Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England is the Coptic Orthodox diocese for the state of New York and the six states of New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. It was created in 2013, under Pope Tawadros II, out of territory that had belonged to the Archdiocese of North America. Its bishop since its creation is Bishop David, and its office is on Todt Hill in Staten Island, New York.

Territory

The diocese describes itself as an eparchy of the Coptic Orthodox Church under the Patriarchate of Alexandria. The Patriarchate's listing of dioceses names it, under Bishop David, among its dioceses abroad. The diocesan office is at 500 Todt Hill Road in Staten Island, New York, with a mailing address in Chestnut Ridge, New York, and the diocese divides its clergy directory between New York and New England.

History

The diocese's own account traces the community to the mid-1970s, when numerous Coptic families emigrated from Egypt to the United States under Pope Shenouda III. Until dioceses were established, every Coptic church in the United States and Canada belonged to the Archdiocese of North America, under the direct care of the Pope of Alexandria. The first two American dioceses, for Los Angeles and for the Southern United States, were created in 1995.

The Diocese of New York and New England was created in 2013 by Pope Tawadros II. Bishop David was consecrated for it in Cairo on 16 and 17 November 2013 and installed on 7 December 2013 at St Abraam Church in Woodbury, on Long Island. Further dioceses followed in 2016, for the Carolinas and Kentucky, and in 2017, for Pennsylvania and affiliated regions and for Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

1. 1995

   The first two Coptic Orthodox dioceses in the United States are created, for Los Angeles and for the Southern United States.

2. 1999

   Bishop David is ordained a general bishop and appointed Patriarchal Exarch at the Archdiocese of North America.

3. 16 November 2013

   Bishop David is consecrated in Cairo as bishop of the new diocese, in a ceremony that ran over two days.

4. 7 December 2013

   He is installed at St Abraam Church, Woodbury, New York.

The bishop

Bishop David was born in Cairo on 7 August 1967 and emigrated to Toronto in 1984. He graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1991, entered St Pishoy Monastery as a novice in March 1992, was ordained a monk on 22 January 1995 and a priest on 21 October 1995, and served in the Diocese of Birmingham in the United Kingdom from November 1995 to November 1999. In November 1999 Pope Shenouda III ordained him a general bishop and appointed him Patriarchal Exarch at the Archdiocese of North America in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.

He holds a master's degree in pastoral counselling from Fordham University, awarded in May 2010, and a master's degree in theological studies from Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston, awarded in May 2013.

Churches and institutions

The diocese's website lists its clergy rather than its parishes: 18 hegumens and 23 presbyters, with archdeacons and deacons. Wikipedia's account of the diocese lists 35 parishes, 17 of them in New York, nine in Massachusetts, four in Connecticut, two in Rhode Island and one each in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and two further missions, in Waterbury, Connecticut and Rochester, New York. The seat of the bishop is the St Mina and Pope Kyrillos VI Cathedral in Chestnut Ridge, New York. The diocese's website raises funds for St Mary's Christian Center, on Todt Hill in Staten Island, and names four diocesan committees: reconciliation, administration, priesthood and pastoral care, and education.

Wikipedia records a planned monastery of the Virgin Mary and Pope Kyrillos VI, first announced for Charlton, Massachusetts, and, as of September 2022, intended for Dover Plains, New York; it would be the diocese's first.

The Archdiocese of North America

The Archdiocese of North America, with its seat at Cedar Grove, New Jersey, holds the Coptic churches of the United States and Canada not yet placed in a diocese of their own, under the Pope of Alexandria's direct care and through a patriarchal exarch and general bishops for its regions. Bishop David was its exarch from 1999 until his consecration for the new diocese. The Patriarchate's listing now names it the Archdiocese of New Jersey & North America, under Bishop Gabriel.