Pope Damian of Alexandria was a 6th-century Syrian monk who served as the Coptic patriarch from 576 until his death in 605. After spending sixteen years practicing asceticism in the Scete desert, he served as a private secretary to Pope Peter IV. His reputation for goodness led bishops to unanimously select him as the successor to the See of St. Mark. During his nearly thirty-six-year reign, he was a prominent defender of miaphysite theology and actively worked to combat various perceived heresies within the early Christian landscape.