Port Said Clergy from Sydney Recipients of the Order of Sankt Ignatios Australian Catholic University alumni Fordham University alumni University of Sydney alumni Coptic Orthodox bishops 20th-century Australian scientists Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States 21st-century Australian scientists