Pope...

[Timothy]

I've heard the word Pope, used to describe His Holiness Shenouda III. I was wondering is this a title of respect as of 'Father' of the flock of the Coptic church, or is it more than that, more in the Roman sense of the word? I've heard nothing but good about Shenouda from the people that know of him--my father was very impressed with his direct Bible teachings, and things like that, so I'm very interested in the Coptic church.

In His love,
Timothy

 

[erinipassi]

Hi Timothy ,

Welcome to the Coptic Orthodox Forum!

I gave a brief History of our Church and the concept of Pope in a thread called "Conversion" p.3 and in another thread called the "Coptic & Oriental Orthodox". But allow me to copy and paste some of the things I already said so that it makes sense for you:

The Apostle who came to preach Christianity to Egypt was St. Mark the Apostle. He is our first Patriarch or Pope. Our current Patriarch or Pope is H. H. Pope Shenouda III who is the 117th Pope after St. Mark. Our concept of Pope differs from the Catholic definition in that we don't believe there has to be only One Pope or that he is infallible, but that he is a wise and holy Shephard among other Shephards. We don't believe in the existance of only one Pope because there were many Apostles and they were all Patriarchs. So in the Coptic Orthodox we acknowledge other Patriarchs who have been faithful in preserving the faith and what was handed down.


The role of each Patriarch in the Coptic Orthodox Churches is to make sure that the faith and doctrines that were handed down by the Apostles are preserved unchanged. You will see for example in Acts it mentions, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2: 42 New King James Version)

Things that are practiced in the Coptic Orthodox Church are handed down from the Apostles, we call them “Oral Traditions”. Before the bible was ever written, correct beliefs and worship was passed down orally. So the correct context of a particular verse from the bible comes from understanding what the Early Church fathers taught. St. Paul says, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” ( 2 Thessalonians 2:15 NKJV)


To read more on the history and the practice of the Coptic Orthodox Church, here is a good website:
http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/
http://www.copticcentre.com/Introduction.html
http://www.suscopts.org/literature/orthodoxfaith.html

love and blessings
erini

 

[Timothy]

Many thanks, that answered my question. Pope is basically another way of saying Patriarch, in other words. I do believe in the 5 apostolic Patriarches... despite the fact that I'm Anglican. And like I say, from my friends in Egypt I have heard nothing but good about His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.

Timothy