H.E. Metropolitan Basil IV of Jerusalem

His Eminence Metropolitan Basil IV, a student and disciple of Archdeacon Habib Girgis, was Metropolitan of Jerusalem from June 1959 until his departure in 1991.

His Eminence Metropolitan Basil IV was born Sami Tawadros Girgis on November 1, 1923 in Asyut, Egypt — the fifth of six children. Upon completing his high school education, in 1940, Sami relocated to Cairo and enrolled in the Clerical College, where he was accepted under the leadership of Archdeacon Habib Girgis. In 1943, Sami graduated from the Clerical College and began working as a teacher of religion at Rizkallah Mashraqi Secondary School in Girga. In the three years which he spent in Girga, he helped establish the Rizkallah Mashraqi Primary School and became its principal, and actively served the churches of Girga, becoming a renowned lecturer in that region.

In 1946, Sami entered monastic life at the ancient Monastery of St. Antony, and received the name Fr. Kyrillos. Fr. Kyrillos was a brilliant linguist and active author: he was fluent in six languages, including Coptic, French, and Greek, and penned numerous works held in high regard to this day, including The Star of the Wilderness in 1950, on the life of St. Antony, as well as The Age of Councils in 1952, on the Ecumenical Councils, and numerous articles that were ultimately included in the Coptic Encyclopedia prepared by Aziz Suryal Atiya. He completed further studies in theology in 1956 and a doctorate degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in February 1959, where his dissertation concerned the Copts and Heraclius, the Emperor of Constantinople. Upon his return from Greece, he became a teacher of Church History at the Clerical College. That same year, in 1959, he was nominated for the papacy but was ultimately excluded from the election process due to his young age. 

Less than one month after the enthronement of His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI as patriarch on May 10, 1959, Fr. Kyrillos learned that His Holiness intended to ordain him to the bishopric, so he escaped and went into hiding, only to then relent and accept the ordination at the pleas of his personal acquaintances and upon discerning the will of God. Thus, on June 7, 1959, Fr. Kyrillos was ordained by His Holiness Pope Kyrillos VI as Metropolitan Basil IV of Jerusalem, as the See of Jerusalem had been vacant for three years since the repose of its previous Metropolitan, James II of Jerusalem. Metropolitan Basil IV served during a critical era of sociopolitical relations between Egypt and Israel, and was a vocal advocate and powerful mediator for the Coptic Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. On October 13, 1991, after being bedridden at the King Hussain Hospital in Amman, Jordan, for approximately two weeks as a result of a stroke, His Eminence departed while in a coma. The following day, his body was transferred to Cairo, and on October 15, 1991, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III presided over his funeral, after which His Eminence’s body was buried at the Monastery of St. Antony.

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