Career
Before becoming a Pope he was the Metropolitan of Asyut in Egypt. The first Metropolitan to become a Pope was Pope John XIX
During his pontificate, he did not ordain any Bishop or Metropolitan and this was taken as a symbol of his regret to accepting the position of the Pope of Alexandria despite being a Metropolitan beforehand. He issued a historic document on 22 February 1944, its primary purpose was to repair monasteries and update the monks scientifically and spiritually, and to hold monastery heads accountable.
This led to a major split between the Holy Synod and General Congregation Council (Elmagles Elmelly Ela"am).
This conflict continued for a while and The Holy Synod and General Congregation Council could not be reconciled. Pope Macarius failed to reconcile them, and abandon the capital headquarters and went into exile in Helwan.
He later went to the Eastern monasteries accompanied by bishops and settled in Monastery of Saint Anthony in the Red Sea. then to the Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite. These incidents were painful among the Coptic people.
When the Prime Minister learned of this matter, he worked on resolving the issue, and the Pope returned from the monastery and was received by the people in a great celebration.