It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Saint Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College. Saint Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College was officially opened on Sunday 18th February 2001 under the auspices of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Diocese of Melbourne. His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark issued Papal Decree number 21/29 for the establishment of this Orthodox Theological College, the first of its kind in Melbourne. We thank His Holiness for his continued support in the establishment of this College, now in its third year.

The Coptic Orthodox Church has a rich tradition of education. This tradition dates as far back as the first century of Christianity at the time of Saint Mark the apostle who founded the Church of Alexandria in 55 AD and was martyred in the streets of Alexandria in the year 68 AD. It was Saint Mark who established the Catechetical School of Alexandria. This School became the oldest centre for sacred sciences in the history of Christianity. In it the first system of Christian theology was formed and the allegorical method of Biblical exegesis was devised. The School presented at first the whole series of academic studies, and then continued to moral and religious philosophy, and finally to Christian Theology.

At Saint Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College, we highly value theological education, following in the footsteps of this rich tradition of Orthodoxy in Egypt. I encourage and welcome graduates of our two Coptic schools (St Mary and St Anthony) in Melbourne as well as university students and graduates, servants of Sunday School and youth leaders to enroll for theological studies at the College.

Academic excellence and professionalism is our aim. We aim to bring up strong generations of Coptic Orthodox Christians who know their faith and can relate it to their children for future generations. I also encourage those with a keen interest in theology to advance their studies with further Masters and PhD studies. I hope in the future that Saint Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological College can receive full accreditation and hence offer its own degrees that would be widely recognized. I also hope that in the future courses can be studied through the Internet for the benefit of those from interstate and New Zealand.

There will also be opportunities for many guest speakers to bestow valuable knowledge to our students on a regular basis.

I am very pleased about the successful completion of a number of years of studies at the College, and by God’s grace, there will be many blessed fruitful years to come.

I look forward to meeting you all at the beginning of the first semester studies in 2007.

May God bless you all.

Suriel
Bishop of Melbourne and Affiliated Regions