Dr. Nelly van Doorn-Harder spoke at Claremont School of Theology today in a lecture sponsored by the Council for Coptic Studies of the School of Religion, Claremont Graduat University.
Her two lectures were titled "The Role of Women in Developing Coptic Visual Culture" and "Mother Irini's Vision for Coptic Spiritual Identity."
Pictured are (l. to r.) the Coptic Church Ecclesiastical Choir, Dr. van Doorn-Harder with Bishop Serapion of southern California, and Dr. Karen Torjesen, Dean of the School of Religion, with Bishop Serapion.
Dr. van Doorn-Harder is a native of the Netherlands and teaches at Valparaiso University in Indiana. She is the author of Contemporary Coptic Nuns and other books.
Mother Irini was Mother Superior of the Church of Abu Seplain (sp?) in Cairo from 1962 until her death in 2006. Her reknown and spiritual authority within the Coptic Church is similar to that of Mother Theresa in the Roman Catholic Church.
Dr. van Doorn-Harder explained that although women are not ordained in the Coptic Church, Mother Irini did raise the status of women as measured by her prominence and the prominence of other biblical and saintly women in visual Coptic culture (esp. that in the mosaics, paintings, and photographs of the beautifully remodeled convent).
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