The People Have the Right to Choose Their Shepherd
The People Have the Right to Choose Their Shepherd
God’s Esteem for Freedom
It is the people’s right to choose the person they trust, the one in whose care they feel secure, and to whom they entrust their spiritual lives. God Himself loves this freedom and never forces anyone to act against his will, nor compels a person even toward what is good.
God, in His deep respect for freedom, granted humanity a freedom so great that we are able to break His commandments. He knew that giving man freedom would lead him to sin, and that forgiving this sin would require God Himself to become incarnate—to empty Himself, take the form of a servant, suffer, be insulted, struck, spat upon, crucified, die, be buried, and rise again. Yet, God was pleased to give man freedom, even though He would pay for it with the Incarnation, the Cross, and Death.
The Lord Fulfills the People’s Desire
The First Book of Samuel gives us a striking example of how God fulfilled the desire of the people. The Israelites wanted a king to rule over them. God was against this idea, for appointing a king meant rejecting Him as their direct ruler and desiring a human ruler instead.
God made clear that He opposed the idea and explained its disadvantages. Yet, when the people insisted on their request, God fulfilled it—though He disagreed with it.
Examples of the Lord granting His people’s desires, even against His own preference, are many throughout Scripture.
The People Choose Their Shepherds
The people have the right to choose all members of the clergy—not only bishops and priests but even deacons. In this matter, the Acts of the Apostles lays down a vital principle:
“Choose from among you… and we will appoint them” (Acts 6:3).
The apostles could easily have appointed deacons themselves, and no one would have objected. They were men known for holiness, miracles, and the trust and respect of all.
Yet they said to the people: “Select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this duty.”
Thus, the people choose, and the apostles lay on hands.
This principle is also made clear in the Didascalia, the Apostolic Canons, and other Church laws.
The Didascalia (chapter 36) says regarding the ordination of a bishop:
“Let the bishop be appointed by the choice of all the people according to the will of the Holy Spirit. Let it take place on a Sunday, with all the people consenting, and all the people and clergy bearing witness of him.”
In the ordination rite, it continues:
“The bishops shall lay their hands upon him, saying… and all the people shall say Amen. After this, let all the bishops embrace him, and let all the clergy and people say: Axios, Axios, Axios (‘Worthy, worthy, worthy’) and greet him in peace.”
The Apostolic Canons confirm the same:
Canon 21 states, “As we have said before, the bishop shall be chosen from among the whole congregation, without reproach… only when they have remembered him and approved him.”
Canon 52 further explains the ordination rite:
“The bishop shall be chosen by the consent of all the people together, in a holy and good election. If the people have mentioned and approved him, let all the people, the presbyters, and the bishops gather together on Sunday. The senior among them shall ask the clergy and the deacons, saying: ‘Is this the one you have chosen to be your head?’ And if they say, ‘Yes,’ he shall ask again, ‘Is he worthy of this great office? Has he conducted himself well and is he virtuous before God?’ If they all answer together, ‘Indeed he is,’ then he shall ask them a third time, ‘Is he worthy of this leadership?’ And if they again affirm his worthiness, let them all shake his hand in agreement.”
Canon 21 also adds: “All the people, clergy, and deacons shall gather together on Sunday, and all the bishops shall lay hands upon him joyfully.”
The second canon of Hippolytus also states: “The bishop is to be chosen from among all the people,” and that he is ordained in the week when “all the clergy and people together say: ‘We prefer him.’”
The Church has continued this principle throughout her generations.
In the Canons of Cyril ibn Laqlaq it is written:
“No one shall be ordained bishop unless he is known to be worthy, of good reputation, and approved by the people who present him.”
Likewise, in The Precious Jewel in Ecclesiastical Sciences by the scholar John ibn Zakaria (Ibn al-Siba‘), we read the following in the rite of episcopal ordination:
“On Sunday morning, the new bishop stands in one corner of the church with a lit candle before him. The Patriarch sends three bishops to take him and lead him around the church, so that all the congregation may see and know him. If anyone among the people knows of any fault in him that would prevent his ordination, he must declare it immediately so that the matter may be corrected before the ordination proceeds. If nothing is found against him, he is brought to the sanctuary, and the Patriarch lays his hand upon him.”
“If anyone objects, claiming that he is unworthy, the ordination shall be postponed for three months, during which the matter is investigated. If the accusation is proven, he shall not be ordained; but if it is not proven, the accuser shall be disciplined—if he is a priest, he shall be suspended; if a layman, he shall be punished accordingly.”
Such was the Church’s care to ensure that the people had the right to choose—and to approve—their shepherd.
So then, what is the proper way for the people to express their choice?
Article by His Grace Bishop Shenouda, Bishop of Education
El-Keraza Magazine, January–February 1965
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