The Church’s Policy in the Diaspora
The Church’s Policy in the Diaspora
This policy is centered on caring for all our children in the diaspora and caring for the new generation. The means of achieving this goal are explained in the following points:
1- Establishing Churches:
This is done in every place where there are Coptic communities. Indeed, the matter reached the establishment of many churches in one area, such as establishing ten churches or more in each of Sydney, Australia; Los Angeles, California; and the New York and New Jersey area.
The establishment of churches was associated with sending or ordaining the priest fathers.
Preparing or selecting priests was a great effort for the Mother Church. This matter was not easy, because not every priest is suitable for ministry in the diaspora, whether in terms of language or pastoral style.
It is enough that we sent about 150 priests to serve in the diaspora. Gradually, the matter developed into ordaining some of our sons who serve in the diaspora, or who were born there. These possessed several qualifications: among them mastery of the language, familiarity with the surroundings and environment and their cultural and social characteristics, and also the ease of obtaining visas and residency. Added to this was the nomination of the people there.
We came to have Coptic churches on every continent of the world.
And for the first time, what we say about the Church in the Divine Liturgy applied to our Coptic Church: “Which exists from one end of the inhabited world to the other.”
2- The Increase of the Priest Fathers:
After each church had only one priest, many of the large churches came to have two priests or more.
The first example of this was St. Mark Church in Kensington, London, where Hegumen Antonios Farag, Hegumen Antonios Thabet, and Hegumen Bishoy Boshra served.
In Australia, there are many churches, each served by two priests, including:
The Church of Archangel Michael and Anba Bishoy, served by Hegumen Mina Neamatallah and Fr. Antonios Kaldas.
The Church of Anba Abram and the Coptic Center, served by Hegumen Daniel El Antony and Fr. Sourial Youssef.
The Church of Anba Antony in Guildford, served by Hegumen Tadros Samaan and Fr. Shenouda Mansour.
St. George Church in Sydney, served by Fr. Marcos Khalla and Fr. Raphael Eskander.
St. Mark Church in Sydney, served by Hegumen Moussa El Soryany and Fr. Panoub Magdy.
The Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Mina, served by Fr. Samuel Wadih and Fr. Pavlos Hanna.
The Church of the Virgin Mary in Melbourne, Australia, is served by Fr. Tadros Cherubim and Fr. Makarios Wahba.
As is the case in Australia, so it is also in Los Angeles.
St. Mark Church is served by Hegumen Bishoy Gabriel and Fr. Marcos Hanna.
The Church of the Virgin Mary is served by Hegumen Antonios Hanin and Fr. Mina Albert.
St. George Church is served by Hegumen Ibrahim Aziz and Fr. Bishoy Michael.
The Church of St. John the Beloved is served by Hegumen Georgios Attallah and Fr. Augustinos Hanna.
The Church of Archangel Michael is served by Hegumen Philemon Michael and Fr. Athanasius Ragheb.
The Church of St. Athanasius is served by Hegumen Antonios Younan and Fr. Bishoy Aziz.
The same situation exists in New York and New Jersey:
St. Mark Church is served by Hegumen Tadros Yacoub and Fr. Abram Soliman.
St. George Church in Bergen is served by Hegumen Antonios Ragheb and Fr. Dawood Bebawy.
The Church of Anba Abram in Long Island is served by Fr. Michael Tobia and Fr. George Sobhy.
The Church of the Virgin Mary and Anba Antony is served by Fr. Youhanna Tadros and Fr. Antonios Makarios.
The same is true of St. Mark Church in Detroit.
It is served by Hegumen Raphael Sobhy and Fr. Mina Isaac.
All this indicates the expansion of the ministry and the crowded churches with worshippers.
There is no doubt that this is a great success for the ministry and the care of the people in the diaspora.
Although our churches in the diaspora have now reached 127 churches, there are still areas where churches will soon be established, God willing, because after establishing churches in the large communities, we began establishing others in the smaller communities.
3- The Broad Translation Movement:
We first began by translating the Divine Liturgy into many languages, such as English, French, German, Italian, and Dutch… along with translating it into many African languages, including Amharic, Swahili, and Zulu languages, etc.
Then the other liturgical books were translated, such as the Katamaros, the Synaxarium, the Pascha, the Psalmodia, and some of the Church hymns.
The translation then developed until it also included spiritual books, the Lives of the Saints, and some books on doctrine, theology, and Church history.
This was done in order to establish our children firmly in their faith and acquaint them with their Church.
4- Unifying the Regulations of the Churches
Each church had its own law or constitution, which they called a Constitution or By-Laws. We therefore began to unify all of these, taking into consideration the differences that exist in the local laws of each country or state.
We were assisted in this by the sincere and tremendous effort made by our son, Mr. Magued Riad El-Deiry, the Pope’s legal advisor in America.
God willing, we shall continue this in the remaining countries.
5- Caring for the Youth:
In order to unify the thinking of the youth and protect them from any doctrinal or moral deviation amid the Western currents existing in the countries of the West, we worked to hold conferences for them and cultural seminars under the supervision of His Grace Anba Moussa and the priest fathers in every area. Other bishop fathers also participated in these conferences, such as Their Graces Anba Roueiss, Anba Antonios Markos, and Anba Thomas.
The problems and questions of the youth were presented and answered, and there was also the study of some issues that concerned the youth, in an atmosphere of lectures and dialogue.
The Church also took interest in publishing a Coptic magazine in the English language, which was translated by two churches in Rome into the Italian language as well. The next step in this regard is to have a unified magazine also in the French language and in the German language.
There is also interest in the Sunday School classes, and the next stage, God willing, will witness the unification of their curricula in all the churches of the diaspora.
During every trip to Germany, time is set aside to sit with the youth, speak with them, and listen to them.
6- Episcopal Care:
The goal of His Holiness the Pope was first to establish the churches, and then to provide episcopal care afterward. For when he began his responsibility, there were only two churches in each of America, Canada, and Australia, and one church in London. It was not reasonable to ordain bishops for these regions.
Therefore, the pastoral policy was to send bishops to them from Egypt to supervise their pastoral work, learn about their needs, and solve their problems. Among these bishops were Their Graces Anba Bishoy, Anba Tadros, Anba Roueiss, and Anba Serapion.
To Australia, Their Graces Anba Antonios Markos and Anba Markos were sent successively. They were also frequently visited by His Grace Anba Moussa and His Grace Anba Isaiah, and they were likewise cared for by His Grace Anba Bishoy.
For our monasteries in the West, His Grace Anba Sarabamon was sent for the spiritual work there.
From time to time, His Holiness the Pope sends His Grace Anba Paula to study and resolve matters of personal status in America, Australia, and Europe.
Gradually, the matter developed into forming regions or dioceses under the care of a general bishop.
As happened with the southern United States: the region extending from Atlanta eastward, including Florida, and stretching to the western part of the continent. It is currently under the care of His Grace Anba Youssef, the General Bishop, and it can be converted into a diocese with its own bishop.
Likewise, a bishopric was established in Birmingham under the care of His Grace Anba Missael.
Nor should we forget the establishment of a diocese for those who joined the Coptic Church from outside Egypt.
Among these are many African churches that joined our Church, in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. Their care also includes the care of the Copts in those regions. A bishopric was established for all of these in Africa under the care of His Grace Anba Antonios Markos, together with a large group of priest fathers.
Another diocese was established for the French who joined our Church in France, under the care of His Grace Anba Markos, our Metropolitan there, assisted by His Grace Bishop Anba Athanasius.
And a third diocese for the British Orthodox who joined our Church, under the care of His Grace Anba Seraphim, our Metropolitan there.
7- Theological Education:
To preserve the faith among the Copts in the diaspora, branches of the Theological Seminary were established, including:
- A branch of the Seminary in Sydney, Australia.
- A branch in Los Angeles, California.
- A branch in Jersey City in the eastern United States.
Specialized seminary professors teach in all of these theological institutes, and the Pope himself began teaching theology there.
There is also an idea of establishing other branches of the Seminary. Enrollment in the Seminary in the diaspora is also under study.
8- Coptic Schools:
This is for raising the new generation of our children in a pure educational environment, far from the deviations of the West.
The students study their regular academic subjects under the supervision of the Ministry of Education in those countries, and alongside that they study the Coptic language, hymns, and religion according to our Orthodox faith.
The pioneering experiment in Melbourne, Australia, was successful, and study there expanded, with increasing enrollment, as we have previously published.
Approval was obtained from the Federal Government to establish a Coptic school in Sydney, Australia. There are also projects to establish similar schools in both Los Angeles and New York. We pray to the Lord that these schools will spread, after we have reaped remarkable results from the first of them.
9- Seminars for the Priest Fathers
His Holiness the Pope held several seminars for the priest fathers, the most recent of which was attended by eighty priest fathers from the United States and Canada.
Other seminars were held in Birmingham for the fathers serving all the churches of Europe.
Seminars were also held for the priest fathers of all the cities of Australia.
All of these seminars included a pastoral program, together with answers to all the doctrinal or liturgical questions presented by the priests of the diaspora.
All of this was for the purpose of unifying doctrinal and spiritual thought among the priest fathers and establishing one pastoral approach for all. These seminars achieved great success, and they also served as a means of connecting the priest fathers with one another as they came from many different places. They also presented reports on their ministry to His Holiness the Pope so that he could follow up on their work.
10- Our Monasteries in the Diaspora:
The monasteries are centers of spiritual illumination in the countries of the diaspora, as people visit them for blessings, and some young people also spend periods of spiritual retreat in Retreat Houses.
A monastery was established for us in the California desert on land measuring about 240 feddans. It was recognized by the Holy Synod, and a bishop, His Grace Anba Karas, was ordained for it.
Another monastery was also established in Melbourne, Australia, on an area of about 16 feddans. There is another monastery under establishment; its buildings have been completed, and His Holiness the Pope will send monks to populate it after a few months. It has land exceeding one hundred feddans.
His Holiness the Pope directed that the monks of these monasteries should not serve in the churches of the diaspora, so that they might preserve their monastic character and not move from dedication to worship to ministry.
11- Freedom of Action:
His Holiness the Pope granted freedom of action to our churches in the diaspora. The council of each church operates with complete freedom in the administrative and financial affairs of the church, without the Pope intervening in these matters, unless a problem arises that requires His Holiness’s intervention to resolve it. In such a case, he delegates one of the bishop fathers to study the matter before a decision is made.
For this reason, the churches grew stronger, and their buildings and projects increased.
Churches that had been in rented or borrowed buildings came to have their own buildings, either by purchasing churches and adapting them according to the Coptic rite, or by purchasing land and building churches, service facilities, Sunday School facilities, and residences for the priests.
Likewise, many churches purchased houses and land for their projects.
Some churches established schools, as happened in Melbourne, Australia.
Other churches hosted the Theological Seminary, as happened with St. Mark Church in Sydney, Australia; St. George Church in Bergen, New Jersey; and St. George Church in California.
Among the projects carried out by some churches were the Coptic Village project and a nursing home established by the Church of Archangel Michael in Melbourne, Australia, and a nursing home project established by the Church of the Archangel in Sydney.
In all of this, the Mother Church provides assistance and encouragement and calls upon the people to contribute.
12- The Pope’s Visits to the Diaspora:
These are numerous pastoral visits to study the condition of our churches and our children firsthand, to learn what they need, and to meet with the priest fathers, the servants, and the members of the congregation.
During these visits, dozens of churches and altars were consecrated, along with a very large number of icons. Deacons were also ordained for the churches from among the youth, and even from among the children to the rank of Apsaltos (that is, chanter), which causes them to become attached to the Church, its rites, its holiness, and its hymns. His Holiness the Pope even baptized many children in the countries of the diaspora, something that had not happened before.
Another important result of the Pope’s visits to the diaspora was that foreigners came to know the Coptic Church.
Many leaders of the Western churches, members of the clergy, as well as public officials, mayors, and civil and academic leaders attended church consecrations, reception ceremonies, or dinner banquets, during which speeches were delivered about the Coptic Church, its history, and its authenticity.
The Pope was also invited to deliver lectures at some universities and institutes, such as his lecture at the University of Sydney in Australia, attended by about five thousand people, and lectures at the University of Bonn in Germany, which were attended by astonishing numbers, as well as lectures in Claremont, San Francisco, and elsewhere.
There was also what the foreign newspapers and magazines published about those meetings and lectures, and the effect of all this on our children in the diaspora, and their sense of their importance and presence in Western society.
13- Social Work
Just as the Church cared for its children in the diaspora from the ecclesiastical, spiritual, and doctrinal aspects, it also cared for them through social work. Thus, a branch of the Bishopric of Social Services was established in the diaspora.
This is because there are young people who may emigrate to the diaspora and find themselves lost, without a job or shelter, and in need of assistance. There may also be some who become unemployed because employers may dismiss many of their employees without restriction, and these people need someone to help them, in addition to the other social services that can be provided to new immigrants.
14- A Secretariat for the Diaspora:
His Holiness the Pope established a special office at the Papal Residence in Cairo for the affairs of the diaspora. It was supervised by His Grace Anba Yoannes, the General Bishop, before he became specifically responsible for overseeing Old Cairo.
His Grace Anba Youssef, the General Bishop, also participated in the activities of this office before he became specifically responsible for the pastoral care of the southern United States. It is now supervised by His Grace Anba Yoannes, the General Bishop, assisted by two monk fathers from the Pope’s Secretariat.
News of the diaspora reaches the office through letters, telephone, and fax, as well as through visits by the fathers from the diaspora. Files are kept for all the churches of the diaspora, and we hope in the near future to publish a book on the history of the churches of the diaspora from the beginning of their establishment until the present day.
15- A Future Outlook:
There remains a future outlook concerning the pastoral care of the Copts in the diaspora.
It is better to leave it for another issue in the future, God willing.
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