THE
GLASTONBURY BULLETIN No. 92 MARCH 1996
THE
RENEWAL OF COPTIC ORTHODOXY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
A talk given at Manchester
Metropolitan University
on
Tuesday, 30th May 1995
by
His Grace Abba Seraphim,
Metropolitan of Glastonbury
For too many Christians
the Orthodox Church in general is still something one either encounters
in accounts of Christological controversies in the early church or as a
quaint survivor of a lost Empire met with in the course of a package holiday
in Greece or Eastern Europe. How much more so is this true of the Coptic
Orthodox Church, sandwiched somewhere between the wonders of Pharaonic
Egypt and the Islamic Middle East!
The English author of In
the Steps of the Master and Through Bible Lands, H.V. Morton, writing just
before the second world war, commented on the paucity of books dealing
with the Copts:
"It is strange
that so little has been written in English about the Copts and their religious
observances. Separated from the rest of Christendom for fourteen centuries,
and hidden away in their own misfortunes since the Arab Conquest, their
one object has been to preserve and hand down intact their ancient religious
life and customs. This causes them to be archaeologically the most interesting
of all the Eastern churches. They observe to this day customs once common
to the Universal Church, which now have died out everywhere except in Egypt.
In many of these customs can be heard the beautiful voice of Primitive
Christianity. If it should be said that these Christians are ignorant,
and that some of them have no very clear or elevated idea of the faith
they profess, we should remember that they can boast as many martyrs as
any community of their size in history. "l
Writing in The Spectator
last October, the journalist William Dalrymple also commented on this sense
of continuity with the early church which is a characteristic of all Orthodox
churches,
"Christianity
is not a western religion. It was not founded in London (however much the
Victorians liked to believe that God was an Englishman) nor in Rome, still
less so in Brussels. It was born in Jerusalem and received its intellectual
superstructures in Antioch, Damascus, Constantinople and Alexandria. Those
eastern Christians who are now leaving the Holy Land - many of whom, like
the Egyptian Copts, claim to be descended from those Byzantine inhabitants
of the region who resisted conversion to Islam after the Arab influx of
the 7th century - preserve many of the most ancient liturgies, superstitions
and traditions which hold the key to understanding early Christianity and
without which we can never really understand the roots of our own Christian-based
culture. "2
Yet in little more than
the half century which separates us from the time when Morton was writing
there has been a great renewal of Coptic Orthodoxy in Egypt and through
a modem dispersion Coptic Orthodox Christians have carried their faith
into Europe, North America, Australia and Southern Africa where they are
alongside other Christian communities to proffer that key to understanding
of which William Dalrymple speaks. This is one of the most significant
developments in the Christian world and I hope to briefly trace the causes
of this spectacular transformation.
The seeds of renewal are
often planted a long time before they take root and come to their fulness.
So to understand what has happened in the twentieth century we must go
back to the dawning of the nineteenth. There can be no doubt that Napoleon
Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign (1798-1801) was a turning point in Coptic
history. This was the first significant contact with Europe since the Crusades
and it was to expose Egypt to Western thought and Western political systems.
Under this short-lived regime Copts rose to some significant administrative
posts, from which they had long been excluded by their Muslim overlords.
When the French eventually left, Muhammad Ali established himself as the
Turkish Sultan's viceroy, but in reality as the Turkish Sultan's viceroy,
but in reality as the founder of a dynasty which was to rule Egypt for
the next century and a half.
The pontificate of Pope
Butros VII (1809-1852) was largely concurrent with the rule of Muhammed
Ali and was marked by good relations between Church and ruler. Pope Butros
is described as being "humble, patient, self-denying, simple in attire,
and frugal in meals " and is credited with having prayed successfully when
the Nile failed to flood one year which earned him wide respect. Although
the ruling family were Muslims he was summoned to Jerusalem by Muhammed
Ali's son, Ibrahim Pasha, then governor of Syria, and challenged to prove
that the Holy Fire distributed in the Holy Sepulchre at Easter was ignited
by divine rather than human hands. After three days of fasting and prayer
Pope Butros celebrated the Mass in the presence of Ibrahim and the Greek
Patriarch and a powerful light flooded the tomb. Muhammed Ali also had
a daughter who was subject to fits and convulsions. The doctors having
failed to treat a physical condition, the Viceroy now summoned Pope Butros
to treat a spiritual state. The Pope advised him to summon the saintly
Bishop Sarabamoun of Minufiyyah, noted for his powerful exorcisms, and
she was instantly healed. As a result of the respect in which the church's
religious leaders were held, the Coptic church as a whole enjoyed favour.
Pope Butros's refusal to place the Coptic Church under the protection of
the Tsar of Russia, who was seeking to extend Russian influence in his
capacity as defender of the Orthodox, also assured the Egyptian authorities
of the loyalty and patriotism of the Coptic community. He was subsequently
canonised and is commemorated on 28th Baramhat (5th April 1852).3
When Pope Butros was dying
he recommended Abuna Dawud El-Anba Antonius to be his successor. Father
Dawud was the abbot of St. Antony's monastery but his piety, enlightenment
and administrative skills had already caught the Pope's attention and he
had been despatched on a delicate mission to Ethiopia to arbitrate in a
dispute that had arisen between the Ethiopian clergy and their Coptic Metropolitan.
By the time he returned to Cairo Pope Butros had died and the clergy were
divided over whether to elect him or the bishop of Akhmim, although under
Coptic canon law bishops of existing sees could not be translated to the
papacy. There was some fear on behalf of the older bishops that electing
an energetic thirty-six year old with reformist views might prove dangerous.
Eventually he was elected
and his name submitted to the Khedive Abbas I (1848-1854), Muhammed Ali's
reactionary and despotic grandson.4 Unfortunately Abbas consulted fortune-tellers
and astrologers before making any important decisions and, fearing the
power of Abuna Dawud, they warned Abbas against approving him. Faced with
intransigence on both sides it required the intervention of the Armenian
bishop in Cairo to suggest a compromise. Abuna Dawud would be consecrated
as Metropolitan of Cairo for a probationary period, only to be advanced
to the papacy if he proved capable of exercising his office to everyone's
satisfaction. As a result of these delays it was only in June 1854 that
he ascended the papal throne as Pope Kyrillos IV, just one month before
Abbas I was allegedly murdered by his own servants.
Although Pope Kyrillos IV
s papacy only extended from 1854-1861 he his justly regarded as the 'Father
of Reform'. As Abbot of St. Antony's he had lost no time in promoting literacy
and theological studies among the monks and returning to a more faithful
observance of their monastic traditions. By prudent stewardship he had
doubled the monastery's resources, using the surplus to establish the first
elementary school offering free instruction to the children of Bush, a
town on the left bank of the Nile some four miles north of Beni Suef, which
provided food for the Red Sea monasteries.
Having recognised the priority
of education he now expended the enormous sum of six hundred thousand piastres,
available to him as a result of the frugality of his predecessor, to establish
schools for boys and girls in Cairo and in Mansurah where particular attention
was given to the teaching of Arabic, Coptic and foreign languages. His
far-seeing concern for female education was remarkably radical at that
time. Pope Kyrillos maintained a watchful eye on his schools and spent
as much time as he could spare personally supervising the students' progress.
At that time the only printed
materials were produced by the government's press at Bulaq and Pope Kyrillos
obtained permission from Muhammed Ali's son, the lenient and merciful Khedive
Sa'id Pasha (1854-1863), to import a printing press from Europe and to
have four young Copts trained at his expense, at the government's printing
works. When the press eventually arrived at Cairo station the Pope instructed
the priests and deacons to conduct it to the Patriarchate in solemn procession,
wearing vestments and chanting the Ep-Oro, the special hymn of welcome
usually reserved for bishops and the Pope ! When criticisms of this reception
reached the Pope's ears he confounded them by stating that had he himself
been present he would have danced before it as King David had danced before
the Ark ! From this press there soon flowed a constant stream of liturgical,
biblical and doctrinal booklets in Arabic and Coptic to replace the scarce
manuscripts previously only available to a limited few.
During his papacy churches
and monasteries were repaired and the Cathedral of St. Mark in Ezbekia,
which had been started some half a century before, was brought to completion.
Priests were summoned to Cairo for instruction and the Pope himself conducted
regular Sunday meetings for their instruction. To assist him he assembled
a skilled team of priests to offer instruction in traditional Coptic music
and liturgy as well as the more mundane skills of book keeping and proper
church registers. From his time dates the introduction of the diaconal
choir to lead the people in their congregational responses.
His prestige was further
enhanced in 1856 when the government sent him on an official mission to
the Ethiopian Emperor to negotiate the vexed issue of disputed borders
and after eighteen months absence he returned successfully having won the
respect of both rulers.
Perhaps it was this success
and his visionary desire to forge wider ecumenical links, especially with
the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Church of England, that proved
his undoing. Fearing that these contacts might result in foreign interference
in domestic religious affairs, the Khedive cooled towards the Pope. His
sudden death at the early age of forty-five, immediately following an audience
with the Khedive, led many to suspect that he had become an embarrassment
to the government and had been summarily poisoned. Like his predecessor
he was subsequently canonised and is commemorated on 23rd Tubah (31st January
1861).5
His successor. Pope Demetrius
II (1862-1870),6 continued to give financial support to the Coptic schools
and other charities, with the result that increasing numbers of well educated
Copts entered government departments and the professions, whilst those
entering the monasteries or the ranks of the clergy, though improving,
were not as highly educated. The famous Coptic historian. Dr. Aziz Atiya,
observes :
"The fact remains
that the impetus given by Kyrillos IV produced the most felicitous results
in building up an enlightened and progressive laity, whereas the clergy
unfortunately lagged behind the flock. Thus we begin to perceive a kind
of imbalance within Coptic society, -which explains the gathering clouds
of a new battle between constitionalism and conservatism. "7
When Pope Demetrius
died a number of the leaders of the Coptic community drew up a scheme for
the establishment of a Community Religious Council (Maglis Millif as a
vehicle for reform and modernisation. They obtained the support of Metropolitan
Marcos of Beheirah, the patriarchal locum tenens, and submitted its constitution
for the approval of the Khedive in February 1874. Under this the Maglis
Milli, comprising some twenty four members elected every four years, would
exercise control over the waqfs, the property held in trust for the support
of the Church, monasteries and charities, as well as the schools; benevolent
societies; matters relating to marriage, divorce and inheritance. Although
the Pope or his deputy would chair the Maglis Milli the aim was to remove
the control of the church's temporalities from the clergy and allow it
to be administered by the better educated laity9
In November 1874 Abuna Hanna,
abbot of the monastery of Baramous, was elected Pope and took the title
of Kyrillos V. Like his contemporary. Pope Pius IX, he began his papacy
with high hopes that the reforming spirit of his namesake would be carried
forward, only to dash the hopes of the reformers and to represent everything
that seemed reactionary and inflexible. Relations with the Maglis Milli
began amicably and the establishment of a Clerical College was unanimously
approved, but trouble soon occurred over the control of the waqfs. The
Pope simply declined to attend any further meetings or to appoint a deputy
and for seven years the council was unable to function. As intransigence
grew on both sides the Pope closed the Clerical College and a girls' school,
which aroused fierce opposition. The response was the establishment of
scores of benevolent societies to support Coptic schools and social work
without the need to have recourse to church funds.
In 1883, through the intervention
of the Coptic statesman, Butros Ghali Pasha, a khedival decree was obtained
establishing the Maglis Milli by law. The Pope was still unconvinced of
its value and its meetings were eventually suspended. In 1892, a newly
elected council sought the government's support to force the Pope to resign
his chairmanship of the Maglis Milli, but he resisted these pressures.
The government then agreed to the exile of the Pope to the Baramous monastery
and the election of the Bishop of Sanabu as papal deputy. This dangerous
precedent inviting government intervention in church affairs was later
used against the Coptic Church when the Egyptian government wanted to neuter
an outspoken Pope. Pope Kyrillos responded by excommunicating the bishop
and his supporters and a stalemate was reached which caused profound divisions
in the community. A new cabinet eventually reversed the decree and the
Pope, after only five months in exile, not only returned to Cairo in triumph
but was actually awarded a decoration by the government. By a mixture of
stubbornness and subtle diplomacy the Pope eventually obtained the repeal
of legislation which had restricted his rights in favour of the Maglis
Milli and kept reforms at bay almost to the end of his papacy.10
In 1918 S-H.Leeder's Modern
Sons of the Pharoahs : A study of the manners and customs of the Copts
of Egypt was published. One of its chapters contained a fascinating description
of Pope Kyrillos V. Before he left England he had heard of him from the
Earl of Cromer, who had spoken of him as "the greatest reactionary force
in Egypt. " Lord Cromer, who had first served in Egypt as Commissioner
of the Egyptian Public Debt from 1877-79 and had returned as Agent and
Consul General from 1883-1907, had ruefully observed that when he first
went out to Egypt Pope Kyrillos had been ruling, "when I left he was in
full power, and he still rules." When Leeder was eventually received by
the Pope in his cell in the old Papal residence in Ezbekia he found that
he referred to Lord Cromer,
"in terms of
profound respect, the profounder perhaps because, when these two strong
men had often wrestled strenuously for what each had considered right,
the Patriarch had generally gained the victory - by way of a subtle Oriental
strategy, and a knowledge of the workings of the minds of Eastern men,
deep enough even to thwart the mighty power of which the British Agent
was the representative."
Leeder was also impressed
by the Pope's obvious integrity and observed,
"Of this every
man is agreed, that the private life of their Patriarch is one of purity
and great simplicity and self-denial."
He was impressed how a man
with absolute control over the revenues of the Patriarchate, which he estimated
as being as much as £35,000 a year, and with considerable power over
the monastic revenues, which perhaps accounted for a further £80,000,
had not lapsed into the veniality so prevalent among Eastern prelates or
wasted in "the exalting of his office "; but, on the contrary chose to
live a frugal existence on not more than £60 a year. With the revenues
at his disposal he had built schools, repaired churches and monasteries
and supported all the causes, especially of the poor, which appealed to
him. "But for luxury, or that display which so generally appeals to the
Oriental, when he has the opportunity of asserting his dignity, he shows
a supreme indifference. "
On the other hand Leeder
heard much of the Pope's opposition to change, observing with traditional
British understatement that "there can be no doubt that what is called
reform makes little or no appeal to His Holiness." Leeder showed remarkable
sympathy for the Pope's viewpoint and even more for his diplomatic skills,
"the party which,
under the influence of the English rule, would like to hurry the Church
into drastic changes, has always found in . him a rock
of offence; the skill of his subterfuge, the genius for tactics which invariably
leads to success against every sort of opponent, often by ways that are
dark, has sometimes provoked a dislike that in times of crisis has become
frantic at its impotence against such uncanny power. "
The Pope's suspicions
of the reforms urged upon him by the Anglophile Copts were doubtless coloured
by his distrust of the preferred sympathy of English clerics whom he suspected
were seeking to undermine the Orthodox faith. He was intelligent enough
to know that these foreign reformers, having an inadequate understanding
of Coptic theology often referred to "the soul-destroying heresy of the
Coptic Church." Leeder quoted an earlier traveller. Lady Duff Gordon, as
observing that the Copts regarded the Englishman as a variety of Moslem
: a man who washes, has no pictures in his church, who has married bishops,
and above all, does not fast from all that has life for half the year.
She had been shocked by the refusal of Pope Demetrius II to eat with her
and who hated Protestants "who ate meat all the year round like dogs."
At least, he observed, the Muslims were an old religion !12
Pope Kyrillos V was faced
with the threat of proselytism from both Protestant and Roman Catholic
missionaries. The United Presbyterians of America began work in 1854, soon
to be followed by the Church Missionary Society in 1882. Although they
were intended to evangelise non-Christians, they both soon took the easier
route of proselytizing Copts who were tempted by the education and social
ministry offered by the missionaries with their access to foreign funding.13
A Catholic observer noted that the Copts, unlike other Eastern Christians,
knew more about the state of the Church of England and were suspicious
of what High Churchmen told them about Anglicanism.14
The Catholics had a much
longer history of trying to establish a presence and had gained Rome's
support for the establishment of a Coptic Catholic Patriarchate as early
as 1824. This did not prove very successful, especially as it adopted some
very extreme Catholic practices, including devotion to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus, and it was to be a further seventy-five years before the first
Coptic Catholic Patriarch was appointed to oversee the five thousand faithful.
After a mere nine years in office this Patriarch resigned to become a Greek
Orthodox and the Patriarchate remained vacant again for a further thirty-nine
years. Since 1947 there have been three Coptic Catholic Patriarchs. Pope
Kyrillos V issued encyclicals warning isolated Copts of these activities
and energetically directed the counter campaign to protect his own community.15
Some years before his death
a Jesuit, in course of conversation with this Patriarch, reminded him that
our Lord had said that there should be one fold and one shepherd. "Yes",
replied the Pope with a smile, "but He did not say when. " 16
His opponents, commented
Leeder, thought Pope Kyrillos,
"obstinate through
ignorance and unscrupulous in gaining his own way; they deplore the Church's
rule which sends to the distant monastery to choose a Patriarch from amongst
men unlettered, untravelled, mostly of ignoble birth."
Yet there was a strange ambiguity
on the part of the Copts towards their Pope,
"A young Coptic
friend of mine, burning with zeal for the reform of his Church, and in
one aspect regarding the old man with feelings little short of hatred,
yet speaks to me, with glowing eyes, of the thrill he has when he hears
the Patriarch recite the prayers of the Holy Eucharist."'7
The forces of reform
were powerful and times were changing, so after generations of struggle,
the Maglis Milli finally obtained government approval for a new constitution
which restored many of the rights and responsibilities of the laity. Sixteen
days later their principal opponent gave up this earthly struggle.
The death of Pope Kyrillos
V in 1927 at the age of 103 and after a momentous pontificate of fifty-three
years opened up the possibilities for reconciling the two conflicting factions.
Abba Yoannis, Metropolitan of Beheira & Minufiyyah for the past forty
years, became Patriarchal deputy. His long association with Pope Kyrillos,
to whom he had been once been secretary, and the fact that he also had
been exiled in 1892, endeared him to the conservative elements. On the
other hand, his establishment of a committee to deal with the problem of
the waqfs, indicated a conciliatory attitude. Another faction wanted the
pro-British Abba Yuhanna Salama, Assistant bishop of Khartoum, which would
not have been acceptable to the Egyptian government. It is thought that
King Fuad I personally intervened to secure Abba Yoannis' appointment.'°
After an interregnum lasting
some fifteen months Abba Yoannis was elected 113th successor of St. Mark,
taking the title Pope Yoannis XIX. This was, however, a very serious departure
from the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church. With incredible fidelity
the Copts had kept to the traditions of the Apostolic Constitutions and
the Council of Nicaea which forbade the translation of bishops from the
sees to which they had been consecrated. Consequently diocesan bishops
had not been eligible for the papacy and it had always fallen to one of
the monks. This innovation undoubtedly pleased the reformers, even if the
present Pope was associated with the reactionary regime of Pope Kyrillos
but it also alarmed the traditionalists and was not to prove a blessing
to the church.19
Pope Yoannis XIX died in
1942 and was succeeded after an interregnum of almost twenty months by
the highly respected Metropolitan of Assuit, who became Pope Macarios III.
Although 72 years old at the time of his election he was notable for the
vigour with which he had resisted the Protestant missionaries in his diocese
and in erecting schools. Whilst at Assuit he had shown himself favourable
to the idea that a lay council should oversee the church's temporalities
and there was much hope that he would be able to succeed where others had
failed. Unfortunately he was soon engulfed in the same bitter contentions
which had bedevilled his predecessors and retreated to St. Anthony's monastery
for six months to avoid the bickering, only agreeing to return from his
voluntary exile in the hope that peace would prevail. His death after a
pontificate of only eighteen months cut short this hope. It is said by
some that he came to regret deeply having allowed himself to be elected
Pope and the breaking of the venerable tradition against episcopal translation.
Although personally worthy these two pontificates contributed little to
the well-being of the church and were characterised, according to Dr. Atiya,
by "sterility and absence of constructive policies in church affairs".
The Metropolitan of Girga,
Abba Yusab, who had served as Patriarchal deputy following the death of
Yoannis XIX, became deputy once again. As he had been educated at the Theological
College in Athens he was acceptable to those Copts desiring the elevation
of educated bishops but he had also antagonised a significant proportion
of reformers who knew him too well. Some of these were won over to his
side by his promise that he would give complete control of the waqfs to
the Maglis Milli. There was even an unseemly 'propaganda campaign' to promote
the cause of Abba Yusab. Opponents of Abba Yusab suggest that on the day
set aside for the papal election, which coincided with a strike by public
transport workers, his partisans were transported to the election by army
vehicles procured on his behalf by an influential army colonel ! 22 Accordingly
in June 1946 he became Pope Yusab II. As soon as he had obtained his goal
he lost no time in renouncing the rights of the Maglis Milli over the waqfs
and denying that he had ever promised otherwise.
This pontificate was soon
characterised by great public scandal as the Pope's unscrupulous personal
assistant, Meiek, was given a free hand by his weak and vacillating master
to indulge in simony and corruption. One authority reckons that sixteen
of the nineteen episcopal appointments made during this period involved
financial considerations ! The Pope seemed deaf to all entreaties and when
Meiek was sent away for a period, his recall only four months later exasperated
those who hoped to restore order and left them despairing of the Pope.
The government was not slow to exploit the situation to gain control over
the waqfs and other areas of family matters which had previously been under
ecclesiastical control. In July 1954 the Pope was forcibly abducted by
young zealot Copts from the 'Society of the Coptic Nation' and made to
abdicate under duress, yet with that uniquely Coptic approach, which still
accorded him every respect and courtesy throughout this venture.23 Although
restored to his office, the tide of public opinion now required the intervention
of the Holy Synod, especially when the Pope narrowly escaped assassination.
Having failed to restore confidence by all reasonable means the Holy Synod
decreed his suspension from office and his exile to El-Muharraq monastery
in September 1955. Until his death in November 1956 the affairs of the
church were administered by an ecclesiastical commission.24
It was a dark moment for
the Coptic Church and for two and a half years the throne of St. Mark remained
vacant while the views of the whole community were widely canvassed. Such
was the conflict among the Copts that the government intervened after three
months to halt the electoral process. Bitter experience had shown the fallacy
of departing from the tradition of electing only simple monks but the Maglis
Milli still favoured an experienced bishop, whilst the Holy Synod wished
to return to the former practise. Eventually three candidates, all simple
priest-monks, were selected and the ancient custom of selection by lot
was revived, the ultimate testimony of faith in the choice of the Holy
Spirit. The fidelity of the Coptic Orthodox Church was duly rewarded by
the election of Abuna Mina Muttawahid El-Baramousy, who as Pope Kyrillos
VI was to herald the dawning of the long-awaited renewal.
One of his first acts was
to express his determination to cooperate with the Maglis Milli and although
the government enacted fresh legislation concerning the waqfs in 1960,
the decades of conflict and internecine strife were now at an end. Throughout
these trials the seeds of renewal deriving from Pope Kyrillos IV had been
taking root and the recruitment of men of the calibre of Pope Kyrillos
VI and some of those he was shortly to raise to the episcopate showed that
the spiritual life of the Church had not been quenched or stunted by the
struggles within the hierarchy.25
Pope Kyrillos VI's pontificate
extended only from 1959 until his sudden death in March 1971, yet it was
a period of great change. The long pontificate of his successor and former
private secretary. Pope Shenouda ID, who was elected within ten months
of his predecessor's death by lot, -although encompassing many unique developments
- should be viewed as a further, rather than a different stage in the Renewal.
Although quite distinctive in their styles of leadership they both draw
their fundamental inspiration from the revival of the Coptic monastic tradition
in which they each played a significant part.
Under pope Kyrillos there
was also a significant liturgical revival. The daily celebration of the
Holy Eucharist, which had been restricted traditionally to remote monastic
communities, now received enthusiastic encouragement. The Pope himself
rose daily at 3.30 a.m. to sing the Divine Office, to raise Morning Incense
and to celebrate the Eucharist and all churches were now required to celebrate
the Liturgy on Wednesdays as well as Fridays and Sundays. He also revived
the Vesper prayers which had largely fallen into disuse. He himself did
not need service books as he knew much of the rite by heart, a custom which
many have since emulated, but liturgical texts have continued to be revised
and accompanied by spiritual commentaries. These practices have been continued
and extended under his successor as well as encouraging the revival of
the knowledge and use of Coptic through the establishment of regular classes
in the seminaries and local churches.
Deepening of spiritual awareness
in the late twentieth century has not led to any loss of the miraculous,
which has always been such a strong characteristic of the Coptic tradition.
The Church continues to put forward its martyrs and saints, most notably
Pope Kyrillos VI himself, whose tomb at St. Menas's monastery is one of
the great centres of pilgrimage. No Coptic church or home is complete without
a picture of this deeply loved hierarch and books with accounts of his
miracles are still being published. The English edition alone goes into
four volumes Unlike Pope Shenouda, he was not a great preacher or a prolific
writer, but his humility, potent prayers, gift of knowledge, word of wisdom
and constant miracles, both in life and in death, have effectively ensured
his canonisation by acclamation.
It was during his papacy
that the numerous appearances of the Holy Virgin Mary, on the roof of the
little church of Zeitoun, a Cairo suburb, first occurred and continued
for over three years (1968-1971) to be seen by Christians, Muslims and
non-believers. Other appearances of the Virgin in churches in the populous
suburb of Shoubra also took place at this time.
The monastic tradition of
the Coptic Orthodox Church has always been at the heart of the church's
life but it received a remarkable impetus for revival under Pope Kyrillos,
which has gained even greater momentum under Pope Shenouda.
The Sunday School Movement
in the 1960s, from which Pope Shenouda and many of the senior Metropolitans
and bishops today arose, inspired educated young men to turn to the desert.
Some monasteries had become very lax with very few vocations and were at
first suspicious of admitting highly educated novices. It was the late
Abba Theophilus, the Bishop-Abbott of the Syrian monastery for over forty
years, who was the first to welcome them to his community, a course soon
to be followed elsewhere so that the increase in the number of monks became
really remarkable, with the consequent restoration and enlargement of many
ancient monasteries. In 1959 Pope Kyrillos himself founded the monastery
of St. Menas in the desert of Maryut, which had grown to thirty monks by
1986. The ancient monastery ofEl-Anba Bishoi in the Wadi El-Natrun is another
remarkable example of this growth. In 1960 there were twelve monks and
the monastery was in desperate need of restoration. In 1972 Pope Shenouda
established a Papal residence there and today it numbers 115 monks on a
vastly extended site of which the ancient monastery is only a small part.
Modem systems of irrigation have literally made the desert bloom and a
farm, trees and crops surround what is now a thriving monastic city with
a conference hall, blocks of retreat houses, innumerable churches and chapels
and its own workshops meeting the many needs of the church.
Not only have the monks
of these monasteries served as priests to the growing Coptic communities
abroad, but they have provided the new generation of bishops who will carry
the renewal into the next century
The increase in the number
of Coptic dioceses has also been considerable. In 1835 the establishment
of the diocese ofKhartoum raised the number of dioceses to thirteen. By
1897 the episcopate had risen to eighteen with the consecration of the
abbots of the four principal monasteries. A contemporary Roman Catholic
observer commented, "Diocesan administration is hardly a reality. One
cannot speak of any real diocesan administration among the Copts at all.
Namely the bishops, in spite of their titles, live at Cairo and form the
Patriarch's Curia." 27 Another writer wryly observed that the revival
of the Coptic Church "includes a movement towards making bishops look after
their flocks. "2S Under Pope Kyrillos and the early years of Pope Shenouda
the number of bishops rose slowly from twenty-six in 1964 to thirty-two
by 1977 but currently numbers over seventy.29 This is a deliberate policy
by Pope Shenouda who has stated that he hopes to have as many bishops serving
the Christians of Egypt as there were during the Middle Ages.
Pope Kyrillos also extended
the episcopate by the consecration of General Bishops whose duties either
enabled them to act as assistants to existing diocesans or to serve in
areas where no eparchy has yet been established or, more significantly,
to have specific responsibilities or 'portfolios'. The establishment of
three new general bishoprics for Higher Education; Theological Studies,
Coptic Culture & Scientific Research and Public, Ecumenical & Social
Services made a significant contribution to the church's outreach. It is
not without significance that Pope Shenouda himself was consecrated as
a General Bishop with responsibility for Higher Education and, as a non-diocesan,
was eligible for election to the papacy. In 1980 Pope Shenouda established
a Bishopric for Youth.
Although the churches of
the diaspora still remain directly under the Pope he has consecrated two
General Bishops for North America and erected a diocese for Birmingham
in England. Pope Shenouda's willingness to encourage the spread of Orthodoxy
to non-ethnic Copts led him to establish in 1976 a Bishopric for Africa
with indigenous communities in Kenya, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South
Africa and the British Orthodox and the French-Coptic Orthodox Churches
in 1994. This extraordinary willingness to reach out to those aspiring
to become Orthodox also distinguishes the Coptic Orthodox Church from so
many of me other Eastern Patriarchates. No group could be prouder of its
own cultural history and contribution to world civilisation than the Copts,
appropriately called 'Modem Sons of the Pharoahs', but no church could
be less bedevilled with ethnic truimphalism or covert racialism.
In 1971 there were only
three churches outside Egypt, the Sudan and the Jerusalem Metropolitanate.
Since then the establishment of churches has followed the growth of the
Coptic diaspora. In Australia, where the first priest arrived in 1968,
there are now ten churches and a Theological College in Sydney ministering
to some 30,000 Copts with a monastery in New South Wales; two churches
in Queensland; one in South Australia; six churches, a monastery, college
and Coptic Village in Victoria; a church in Western Australia and a church
in Canberra, hi Canada there is a church in Alberta; six churches in Ontario
and three churches in Quebec. In the United States of America there are
forty-nine churches with a monastery in California and a Theological Seminary
in New Jersey and a further three churches in the Caribbean. In Europe
there are. churches in Austria (Graz & Vienna), Cyprus, Denmark, France,
Germany (Kroffelbach, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich),
Greece, Holland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland with eleven churches in the
British Isles30
Father Tadros Malaty has
shown the deep concern for the future of the Coptic emigration which is
obviously at the root of Pope Shenouda's pastoral concerns. He sees the
need for good translations, for willingness to employ the vernacular, for
sound religious education and for the building up of the next generation
to stem the haemorrhaging which afflicts all Orthodox communities transplanted
from their native soil.31 Bishop Antonious Marcos sees it as an opportunity
and asks:
"Is the Coptic
Church today, in this generation, a Shepherding Church only, or a Proclaiming
Church ? Or are both of these duties inseparable duties that the Church
must carry together ? If this is the true role of the Church, what then
is the specific r6le of every Coptic Christian in fulfilling God's plan
for the whole world?"
Although the involvement of
the Coptic Orthodox Church with the Ecumenical Movement effectively began
in 1954 with the sending of a Coptic Orthodox delegation to the meeting
of the World Council of Churches at Evanston, Illinois, it received full
encouragement from Pope Kyrillos and extended its involvement under his
successor. Dr. Atiya, the lay representative at that first meeting, whimsically
remarks that they vehemently protested against the gracious welcome accorded
them as newcomers to ecumenism, observing that "they had been here ...
up to 451, when they decided to retire." 33 Since that first involvement
the Coptic Church has not missed one meeting of the WCC and His Holiness
Pope Shenouda III is now one of its Presidents. The Coptic Church was also
a co-founder of the Middle Eastern Council of Churches and a leader of
both the Ecumenical Advisory Council for Church Services and the All-Africa
Conference of Churches. Through these relations with other Christian communities
have steadily improved. A recent report by the Protestant churches working
in the Middle East bore the interesting title, Turning Over a New Leaf.
They were now confronted with vibrant and dynamic communities and were
obliged to reassess their old attitudes:
"Strange to
say, even as the Orthodox renewal movement deepens, so it is also beginning
to produce a crisis of identity for Protestants in the Middle East. If
the Orthodox are no longer the 'bad guys', then how can the Protestants
go on thinking of themselves as the 'good guys' ? The Middle Eastern Protestant
Church, which has always found its reason for existence in reaction, in
protest, to the Orthodox, itself is feeling increasingly threatened as
the Orthodox Churches experience renewal. " 34
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church
has been a daughter church of the See of Alexandria since its foundation
in the fourth century and for generations the Coptic Pope consecrated an
Egyptian monk to serve as the Abuna, or sole bishop of the Ethiopian Church.
During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (1935-1941) the Abuna was exiled
and attempts were made to detach the Church from the See of Alexandria.
Following independence the Abuna was restored to office and an agreement
was reached with the Holy Synod that at his death a native Ethiopian would
be consecrated Abuna and that the number of bishops would be increased.
The Holy Synod was very
reluctant to make further concessions and relations were further complicated
by the Ethiopians refusal to accept the deposition of Yusab II, whom they
still regarded as Pope. Under Pope Kyrillos VI, however, relations improved
markedly and in 1959 the Ethiopian Abuna was raised to the status of a
Patriarch-Catholicos.35 The Emperor Haile Selassie, who was a devout Orthodox
Christian, hosted the first conference of leaders of the Oriental Orthodox
Christian Churches in Addis Ababa in 1965, which enabled these ancient
churches to speak with a united voice for the first time since the fifth
century
Sadly, the 1974 Revolution,
which deposed the Emperor and brought economic and social chaos in its
wake, also resulted in tension between the Ethiopian and Coptic Churches,
when the latter refused to accept as canonical the removal and replacement
of a new Patriarch resulting from government interference. The changed
political situation enabled agreement to be reached in 1994, but Pope Shenouda's
willingness to consecrate bishops for the newly independent Eritrea and
to recognise its ecclesiastical independence from Ethiopia has led to further
tension.
To the Ethiopians this was
the detachment of part of its jurisdiction and it vigorously protested
at the move, but Pope Shenouda and the Holy Synod, as the ultimate authority,
saw no good reason why the Eritreans should not enjoy the same status that
the Ethiopians had won for themselves. In the history of world Orthodoxy
the willingness to recognise that daughter churches eventually come of
age has been rare and much bitterness and wasted effort has preceded the
inevitable recognition of a fait accompli. In my opinion the willingness
of Pope Shenouda to support the just demands of the Eritreans rather than
clinging on to the last remnants of his historical prerogatives says much
about the desire of the Coptic Church to support and encourage the Orthodox
faith rather than stifle its indigenous expression by insisting on its
'rights'.
As one of the Oriental Orthodox
Churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church began an informal dialogue with the
Eastern Orthodox Churches with fruitful meetings at Aarhus (1964), Bristol
(1967), Geneva (1970) and Addis Ababa (1971). By 1985 these had developed
into a series of official consultations and the establishment of a Joint
Commission representing the two families of Orthodox churches. By 1990
agreement had been reached on Christology and an agenda set for eventual
reunion.
In 1971 the Copts, as part
of the Oriental Orthodox family, took part in the Pro-Oriente dialogue
held in Vienna with the Roman Catholic Church. It was at this first meeting
that Abba Shenouda, the Coptic representative, devised the so-called "Vienna
Christological Statement" which proved a breakthrough in future dialogues.
Only weeks later he was elected as Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria. This
was followed in 1973 by Pope Shenouda's visit to Rome, where he and Pope
Paul VI signed a common declaration on Christology and church unity as
well as establishing an international commission for dialogue between the
Coptic and Roman Catholic churches.
Dialogue with the Anglican
Church began in 1985 and with the Evangelical Church of Germany in 1988.
Only at the beginning of this year the Coptic Church began a promising
dialogue with the Assyrian Church of the East. The Coptic Orthodox Church
is particularly characterised in all its ecumenical dialogue by a profoundly
theological approach, witnessing faithfully to the Orthodox tradition and
not clouding the issues by a desire to reach agreement at any cost.
When the British occupied
Egypt in 1882 the Copts anticipated a new era of religious freedom and
generally welcomed the presence of a Christian nation. This attitude soon
soured as they began to realise that 'perfidious Albion' was more concerned
with protecting its own commercial interests than with assisting the Christian
minority and that the demands of the Muslim majority were frequently granted.
In 1911 a Coptic Congress had been held at Assuit against the wishes of
Pope Kyrillos V, who feared further inflammation of sectarian unrest in
the aftermath of the assassination of Boutros Ghali, the only Christian
prime minister.37 This demanded equal rights for Copts and greater participation
in government. During the struggle for Egyptian independence the Copts
joined with the Muslims in the Nationalist cause and the Ward Party, which
spearheaded this movement, received wide support. Although the Coptic community
had generally benefited from the rule of Mohammed Ali's dynasty, they welcomed
the declaration of religious liberty proclaimed by the 1952 Revolution.38
At first the new government
behaved very positively towards the Copts and as a secular Socialist state
they and the Muslim leaders were encouraged to play their part as community
leaders. Pope Kyrillos VI and President Nasser seem to have established
a genuine rapport and when Nasser laid the foundation stone of the new
Saint Mark's Cathedral at Abbassiyah in Cairo, the Coptic Church was recognised
as a significant presence in the nation. Although the Pope made pronouncements
on social and international concerns which were in accord with government
policy, the church never allowed herself to become subservient to the state,
as happened so widely in Communist countries, and therefore her spiritual
authority and integrity were not compromised.
The death of Nasser in 1970
and the era ofAnwar Sadat marked a steady reshaping of Egypt's political
structures. In 1971 President Sadat altered the second article of the constitution
and made Shari 'ah a principal source of legislation. In 1977 the government
introduced bills which prescribed the death penalty for those who had abandoned
their Islamic faith and prohibited Copts who had converted to Islam from,
after a divorce, returning to Christianity.39 The 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace
Treaty won much acclaim for Sadat in the Western world but left him facing
bitter hostility from a resurgence of Islamic Fundamentalism, which he
had himself encouraged at an earlier stage but which had since gone its
own way.40
A crackdown on religious
opposition and intercommunal strife led to the imprisonment and exile of
many Muslim leaders and, in a show of even-handedness, Sadat ordered the
arrest of many Coptic leaders, including Pope Shenouda, who was exiled
to the monastery of El-Anba Bishoi from September 1981 to January 1985.
As the spokesman of the
constitutional rights of the Coptic community, which was suffering increasingly
from attacks by Muslim fundamentalists and the government's inaction in
the face of these abuses, Pope Shenouda was undoubtedly an irritant. The
government was embarrassed by the actions of Coptic activists in America
whose protests exposed its unwillingness to accord the Copts the equality
which the law promised, but had failed to deliver. In 1980, by unanimous
decision of the Holy Synod in protest at the government's treatment of
the Coptic community, the public celebrations which traditionally followed
Easter were cancelled and the Pope and bishop all retired to the monastery
of Anba Bishoi. Sadat's accusations, however, that Pope Shenouda and the
clergy were engaged in a conspiracy to partition Egypt and establish a
Christian state in Upper Egypt with Assuit as its capital, were completely
unjustified but gave seeming legitimacy to his treatment of the Pope.41
Sadly the precedent of 1892 (and even 1955) was there as the basis for
erecting a commission of five bishops to administer the church during his
suspension from office. In reality the Pope continued to govern the church
and his increased popularity prevented the government moving towards his
complete deposition, whilst those who co-operated with the government sacrificed
their credibility and called into question their own motives.42
The assassination of Sadat
at the hands of Muslim extremists in the army brought Hosni Mubarek to
power. Under his cautious approach the way was opened up for the Pope's
triumphal return to office. The present government's robust action against
Islamic Fundamentalism has caused it to value the contribution of moderate
religious leaders and official relations with the Coptic Church have undoubtedly
improved. Pope Shenouda and the moderate Muslim leadership maintain close
relations and at the traditional feasts of each community there are exchanges
of greetings and courtesy visits. The banqueting hall in the Coptic Patriarchate
displays the cross and the crescent together, the symbol of Christian-Muslim
peaceful coexistence.
Although faced with serious
economic and social problems the Egyptian government remains a firm bastion
against this rising tide of Islamic Fundamentalism.43 The Coptic Orthodox
Church, with an estimated membership of around seven million, makes up
95.2 % of the Christians in Egypt, with the Catholic Copts and Protestants
numbering only 100,000 each. There can be no doubt that should it fail
in its endeavours, the flood would not only engulf the Coptic and other
Christian communities in Egypt but would also threaten the peace and security
of the world at large.44 Only against this background can one fully appreciate
the delicacy and significance of Pope Shenouda's position and be grateful
for the spiritual resources which sustain and renew this remarkable Christian
community.
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