Bishop Suriel's Dissertation Defense

I had the great pleasure and honor attending Bishop Suriel's dissertation defense at Fordham University in New York City this past Thursday (March 20, 2014). His grace was successful in his defense as a panel of three questioners grilled him on the topic of Habib Girgis (newly canonized saint in the Coptic Church). His grace has been laboring for a while working on the dissertation as he faced many obstacles along the way. One such obstacle his Grace spoke about was his efforts to gain access to the patriarchal archives in Cairo Egypt. Even though he was a bishop his Grace told us that he still had difficulty gaining access. However, after he was able to get in what he found changed the scope of his thesis. He was able to catalog over 1000s of documents that Habib Girgis wrote (which is attached to his thesis as his first appendix) and were stored in the archives. We are all pleased at the hard work his Grace has put into this study and we pray that God grants him many years for us and continue to bless the seminary (St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary) in Melbourne Australia. The following is an abstract of the thesis that was handed out to everyone who attended. I have attached a small clip of the conclusion of the defense.

Abstract:

Habib Girgis: Coptic Orthodox Educator and a Light in the Darkness

Bishop Anba Suriel 

Fordham University, New York, 2014

Mentor: Gloria A. Durka, Ph.D 

In the midst of the ever-changing sociopolitical environment of the early twentieth century, the Coptic Orthodox Church and community sought to implement a religious educational system for the preparation of young men for the priesthood, as well as other ecclesiastical offices and services. In part, this was due to the challenges posed by the advent of modernity in Egypt but, for the Copts, these challenges were further accentuated by lack of education, particularly on the part of clergy, in addition to the institutional presence and proselytizing efforts of highly organized and educated western missionaries who encountered a Coptic Church that was ill-equipped to respond to their challenges.

Patriarch Cyril 4th had established several Coptic Schools to redress this challenge, giving rise to an educated lay-elite, but the most significant reforms were implemented in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century by Archdeacon Habib Girgis. This is a study of Girgis' six-decade-long career as an educator, reformer, and pioneer of the Sunday School Movement in Egypt through his publications and a cache of newly discovered documentary texts from the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchal Archives (Cairo), which are cataloged in this study (Appendix I).

This analysis explores the practical challenges Girgis encountered, particularly in recruiting qualified students, maintaining the college's facilities and keeping it staffed on a meager budget, as well as dealing with a Lay Community Council (Majlis Milli) that frequently undermined his efforts. As dean of the Theological College, Girgis also faced conceptual and intellectual challenges in formulating curricula, hiring qualified instructors, and defending a broad vision for ecclesiastical education that was not shared by several of his peers. Girgis attended to all of these tasks while maintaining an active preaching and publishing schedule.

Habib Girgis enjoyed some success in the preservation of Coptic identity and the improvement of standards of religious education within the Church. Still, other aspects of his lofty vision remain are hitherto unfulfilled. In all, Girgis remains a pioneer in Coptic religious education, a Copt whose vision and legacy continues to shape the Church on several fronts until this very day.