AZIZ, SAMUEL

AZIZ, SAMUEL, bishop (1920–1981). Born Sa‘d ‘Aziz in Cairo, Egypt, he was assassinated alongside Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981. From youth he was associated with the Sunday School Movement. He graduated in law from Cairo University in 1942, and in 1944 earned a diploma in divinity from the Clerical College, while simultaneously working toward a B.D. from the American University, Cairo. In 1944 he was lecturer at Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Theological Seminary, while volunteering at the Teacher’s College and helping to establish a chapter of the Sunday School Movement. He returned to Egypt in 1946 and was ordained in the Coptic Orthodox Church (q.v.) in 1948. During this time, he took monastic vows under the name Makari (al-Surani), lived in several monastic communities, and lectured at the Coptic Orthodox Theological School, Cairo, from 1952 to 1954. In 1954 he was a member of the Coptic Orthodox delegation to the second World Council of Churches Assembly, Evanston, and taught social studies at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies. In 1955 he obtained a Master’s in Religious Education degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and from 1955 to 1962 he taught pastoral theology at the Cairo Clerical College. He was later elevated to become bishop of public, social, and ecumenical services. Among his ecumenical activities are numbered permanent membership in the WCC Central Committee and vice-president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, which he cofounded.