Copto-Arabic sources from the Fatimid period articulate an important tension between the power of Church hierarchy and that of the caliphate. The closure of churches, confiscation of church vessels, and prohibition of public festivities during segments of al-Hakim's rule, no doubt, challenged the jurisdiction of Church hierarchy. However, the eccentric rule of al-Hakim was not the only period when the legitimacy of Church authority was challenged by Fatimid governance. The papacy of Christodulous (1047-1077), as it is recorded in the History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church, is an important epoch in the Church's history as it details the pope's numerous arrests and imprisonments. Nonetheless, the significance of Christodulous' papacy does not lie in Fatimid intervention in church matters; rather, it is noteworthy because this period witnessed liturgical responses to external challenges of hierarchical authority. The canons of Christodulous regulate internal as well as external affairs of the Church and define its pastoral power--and thus the caliphal power of the Fatimids--by liturgical means. Among other regulations, Christodulous' canons forbade Copts to seek the judgment of a vizier or sultan in place of a Church ruling. Whosoever circumvents the authority of the Church shall be cut off from participating in the Eucharist, it says, which ultimately meant a loss of membership. Christodulous' attempt to affirm his pastoral power not only strives to maintain some ruling power for the Coptic Church, it also creates an incumbent sense of loyalty and obedience on the part of its members. Compliance with such a canon obliges Copts to accept church rulings with no recourse to an appeal and maintains their loyalty by means of the looming possibility of spiritual punishment--disallowance of the Eucharistic mystery. Finally, the author of his biography in the History of the Patriarchs makes sure to regularly inform his readers that Christodulous' papacy, although seemingly chaotic and fraught with conflict, was a time of high spirituality and the manifestation of countless miracles. This paper argues that the emphasis on pastoral power by liturgical and miraculous means during Christodulous' papacy was a significant mode of negotiating Church authority in conjunction with that of the caliphate, thus limiting the possibility of Fatimid intervention as dictated by the Church.