Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne is the Coptic Orthodox Church's diocese for Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, and for New Zealand, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Its seat is Whitefriars Park in Donvale, in Melbourne's north-east. Its bishop is Bishop Rewis, general bishop of the diocese since 1 July 2025 and its papal legate since 1 August 2026. The diocese's home page also calls it the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions.

Territory

The diocese's own account says that under its first bishop it grew beyond Victoria to take in the other regions it now names as its own. The Patriarchate's website lists it among the church's dioceses abroad as the Diocese of Melbourne, Australia. The diocese counts 70 clergy, 20 full deacons, five monks and four nuns.

History

The Coptic Encyclopedia's entry on Coptic migration records that emigration to Australia began in 1964 and peaked in 1969, and that by 1989 there were fourteen Coptic churches in the country, four of them in Melbourne.

By the diocese's account, the first Coptic Orthodox liturgy on Australian soil was prayed in Melbourne on 21 January 1969 by Fr Mina Nematalla, who was based in Sydney. In April 1971 Pope Kyrillos VI sent Fr Victor Rophael as the first priest appointed to Melbourne, and in 1972 St Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church in Kensington was established as the city's first official church.

Pope Shenouda III appointed Bishop Suriel the first bishop of the diocese in 1999, its account says. Wikipedia gives the dates: consecrated a bishop on 15 June 1997, appointed to Melbourne on 10 November 1999 and enthroned on 4 December 1999. The Patriarchate's listing gives 15 June 1997 as the diocese's date.

In late December 2001 the diocese learned that it could acquire Whitefriars Park, a Carmelite monastery established in 1937, which became its headquarters. Bishop Suriel left the diocese in 2018, and it remained under the care of Pope Tawadros II until 2025.

1. 21 January 1969

   The first Coptic Orthodox liturgy in Australia is prayed in Melbourne.

2. 1972

   St Mary's, Kensington, is established as Melbourne's first official Coptic church.

3. 1999

   Pope Shenouda III appoints Bishop Suriel the diocese's first bishop.

4. 2001

   St Athanasius College is founded; in December the diocese learns it can acquire Whitefriars Park, later its seat.

5. 2018

   Bishop Suriel leaves the diocese.

6. 1 July 2025

   Bishop Rewis's appointment as general bishop takes effect.

7. 1 August 2026

   Bishop Rewis's appointment as papal legate takes effect.

Bishop Rewis

Bishop Rewis entered monastic life on 7 March 2001 at the Muharraq Monastery in Assiut, Egypt, as Fr Zosima El Muharraqi. The diocese's biography says he then served in the United States, the Scandinavian countries and the Philippines, and has pursued formal studies in church management. He was ordained a general bishop for East Asia on 7 March 2021.

Papal Decree No. 2 of 2025 appointed him general bishop of the Diocese of Melbourne from 1 July 2025, with its pastoral, administrative and financial authority delegated by the Pope. Papal Decree No. 2 of 2026 appointed him papal legate of the diocese from 1 August 2026.

Monasteries, colleges and schools

The Monastery of Archangel Michael for nuns is at Woodend, Victoria. The diocese's statement of 24 March 2026 records that Pope Tawadros II tonsured two nuns for it on 21 March 2026 in Egypt, bringing its nuns to four. Wikipedia dates its establishment to 2015 and its recognition by the Holy Synod to 2 June 2023, and names the diocese's other monastery as the Monastery of St Anthony at Heathcote, Victoria.

St Athanasius College is the diocese's theological college. Its website says it was founded in 2001 by Bishop Suriel, accredited in 2011 as a member college of the University of Divinity, and teaches at Donvale and on La Trobe Street in the city. The diocese's account lists schools among the institutions established after 1999; Wikipedia records St Mary Coptic Orthodox College, opened in 1991 in Clifton Hill and moved to Coolaroo in 1994.