Oldal 14 [14]
GHADA BARSOUM — EMAN SHENOUDA
INTRODUCTION
“Leadership is not a thing to hold, but a journey through
the winds of time.
It is not a goal to reach but a bending towards the sun.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown were a historical moment of great
intensity and magnitude. The pandemic was not only a medical and economic
crisis, but also a psychological crisis due to the decline in people’s wellbeing.”
Research has documented how the pandemic impacted some of the factors
which have long been considered to have an effect on subjective well-being:
income, healthy life expectancy, social support, prevalence of generosity, and
freedom of choice.? This has prompted the need for spiritual and pastoral
services in different contexts. The pandemic has placed significant demands
on all churches and spiritual leaders, namely through the closure of churches,
a high volume of funeral services in many places, loneliness, and the impact
of the lockdown. The Coptic Church in Egypt was no exception.
This paper aims to address the approach of the leadership of the Coptic
Church in Egypt to service arrangements during the pandemic-induced lock¬
down. The Coptic Church is one of the oldest churches in the world, established
in Egypt after the apostolic visit by St. Mark to Egypt in the first century. In
terms of leadership structure, the Coptic Church is governed by a Holy Synod,
composed of bishops and archbishops and headed by the Coptic Pope. The
Coptic Church places particular emphasis on its history and its contributions
to early Christianity, including the introduction of the monastic tradition.*
The Church’s history is marked by its separation from the Greco-Roman Byz¬
antine world in the fifth century over theological schisms, and a legacy of
subjugation under Arab rule.** The Coptic population of modern-day Egypt is
estimated at fifteen million.’ In recent decades, the Church has built a
1 M.E. Moore: Leading Toward Excellence ... But Whose Excellence?, Religious Education, 118(3),
2023, 181-194. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2023.2219382
H.Zacher — C.W. Rudolph: Individual differences and changes in subjective well-being during
the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Am. Psychol. 76(1), 2021, 50-62, https://doi.
org/10.1037/amp0000702; G. Barsoum — M. Majbouri: COVID-19’s gendered effect on subjec¬
tive wellbeing in MENA countries. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 2025, 1574.
Helliwell et al.: Social environments for world happiness. World Happiness Rep. 2020, 13-45,
2020.
O. Meinardus: Two thousand years of Coptic Christianity. American Univ in Cairo Press, 2002.
Aziz S. Atiya: The Copts and Christian civilization. Annual Frederick William Reynolds lecture;
42. Salt Lake City, Utah: Published by the University of Utah Press, 1979.
Angaelos (Coptic Bishop of the UK): The Altar in the Midst of Egypt. A Brief Introduction to
the Coptic Orthodox Church. Coptic Orthodox Church Center, Stevenage, U.K., 2000.
Egypt Today. April 29, 2023. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/124041/Pope-Tawadros¬
II-Number-of-Copts-15-million-in-Egypt
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