The Spiritual Priest (1)
Pastoral Care
The Spiritual Priest (1)
He Cares for Everyone to Save Them
A priest must be spiritual, for spiritual work is summarized in the following phrase from the Didascalia: “Let the bishop care for everyone to save them.” The bishop works through his priests, and the priests work through their deacons. Therefore, the work of the bishop, priest, and deacon is to care for everyone to save them. Since the work is salvific, its servant must be a spiritual person.
The phrase “everyone” means all—young and old, those who attend church and those who do not, the religious and the non-religious. A priest is mistaken if he thinks his own are only those who attend church. Likewise, a Sunday School teacher is mistaken if he believes his concern is limited to those listed on his register. Rather, he must care for everyone, including the youths who wander around and enter places of entertainment. The priest should care for his enemy and his friend to save them, even for the committee members who trouble him—to save them.
The phrase “everyone” does not mean only the Orthodox, but all denominations, for they are also his flock.
The pastoral ministry has an evangelistic side—preaching to unbelievers so they may believe. He cares for everyone. Our apostolic fathers used to go to pagan regions “to work there,” ordaining bishops over lands where there was not even one Christian. You enter into what you have not labored for—you serve in an established Church with faithful members already present. But the apostles went to lands without churches, without faith, without Christian people, yet they still felt that those pagans were their flock.
If the bishop strives to save everyone, he must first know who they are—their names and where they live. Hence, a thorough survey of the area in which he serves is essential, so that he may know his flock. For the Lord Jesus says that He knows His sheep and calls them by name (John 10). We do not mean only knowing their names but also their circumstances, problems, and the obstacles that keep them from being united with God.
How beautiful it is for a shepherd to have a strong memory!
Many people feel lost in the crowd, forgotten among many names, as if the priest’s memory has no room for them. Thus, they feel neglected. And if one of these strays away and is taken by another denomination, only then does the priest remember that this person was once his spiritual child.
How often do shepherds complain about outsiders interfering while they themselves know nothing! They blame others, yet do nothing themselves.
Therefore, the priest must know his flock and study their condition. And if he cannot do so alone—and often he cannot—he should employ many helpers. There are so many unused talents in the Church that, if not used by her, may be used by the devil, by other denominations, or by worldly activities.
To Save Them:
Many shepherds care for people, but not for the salvation of their souls. Some focus only on secondary matters—resolving material, social, or family problems—and stop there without thinking of the people’s salvation.
This is like parents who care about their children’s schooling, health, food, and clothing but never about the salvation of their souls. A father is deeply troubled if his child falls ill, yet unconcerned if the child walks away from God. A mother cares for her daughter’s appearance but not whether she will enter the Kingdom!
The salvation of the soul is the most important thing—the cornerstone of the shepherd’s work. All other tasks are merely means to this goal.
A priest may care greatly about people attending church, but attendance is only a means toward salvation. A person may attend church and yet not be saved! Many shepherds care only about outward religious appearances, without reaching the depth of the heart and its union with God.
Sadly, some shepherds think that “salvation” is a term limited to “Soul-Saving Societies.” If a servant speaks about it, they accuse him severely. If they could, they would delete from Scripture the verse: “Receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” Rarely does anyone preach on Paul’s words to Timothy: “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16). Salvation is the greatest, first, and deepest goal we seek—more deeply than those societies that assume their people are already saved.
The shepherd must work with true care—not as mere duty or job—but with a heart burning with zeal.
As St. Paul said: “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?” (2 Cor. 11:29). When he entered Athens, “his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols” (Acts 17:16). And Scripture says: “The zeal for Your house has consumed me” (Ps. 69:9), and again, “My eyes shed streams of tears because people do not keep Your law.”
We need shepherds who truly care—whose pastoral ministry is filled with emotion, power, and concern. Their hearts burn inwardly for their flock. They stand before God day and night for the repentance of their children. They strive, labor, and persevere, giving no sleep to their eyes until they find a dwelling for the Lord in every heart. Their concern is expressed in visitation, preaching, and service—all for the salvation of souls.
They are not overtaken by routine service or distracted by liturgical duties. For them, salvation is everything.
Care, for the priest and shepherd, carries the meaning of compassion in service, labor, and visitation, not hiding shortcomings with excuses. The true servant does not easily despair, even with the most hardened souls.
He cares for everyone to save them. Whoever cares for a soul’s salvation does not rest until he sees it saved, using every possible means. As we say to the Lord in the Divine Liturgy: “You have bound me with all the remedies leading to life.” People can distinguish between a spirit of genuine care and mere formality.
The Priest and the Care of Servants
I would like to speak about caring for servants who themselves serve others. This involves many aspects of their work, thought, and the growth of ministry.
Among the priest’s responsibilities for servants is ensuring the Orthodoxy of teaching, because some servants teach their personal ideas, which may oppose Church teaching or result from strange influences. We have indeed seen well-known examples of this in past years, both in Cairo and other provinces—some have left Orthodoxy and joined other denominations. Others formed groups of youths and servants who follow their thoughts, defend them, and become enthusiastic about them.
As a result, some ministry branches have developed their own unique character, lacking unity of spirit and thought, each distinguished by its own spiritual, intellectual, and activity style.
Another noticeable issue is the independence of service and servants.
You may find a general secretary of a service branch appointing or removing servants at will—often keeping those who agree with his opinions and obey him, dismissing those who differ. Thus, all the servants become mere followers shaped by his style.
Some servants have even deviated spiritually to the point of attacking the priesthood through publications and writings, leading a generation in that same spirit.
Restoring such people to the right spiritual path is the responsibility of the Church leadership—the bishops and priests alike.
Who now shepherds the servants and oversees their ministry? If they are without guidance or mentorship, that poses a danger to the Church, to the servants themselves, and to future generations.
There should therefore be a unified curriculum of teaching in all its details, covering all age stages—from preschool to primary, preparatory, secondary, university, youth, workers, and village programs. This curriculum should be prepared by the Supreme Committee of Church Education Schools, printed, published, and distributed to churches. The priests should supervise the servants and coordinators in its implementation.
Alongside the curriculum, there should be textbooks. It is easy for a servant to adhere to a topic title yet deviate in details according to his own interpretation. But the textbook binds him to sound teaching, preventing deviation, and also serves to unify thought in education.
There should also be a program for training servants—spiritually, educationally, and theologically—so that we may ensure that those who teach in the Church are faithful, competent, and capable of conveying the Church’s message to others. Thus, we guarantee that future servants share one spirit and one mind.
Since many priests today are chosen from among the servants, by caring for the servants we are also preparing the priests of the future.
Therefore, the care of servants must be the concern of the general Church leadership, the General Committee for Church Education, and the holy bishops, each within his diocese.
But what about the role of each priest in his church?
Here are some key points:
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Care for the church library—its adequacy and Orthodoxy. Books should be reviewed to ensure sound teaching, removing unsound ones and confirming that the library serves all age groups.
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Supervision of each servant’s spiritual life—their confession, communion, prayer, fasting, and other means of grace. The priest should ask about their reading habits to ensure they are not following heretical or questionable writings.
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Maintaining the servant’s discipleship, so that he does not grow proud.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, at St. Anthony’s Church in Shubra, each servant attended four meetings for his own discipleship: the family meeting, the general servants’ meeting, the youth meeting every Thursday, and the large Sunday class (first taught by Dr. Ragheb Abdel Nour, later succeeded by me when he was appointed a doctor in Luxor and Gaza). -
Care for servants’ conferences to unify spirit.
These conferences gather servants from many churches under one leadership (currently supervised by H.G. Bishop Moussa and H.G. Bishop Raphael). Often, other bishops, priests, and senior servants participate. Such gatherings unify thought, curriculum, and doctrinal understanding, providing space for questions and answers. They also help detect and correct any strange teachings.
It is the duty of priests to ensure that the servants of their churches are not isolated from the general educational current of the Church represented in these study meetings.
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Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, published in Watani Newspaper on August 13, 2006.
