How would you greet a bishop?

[dzheremi]

Yes, it does. Do Coptics do reverence?

Yes, of course! You can see in this clip of his arrival to California (taken from various churches within the dioceses here) that HH is greeted by people who bow, kiss his hand cross and his hand. This is also what we do for bishops, because the Pope is a bishop in our Coptic Orthodox ecclesiology (not a separate office; see the note at the end of this post). We also sing hymns like the Greek "Evlogimenos" (as you can hear in the video) and Coptic "Pi-Ehmot Ghar" upon his visit. "Evlogimenos" is also sung on Palm Sunday (for obvious reasons) and upon the entrance of any bishop, but "Pi-ehmot Ghar" is specifically a 'Papal' hymn (it's apparently actually a part of the people's responses during the Liturgy of the Word; as you might imagine, I've never gotten to sing it, so I'm going by how it's listed on tasbeha.org Coptic hymns website).

And below is the Papal hymn "Pi-ehmot Ghar", since you don't get to hear it in the video. Hopefully the time code works (it starts at 0:43).

Translation:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with your saintly spirit, my lord the honored father the high priest Papa Abba (Tawadros).

[If a Metropolitan is present]
And our father the Metropolitan Abba (...).

[If a Bishop is present]
And our father the Bishop Abba (...)

May the clergy and all the people be safe in the Lord. Amen. So it shall be.

+++

(The weird ending is because we say "Amen", but then we say Eseshobi, which is Coptic for 'Amen', which of course means 'So it shall be', 'Let it be so', etc. So I guess they couldn't just translate it "Amen and Amen" or something, even though it means the same thing. It's just saying it twice because the Church would've still had native Coptic speakers in it until the 14th century or so, and we always want to make sure everyone understands. That's also why to this day almost all the deacon's responses in every Coptic liturgy are in Greek. When we still celebrated together, before Chalcedon and even a little while after it, we needed to accommodate both the Greeks/Hellenized Egyptians and the non-Hellenized Egyptians.)

(p.s. - I didn't catch the bit about greeting a Pope; in Arabic, we use sayedna as well, because in our ecclesiology the Pope is a bishop not a separate office, but add to it El Baba سيدنا البابا "Our Master, Pope ____")

 

[W2L]

If I saw a bishop holding icons i would feel uneasy.

 

[Not David]

If I saw a bishop holding icons i would feel uneasy.

What about Taylor Swift holding icons?

 

[dzheremi]

Anything that gets her to pray, I suppose...

 

[W2L]

What about Taylor Swift holding icons?

It would tell me about her religion, one im not comfortable with.

 

[dzheremi]

I think someone's a little afraid they might get a song written about them...

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

A polite nod of the head or a handshake. I won't make mention of his title, nor give any deference because of it.

 

[PloverWing]

Either a bishop, Patriarch, Pope, Ecumenical Patriarch. How would you greet that person? With a kiss, reverence?

For bishops in my own tradition, I'd say respect but not reverence. Respect, because he/she has responsibility for caring for the large number of people who make up the diocese, and because I have respect for all who are in pastoral roles -- it's hard work! Reverence feels wrong to me, because we are all called to be ministers of Christ through our baptism; clergy and laity have different ministries, but I don't see clergy as elevated in status above the laity. When I've met bishops in the past, I think I've usually greeted them with a handshake and said "Good morning" or "Good evening", as I would with any visiting member of the clergy.

For bishops or patriarchs in other traditions, I would look up their preferred title in an etiquette book and address them in the way they're accustomed to, to make them feel comfortable and properly respected.

I'm not one for kissing people I'm not married to, though. I'd try to avoid that one, if I could.

 

[brightlights]

I'd break wind right in his bishop face.

 

[Albion]

I'd break wind right in his bishop face.

I see that you call yourself a "pastor" on your personal information.

Wondering what Presbyterian church that might be?

 

[Not David]

I'd break wind right in his bishop face.

What's up with all this aggressiveness?

 

[Barney2.0]

I call them Abouna or Father just like priests or sayedna works too.

 

[SPF]

I'd break wind right in his bishop face.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

 

[dzheremi]

Wow. It is shocking and a little disconcerting to see how many people here want to give 'edgy' responses to show their distrust/dislike/disagreement with church hierarchy. I wonder if these same people would behave in the same way towards their bosses in their secular lives, too. That's a sure way to get fired, so how much more is it damaging to a person to behave in a disrespectful manner towards a Christian prelate for the sake of registering their protest against whatever they think he or his church stands for? Are we not to treat others how we ourselves would like to be treated, even if we do not reverence clergy in whatever particular tradition? Christ our Lord and God did after all say that to love our neighbor as ourselves is one of the two greatest commandments upon which hang all of the Law, and I don't recall any exception to that if our neighbor is a clergyman (as he inevitably is; everyone is to be treated that way, and you'll have a hard time finding a historical source that would treat it otherwise in the case of clergy, since it is the historical norm to show great reverence to them, as ministers and servants of God).

 

[DanishLutheran]

Either a bishop, Patriarch, Pope, Ecumenical Patriarch. How would you greet that person? With a kiss, reverence?

I've greeted several bishops. Handshake.

 

[DanishLutheran]

With a smack in the face. Just kidding.
I'd definitely inquire about all the child abuse allegations and cover ups though to the Pope.

Not all churches are like yours, though, so you would more than likely be barking up the wrong tree

 

[bekkilyn]

I just call him or her Bishop ______, as in "Hello, Bishop ________, how are you?"

 

[Theophilus2019]

I met the Archbishop of Canterbury about six months ago and he was quite happy with “hello.”

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Either a bishop, Patriarch, Pope, Ecumenical Patriarch. How would you greet that person? With a kiss, reverence?

Man, can hardly deal with local pastors, an overseer over pastors would probably be even more controlling. I'd probably avoid and such.

 

[Halbhh]

Either a bishop, Patriarch, Pope, Ecumenical Patriarch. How would you greet that person? With a kiss, reverence?

Not any special elevation -- to God give the glory -- but definitely with friendly love (which is what many or most prefer). A certain respect for towards a good servant, if I know somehow they are a good servant, which is also my initial assumption before I know anything more of them.