• 05:37
  • Friday ,02 January 2015
العربية

Father Sergius the national rebel

By Dr. Mamdouh Halim

Article Of The Day

00:01

Friday ,02 January 2015

Father Sergius the national rebel
Father Sergius the rebel was born in Gerga in 1882, and then he moved to Cairo in his youth to study at the theological school at Mahmasha where he organized his very first demonstration against the bad conditions of the dorms. He graduated in 1903.
 
He was ordained a priest in Mallawy one year later and then became the deputy of Assiut diocese. Later, he traveled to the Sudan and worked as the deputy of Khartoum diocese where he started the national struggle against the British colonization and issued “St. Mark's Episcopate Lighthouse" magazine. The English ruler ordered his deportation from the Sudan after spending three years there considering him a troublemaker. 
 
He returned to Egypt in 1915, and lived in Qolali in Cairo where he built St. George Church.
 
During the 1919 revolution, Father Sergius was named a senior rebel who preached in both churches and mosques.
 
He preached at Al-Azhar for 3 months, day and night, as well as at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Saad Zaghloul, leader of the Revolution, called him preacher of the revolution. Sergius was exiled to Rafah, North Sinai for 80 days.
 
Father Sergius was a great defender of Christian faith. However, he argued a lot with Coptic Popes as he could not be but revolutionary inside the church as well. He changed the name of his magazine to be "The Egyptian Lighthouse"
 
He was prevented from practicing priesthood five times, but was absolved by Pope Kyrolos V in September 5, 1964. 
 
He preached in several protestant churches, and was the first to attack the Muslim Brotherhood describing them as “traders of religion” and warned Nuqrashi Pasha against them. After the revolution of July 23, 1952, his name was called on a street in Heliopolis and President Gamal Abdel Nasser sent delegates to attend his funeral.