Bishop Thomas is the Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of al-Qūsīyah and Mīr in Assiut, Egypt. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of Arab-West Report (AWR), formerly called Religious News Service from the Arab World (RNSAW) since its beginning in 1997.

Bishop Thomas (known as Maurice Shawqī prior to his consecration) was born in 1957. He grew up in Cairo, in a well-to-do family, as his grandfather and his father were businessmen. He studied veterinary medicine in college and graduated in 1981. Following this, he studied psychology and earned his PhD, and later completed a degree in theology. Before entering the monastic life, he spent some time in Taizé, France, at an ecumenical center where different Christian denominations meet and live together. This experience had a lasting effect on his thoughts and beliefs.

In 1987, he became a monk in the Monastery of Saint Pachomius (Anbā Bakhum), and was sent to serve in Kenya for one year. He was ordained bishop of al-Qūsīyah in November 13, 1988.

In December 1999, he was nominated to receive the Freedom House Prize in Washington for his defense of human rights for all Egyptians on the International Day of Human Rights. (1) He was criticized for receiving the award from the Freedom House because this N.G.O. is closely tied to U.S. Coptic activists. (2)

Bishop Thomas organized an event entitled, 'The Coptic Identity,' which was criticized by Jamāl As^cad, an Egyptian Christian author, as being an attempt to oppose the Arabic and Islamic cultures. (3)

Among his achievements are, the establishment of a guesthouse visited by many foreign visitors in al-Qūsīyah, which was visited by members of Muslim institutions, a high quality language school in al-Qūsīyah, and the Christian retreat center in Wādī al-Natrūn (Anafūrah)

When he first arrived to al-Qūsīyah, Bishop Thomas had big ideas about changes he wanted to make toward raising his parishioners' sense of dignity. He wanted, and still does, his parishioners to know their own worth, and to not have it given to them-or taken away-by someone else.

Bishop Thomas says that one of the problems facing the people in al-Qūsīyah, is that they are unaware of their rights as human beings, and one of the main problems he spotted has to do with inheritance. According to an interview with Cassandra Chambliss of AWR, he said that he prefers to press the matter and create little revolutions here and there as part of his larger struggle for the dignity of Christian Egyptians, arguing that Jesus himself was a revolutionary. He now stresses that his vision has become more realistic, and that he is aiming toward simple improvements by working to raise the dignity of the people in his diocese, a goal that, he says, is partially dependent on economic development.(4)

Added to that, Bishop Thomas believes that "People should have the time and the space to submit all of that confused information to a process of reflection so that it can then be turned into knowledge. The knowledge that is cultivated in such a spiritually revitalizing environment can then lead to a true vision, and that true vision is what can produce the best actions." (5) In addition to this, he thinks that the Coptic Orthodox needs pushing in order to be revived. (6)

Bishop Thomas regularly travels abroad. He speaks English fluently, and he is a regular speaker in Western churches and organizations.
 

- Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of al-Qūsīyah and Mīr in Assiut, Egypt.
- Member of the Board of Advisors of Arab-West Report.
- He established the Christian retreat center Anafūrah.