The Papal Pastoral Letter of Anba Kyrillos VI
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark
On the day of his enthronement
Sunday 10 May 1959, corresponding to 2 Bashans 1675 A. M. at the Cathedral of St Mark in Cairo
“And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.” (Heb 5:4)
My beloved brethren, the fathers the metropolitans and bishops, my dear sons the priests and deacons, and all the people within the See of St. Mark.
Grace, blessing and peace be multiplied to all of you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savour Jesus Christ. I thank my good God, the Lord of Glory, who has called me and chosen my weakness for this holy service. Not on account of worthiness, but because of His grace, to shepherd His blessed people, and for a service whose purpose is the exaltation of His glory, and the preparation of individuals and peoples for the inheritance of eternal life.
O my beloved, I am feeling in the depth of my soul the weightiness of the responsibility that has been placed upon my shoulders, and the sacred trust which has been fastened around my neck, and the talents which have been delivered to me by the Lord of the Church — which talents it is my duty to invest that they might grow and increase in value. Yet it is not I but the grace of God which shall work in me and through me. It is certain that the one who called me shall assist me in the service of the Apostolic See. Before me is His blessed promise: “I will go before you and make the crooked places, straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron” (Is 45:2).
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I am full of confidence in the mercies of our God who says to His Church: “‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ Says the Lord, your Redeemer” (Is 54:7-8)[1]The five years preceding Kyrillos’ enthronement as patriarch were turbulent and traumatic: the papal throne had sat empty since 1954 when Pope Yusab II was deposed amid reports of serious corruption, and adding salt to the wound, the Egyptian government had suddenly introduced oppressive “personal status” legislation that discriminated against Copts. As Daniel Fanous recently put it, the Church “was in an inconsolable state of mourning” (A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI (1902–1971), Life and Legacy (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2019): 210).
How needful the human being is of the service of the spirit, in an age where materialism, atheism, apostasy and deviant intellectual trends prevail! How needful people are to see Christ in our lives and to smell His sweet fragrance in us! The Church is faced with a critical duty at this stage to which the world has come today. She is called to promote faith in hearts, to spread virtue, to bring peace and serenity into every weary soul, so that tranquillity might abound and joy be multiplied. For the Lord Christ’s mission is to bring the best to human beings — “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10) — the chaste, pure, peaceful, calm and effective life which forms good, fruitful citizens and active members of the Church, who know how to be ever faithful to God, their homeland and the worldwide human community, co-operating with everyone, in a spirit of synergy, brotherhood and selflessness.
I am reliant upon the help of God and the love of all of you, which is so dear to me, being inspired by the spirit of the holy fathers, the popes and patriarchs of old, the successors of St Mark the Apostle, who fought the good fight and finished the race and kept the faith, and delivered to us the sacred deposit.[2]al-wadī‘a al-muqaddasa
But as for you, I hope to open my heart to you, that you might perceive the deep love for all therein; this is the love that emanates from the heart of our Saviour who loved us and redeemed us with His Blood. And so, I beseech all of you to persist in raising prayers for the safety of the Church and for my weakness, and for all the labouring servants. “You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes, and till He makes His Church a praise in the earth” (Is 62:6, 7).[3]Pope Kyrillos replaces “Jerusalem” with “His Church” in brackets to indicate the change.
And if our message is momentous and grave to such an extent, then the matter calls for a combination of power and struggle, until we all finish our race with joy (Acts 20:24). I am certain that my brothers the metropolitans and bishops and my blessed sons the priests and deacons and the members of the Majlis al-Milli (general and its subcommittees) and the various active societies and organisations, and the rest of the those who tend the Lord’s vineyard shall work united as one, co-operating with us in love, fidelity, generosity, and denial of pleasure. [All this] with the guidance and grace of the great ruler of the shepherds; that we might disappear, in order that He might appear in His blessed glory.
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I ask the Lord to give us all the one spirit and one heart and one mind, that we might work with one vision and one counsel which is the counsel of the Holy Spirit who has led the Church through all her long and glorious history; we have one, holy goal which is the glory of God and the service of the truth and the highest ideal.
“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus,” (Acts 20:24), knowing that my joy, pleasure, and the crown of my pride, is you. My joy is in your prosperity, and my delight is in the sureness of your faith, the strength of your hope, and the increase of your love.
May the God of all love and peace shepherd the people of the United Arab Republic and keep the life of the President Gamal Abd-Al Nasser, the President of the Republic, and support him with wisdom throughout his struggle for peace and the freedom of the peoples. We also direct our sincere greetings and our apostolic blessing to the dear Orthodox brother, his majesty Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, and to the Empress and the Princes and our brothers Anba Basilios and all the bishops, the priests, deacons, and our beloved Ethiopian community.
We also pray to God that He might keep the peoples of the See of St. Mark, and grant soundness to the governments in both Africa and Asia, so that the principles of love and peace may reign supreme in all the world. To His greatness, let thanks, glory and honour increase, forever and ever Amen.
10 May 1959 (2 Bashans 1675 AM)
The First Sunday of the Holy Fifty Days
Kyrillos VI
By the Grace of God, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
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Notes:
| ↑1 | The five years preceding Kyrillos’ enthronement as patriarch were turbulent and traumatic: the papal throne had sat empty since 1954 when Pope Yusab II was deposed amid reports of serious corruption, and adding salt to the wound, the Egyptian government had suddenly introduced oppressive “personal status” legislation that discriminated against Copts. As Daniel Fanous recently put it, the Church “was in an inconsolable state of mourning” (A Silent Patriarch: Kyrillos VI (1902–1971), Life and Legacy (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2019): 210). |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | al-wadī‘a al-muqaddasa |
| ↑3 | Pope Kyrillos replaces “Jerusalem” with “His Church” in brackets to indicate the change. |
How to cite this text (Chicago/Turabian):
Kyrillos VI, “Papal Pastoral Letter of Anba Kyrillos” [Al-Risāla al-rā‛wiyya al-bābawiyya lil-anba Kīrillos], Sunday School Magazine 13, no. 4/5 (April/May 1959): 9–11. Translated by Samuel Kaldas and Ramza Bassilious. In Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox Theology, Sydney, NSW: St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological College. https://accot.stcyrils.edu.au/pk6firstpapalmessage/.
(For more information, see Citation Guidelines)
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