The mother of Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, passed away on Friday morning, spokesman Bishop Royce Morqos said in a statement.

Morqos said the funeral mass will be held at St. Marks Cathedral in Alexandria on Saturday.

Bishop Tawadros became Egypt’s 118th Coptic Pope in November 2012.  He succeeded the iconic Pope Shenouda III who died in 2012 after 4 decades of heading Egypt's largest church.