BBC Video of a blindfolded boy Choosing the Next Coptic Pope

I really enjoyed this–see what you think. Too funny to hear the trouble the BBC had in covering the story(! Not going to spoil it for you you have to watch to see what I mean–KSH).

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, * Religion News & Commentary, Children, Coptic Church, Egypt, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Middle East, Other Churches, Spirituality/Prayer

7 comments on “BBC Video of a blindfolded boy Choosing the Next Coptic Pope

  1. off2 says:

    What am I missing? Looked like a straight forward video to me.

  2. Frances Scott says:

    Looks very Biblical to me. Much like the way a Hutterite community chooses a Pastor; 3 candidates are chosen from the community, 3 slips of paper are put in a hat, each candidate in turn takes a slip of paper out of the hat and sits down, the candidates unfold their bits of paper, and the one who draws the slip with “you are the pastor” in German is accepted by the community as God’s choice…no questions asked. Contrast the method used to choose the new ABC.

  3. MichaelA says:

    Yes.

    How can this be anything but an improvement on the method used to choose (or not choose) the next ABC?

  4. Katherine says:

    It took him some time to get to the Coptic belief, which is that God made the choice through the boy. Was “most unusual” what struck you, Fr. Harmon? The BBC man never read about casting lots to replace Judas, apparently.

  5. RalphM says:

    I think what was amusing was that the BBC covered this but failed to have a consultant who could read arabic, thus, the were unable to report the selection. To be fair, those viewers most interested, the Copts, would know who it was.

  6. Pageantmaster Ù† says:

    I thought it was hilarious – the reporter flumoxed by the name not being written in English, but instead thoughtlessly and inconsiderately in some foreign language. It floored him completely, and put me on the floor. No one had thought to have an Arabic speaker available.

  7. MichaelA says:

    Katherine, good point.

    The Coptic Church reminds us of an important truth (of which I suspect many in the western churches are unaware) that the apostles in Acts 1:26 gave the choice of their replacement over to God to make.