Father Morcos Morcos, the first Coptic Orthodox priest in North America, passed away on Dec. 9 in Ontario, Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to Father Morcos on Twitter and sent his sympathy to the Coptic community.

Father Morcos was born Wagdi Elias in Egypt in 1929 and lived in the U.S. from 1955 to 1964. During that time, he studied at Hartford Seminary, earning a Bachelor of Divinity in 1960 and a Master of Arts in 1961.

According to his obituary, Father Marcos was ordained by Pope Kyrillos VI in 1964 as the first Coptic Orthodox priest in North America. In that same year, he established St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Toronto, the first Coptic Orthodox Church in North America, where he served until recently.

The Coptic community in North America is now about 2 million people.