L'arabo e altre lingue nella prassi liturgica e pastorale della Chiesa Copta. Tra storia e futuro
Arabic and Other Languages in Liturgical Practice and Pastoral Care for the Coptic Church. Between History and the Future

Summary/Abstract: Worship represents an essential part of the ecclesiastical life of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The collective nature of the Coptic worship aims to emphasize the unity of Spirit, and that is why the linguistic element is fundamental and crucial. During the long history of the Coptic Orthodox Church, as the different rulers changed, the languages used in the land of Egypt changed. Together with the local language, the Christian Egyptians began to speak new languages, starting from Greek up to Arabic. The introduction of this last language in the Church was one of the most difficult challenges, and even when Arabic was the only language understood by people, it faced great oppositions inside the ecclesiastical environment. Today the Coptic Church is the greatest church of the Middle East, and as H.H. Pope Tawadros II said: "Today a new reality is overtaking our Church, and we have to relate to it". In the 20th century the Coptic Church reached and achieved a presence in the five continents, and Coptic people today speak in hundreds of different languages, and the challenges is the same: should we insist in praying in unknown languages or we have to pray in new languages?

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