The History of the Church in the Diaspora
The History of the Church in the Diaspora
His Holiness the Pope was concerned with two subjects in the history of our present age, namely:
The history of Sunday Schools since their establishment.
And the history of our Coptic Church in the diaspora.
And the history of our Coptic Church in the diaspora.
We thank God that, regarding Sunday Schools, he had contacted the old servants before the departure of some of them, so that they might write to him what they knew about this history. Among them we mention: Archpriest Bolos Bolos, Archpriest Solib Sourial, Dr. Ragheb Abdel Nour, Mr. Louis Zakry, the lawyer, and others.
Regarding the history of the Church in the diaspora, he began collecting it from the old immigrants, and much information reached His Holiness.
His Holiness the Pope contacted the fathers, the priests of the diaspora, so that they might collect this history for him, before it might be erased from the memory of some or become confused.
The history of the Church in the diaspora includes the following:
1- The history of the Coptic communities before the establishment of churches, their thinking about having churches of their own, and their efforts toward that.
2- The beginning of irregular priestly service, when one of the fathers, the priests, would visit those groups perhaps once a month.
3- The stage of renting church buildings from other denominations or borrowing them for some time.
4- The stage of purchasing churches, or purchasing land on which to build churches.
5- Priestly service: Which of the fathers, the priests, served the Church, whether he settled in its service or served it temporarily?
6- When did the Church have its own building?
7- When was the altar of the Church consecrated? And by whom? By the Pope or by a bishop delegated by him?
8- When were the icons and the baptismal font consecrated?
9- Does the Church have other buildings or other lands? Or pastoral projects that it carries out?
10- Does the Church serve other areas? When did the service begin? What are its schedules? And did some of them become established churches?
11- What activities does the Church carry out in the field of pastoral care, with details about them?
12- Details of the Sunday School service, the number of students at each stage, and the number of classes.
13- Who are the members of the Church Council? And what are the papal decisions that were issued concerning this?
14- Does the Church have a magazine? What is it? And does the Church have publications or books?
15- The financial condition of the Church. And does it have debts?
16- Sending a map representing the area of the Church, and the areas belonging to it or adjacent to it.
17- Sending pictures of the Church and its other buildings, and pictures of the fathers, the priests, the servants, the members of the Church Council, and the rest of those working in it.
18- Has Church membership been registered? And what is the number of families and the number of registered individuals, with their addresses and telephone numbers?
19- The address of the Church and its telephone numbers.
20- The address of the priest and his telephone number.
21- Is there a translation of all the liturgical books?
22- The services provided to the youth and children: Is there a library or a club for them? And do they participate in Church conferences?
And what types of visual aids are provided to them?
23- Is there a Coptic school? Or is there a project to establish a school or a nursery?
24- Does the Church have a home for the elderly? And does the Church have cemeteries?
25- Any other information about the Church and its activities that can be added.
*This information can be sent to His Holiness the Pope before his trip next September, God willing, or handed to him at the seminar.
* The Church in Australia has published a book about its history. But there is no doubt that new information has emerged after its publication.
* Likewise, we ask the Churches of Europe for a special report containing this information in order to write their history.
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