Details of the care provided by the priest father

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains that the care of the father-priest is wide in scope and includes spiritual, psychological, medical, financial, and social aspects, and that his duty is not limited to confession or rescuing people from sin only but also includes their spiritual growth and practical service.

Care principles and their details

• Spiritual care has two sides: a negative side (warning the person about sin and rescuing him) and a positive side (his growth in worship, prayer, fasting, reading and communion, and the fruits of the Spirit such as love, joy, and meekness).

• Those to be consecrated and servants must be prepared spiritually and trained for actual service, and it is not enough to have a large number of servants without qualifying them for consecration.

Practical methods of care

• Organizing service teams such as the kerygma teams and service convoys that go with equipment and means to villages and slum areas to provide social service and then turn it into spiritual service.

• Preparing illustrative materials and means (pictures, slides, films, theatrical materials) that attract people and teach them instead of frightening them.

• Following up branches and remote areas and establishing churches or service points when there is a sufficient number, and buying land early before prices rise.

Social and missionary dimension

• Caring for slum and marginalized areas is the church’s duty, because neglecting them leaves these areas to others.

• Work is not confined to the local church’s flock only; love and care must widen to include distant people and those “who have no one to remember them.”

Preparing servants and training

• Sending training teams for servants, and not making service exclusive to those inside the church only, but directing some servants to work in slum areas.

• Creating a bond of love between the priest and the servants, encouraging cooperation instead of competition, and involving youth in practical and spiritual works.

Coptic Orthodox spiritual conclusion

Pastoral care is practiced with love, patience, and practical and spiritual preparation; patience does not mean laxity or indulgence, but a balance between firmness and gentleness with the aim of guiding souls and spreading the word of God even to the ends of the earth.

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