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Questions & Answers

Funeral Rituals

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Prayer, Fasting and Worship › Funeral Rituals

The question

What are the rituals at a pope's funeral? Why are no funerals conducted during the Holy Week?

The answer

In our Coptic Orthodox Church, the funeral rituals are the same for all people. The differences are mainly in the funeral readings. Those readings vary depending on whether the departed is male or female, adult or child, deacon or priest, bishop or monk. In case of a pope, a metropolitan or a bishop, the readings are the same. If the departed is a member of the clergy, the deacons carry the body in a procession around the altar and the church nave three times.

Yes during the Holy Week, our focus is only on our Lord Jesus Christ, His passion and journey to the Cross. Therefore we do not have funeral services during this week. The body of the departed person is placed in the church to attend the Pascha prayers.

The different funeral services readings are published in a book called 'The Coptic Offices for the Coptic Orthodox Church: Part IV Funeral Services'.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 1076 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.