# Hegumen

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/hegumen — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

Hegumen, also called hegumenos or qummus, denotes the highest rank of the priesthood and can also designate the abbot or head of a monastery.[^1]

## Definition

**Hegumen** (hegumenos; Arabic equivalent: **qummus**, “protopriest”) is a title with both clerical and monastic meanings. The **hegumenate** is the highest rank of the priesthood, to which married or celibate priests serving in cathedrals or large parishes may be raised. Hegumenos can also mean “abbot,” the head of a monastery.[^1]

## Origin and historical usage

The term derives from Greek *hegoumenos*, whose primary meaning was “ruler.” Christian authors sometimes used it for a bishop, while late Greek texts from Egypt and Coptic texts applied it to clerics or monks who exercised leadership.[^2]

In clerical usage, the title distinguished the presbyter who headed an episcopal or parish church. It generally corresponded to *archipresbyteros* or *protopresbyteros*, although an eighth-century Coptic document names an archipresbyteros and a hegumenos of the same church, showing that the titles could be distinguished.[^3]

In monastic settings, hegumenos could designate the superior of communities of different types and sizes. Clerical and monastic meanings sometimes overlapped: at Kellia, for example, leading priests also headed churches serving the ascetics.[^4]

## Monastic appointment and priestly promotion

A monastic hegumenos is usually chosen by the monks from their own community and approved by the patriarch, metropolitan, or bishop within whose jurisdiction the monastery lies.[^1]

Promotion of a priest to the hegumenate follows a service similar to priestly ordination, with “hegumenate” replacing “priesthood” in the prayers and a particular prayer of invocation of the Holy Spirit recited inaudibly by the bishop.[^5] This prayer asks for wisdom, good leadership, humility, love, forbearance, and righteousness; the bishop’s instruction emphasizes the hegumenos’ responsibility to teach and guide his people.[^6] The bishop does not repeat the insufflation, since the candidate already received it at his ordination as a priest.[^7]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 529)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 528)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 528)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 529)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 530)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 530)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 531)
[^8]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 528)