‘You Are He Who Unbinds the Chained’: A Liberationist Analysis of the Coptic Orthodox Eucharistic Liturgy

This paper is an exploration of the Coptic Orthodox Eucharistic liturgy, framed through the lens of Liberation Theology. It emphasizes the role of the liturgy as a means for spiritual and social liberation, focusing particularly on its relevance for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized and its transformative potential for both individuals and the broader world. The analysis explores how the liturgy reflects and responds to issues of injustice, and how it becomes a transformative tool for liberation in a social and theological context. This analysis explores both the liberation realized through the liturgy and the liturgy’s capacity to embody this liberation. It is a dual examination: assessing how the liturgy addresses social and cultural oppression, while also examining how its elements and internal dynamics are themselves liberating, in light of the people’s social context and cultural heritage.