his use. His dress in private life is the usual monastic one, a black cloak and black turban, but with the bishop's pectoral cross. Needless to say, like all Eastern clergy, he wears a beard. Photographs of the present Coptic Patriarch show him wearing a number of decorations given by various Governments (this is a weakness to which all Eastern prelates are subject), and holding the little cross with a handle with which he blesses people.[1]
In 1844 there were thirteen dioceses under the Coptic Patriarch, including Khartum, erected in 1835 for Nubia.[2] Six of these bishops have the title Metropolitan.[3] The only see outside Egypt is Al-Ḳuds (Jerusalem), of which the Coptic bishop lives at Jaffa. But the diocesan administration is hardly a reality. Beth says: "One cannot speak of any real diocesan administration among the Copts at all."[4] Namely, the bishops, in spite of their titles, live at Cairo and form the Patriarch's Curia; he alone exercises episcopal jurisdiction throughout Egypt. But I doubt how far this is now true. The bishops of Jerusalem and Khartum certainly reside in their dioceses; it seems that the present revival in the Coptic Church includes a movement towards making bishops look after their flocks. In 1897 the Patriarch increased the number of his episcopate to eighteen, making the abbots of the four chief monasteries bishops.[5] All bishops must be celibate, so all are monks. They dress as monks, with an episcopal pectoral cross. A great number of priests are ordained in masses without any preparation. One of the constant reproaches against this Church is the want of education among her clergy. Many priests cannot read even Arabic, still less Coptic. They say the Coptic prayers by heart, without understanding them; frequently in the liturgy the Gospel is read by a layman, because the priest cannot do so. Quantities are ordained without any provision being made for their work or maintenance. A priest
- ↑ Such a photograph may be seen in Archdeacon Dowling: The Egyptian Church, p. 10.
- ↑ The list in Silbernagl, pp. 289-290; cf. Vansleb: Hist. de l'Église d'Alexandrie, pp. 17-26.
- ↑ Butler says four only: Alexandria (separate from the Patriarchate?), Memphis, Jerusalem, Abyssinia (op. cit. ii. 313).
- ↑ Die orientalische Christenheit, p. 133.
- ↑ Their names and sees will be found in Mrs. Butcher: op. cit. ii. 429. Butler (op. cit. ii. 318) gives only fourteen sees, including three in Abyssinia.
