Yoannis Lahzi Gaid

Yoannis Lahzi Gaid (; born 1975) is a Coptic Catholic priest who served as second personal secretary to Pope Francis from April 2014 to 21 April 2025. He is the first Eastern Catholic to hold the position.

Biography Yoannis Lahzi Gaid was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1975. He was one of seven siblings, Enjy, Micheal, Sanaa, Suzie, Milad, Gerges, Sameh. He studied at the Coptic Catholic seminary in Cairo. He was ordained priest for Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria, Egypt. He studied at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, earning a doctorate in the canon law of the Eastern Churches.

He attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and in 2007 joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See. In rare public remarks for a papal secretary, he praised the development of dialog with Islam, saying that the meeting of Pope Francis and Ahmad al-Tayyib in Cairo in 2017 "gave proof that we can talk, we can talk, we can also love each other people of different religions. Before there was no dialogue, and therefore there was distance, there was also a bit of hostility towards one another. Now there is deep friendship." After the same two leaders issued their Document on Human Fraternity in February 2019, Lahzi Gaid was named in September as one of the first members of a committee to promote its principles. He was also named a member of its executive board.