Every now and then, talks about the conflict between modernity and ecclesial traditions at the Coptic Orthodox Church appear, but such talks doesn t bring any results for many reasons. Yet, I believe that such topic has to be discussed to improve the effectiveness of the Ministry.
It is worth noting that the Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the most important safety valves for the preservation of the Christian faith in the whole world and its history attests to this.
The faith in our Church derives from the Bible, then the teachings of the holy Fathers and the laws of the Holy Synods, and the Church s Scriptures. Modernization should take this heritage into account. Being open minded should help improving this, but being closed minded would take the church away from the reality. However, some people see modernity as enemy.
The church has to consider both sides: modernity and tradition since the treasures of the holy fathers doesn t separate us from the modern reality. We can still be in touch with our great history and contemporary reality at the same time.
Here, we should ask: did the fathers find solutions to problems like embryology, organs transplant, values of modernity, globalization, climate change, global warming and other things? I believe that these challenges are the result of a contemporary historical, sociological and cultural context, and therefore were not challenges in the early days of Christianity. It must be borne in mind that the answers are the result of studies and general awareness that touch reality.
We must understand patriarchal thought in its proper sense, which is treating our problems in a Christian spirit knowing the history of our church that preserved the faith for more than 2000 years during which the Holy Synod studied and took decisions to face many problems.
I believe the church needs to rearrange the home from inside concerning some administrative and organizational aspects in order to avoid conflicts. Experts should be consulted in their fields and tools for continuos supervision and accountability should be set. The congregation should be taken into consideration upon taking decisions and clergy should stay away from politics.
Everyone must renounce any personal disagreements and stay away from divisions giving preference to unity and peace of the Church to play its role effectively as a powerful living church to deliver the message of good news to the whole world.
