Pope John VI of Alexandria | |
|---|---|
| Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark | |
| Church | Coptic Orthodox Church |
| Papacy began | 1189 |
| Papacy ended | 1216 |
| Predecessor | Mark III |
| Successor | Cyril III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Died | 1216 Egypt |
| Buried | Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Denomination | Coptic Orthodox Christian |
| Residence | The Hanging Church |
Pope John VI of Alexandria was the 74th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.
His name was John Abu al-Majd ibn Abu Ghaleb ibn Sawiris (يوحنا أبو المجد بن أبو غالب بن سويرس). He was layman. It was said that he was a widower, and after his wife's death he chose to remain celibate. He kept the church headquarters in the Hanging Church in Old Cairo (الكنيسة المعلقة). He proscribed a canon that a church could not accept a priest unknown to them without having a consent statement from his bishop. He was buried in the Church of the Darag (كنيسة الدرج) under the tomb of Pope Zakharias, the 64th Coptic Patriarch (1004-1032 AD).
In 1210, his envoys reached the city of Lalibela in Ethiopia, where they met Emperor Gebre Mesqel Lalibela.[1]
He was the last Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria to consecrate a bishop for Western Pentapolis, as the people converted to Islam under the rule of the Arabs.