Bishop Tawadros Becomes Egypt's New Coptic Pope

Bishop Tawadros was chosen as new Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians Sunday when a blindfolded altar boy picked his name from a chalice in a ceremony invoking divine guidance for the beleaguered minority.

Acting head of the church Bishop Pachomius took the ballot from the boy's hand and, showing it to those crowded into St. Mark's Cathedral, announced: "Bishop Tawadros."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as church bells tolled in celebration across the country.

Tawadros, a 60-year-old doctor and Bishop for Beheira, was among three potential candidates chosen to replace Pope Shenuda III, who died in March.

The other candidates were Bishop Rafael, 54, a medical doctor and current assistant bishop for central Cairo and Father Rafael Ava Mina, the oldest of the five original candidates at 70.

Tawadros is to formally assume the position as spiritual head of the largest Christian minority in the Middle East, which has become increasingly anxious at the Islamists' rise to power in Egypt.

He will be the 118th pope in a line dating back to the origins of Christianity and to Saint Mark, the apostle and author of one of the four Gospels, who brought the new faith to Egypt.