Coptic Orthodox Church

"Coptic Church" redirects here. For the architectural style, see Coptic architecture. For church buildings, see Lists of Coptic church buildings. For an Eastern Catholic particular church, see Coptic Catholic Church.


Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ (Coptic)
الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية (Arabic)
Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo, Egypt
ClassificationEastern Christian
OrientationOriental Orthodox
ScriptureSeptuagint, New Testament, Coptic versions
TheologyOriental Orthodox Theology
PolityEpiscopal
GovernanceHoly Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church
HeadPope Tawadros II
RegionEgypt, Libya, Sudan, Middle East, and diaspora
LanguageCoptic, Greek, Arabic, Dialectal Arabic, Tamazight (minority)
LiturgyCoptic Rite
HeadquartersSaint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo, Egypt
FounderSt. Mark the Evangelist (traditional)
Origin42 A.D
Alexandria, Egypt
SeparationsCoptic Catholic Church (1895)
British Orthodox Church (2015)
Members10 million[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Other name(s)Coptic Church
Coptic Orthodox Church
Official websitehttps://copticorthodox.church/en
This article contains Coptic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Coptic letters.

The Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, romanized: Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-orthodhoxos, lit. 'the Egyptian Orthodox Church'), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Father of fathers, Shepherd of shepherds, Ecumenical Judge and the 13th among the Apostles.

The See of Alexandria is titular. The Coptic pope presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District in Cairo. The church follows the Coptic Rite for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony. Adherents of the Coptic Orthodox Church make up Egypt's largest and most significant minority population, and the largest population of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).[1][2][3] They make up the largest share of the approximately 20 million Christians in Egypt.[8][9][10][11]

The Coptic Orthodox Church was established by Mark, an apostle and evangelist, during the middle of the 1st century (c. AD 42).[12] Due to disputes concerning the nature of Christ, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church were in schism after the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, resulting in a conflict with the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria.[13]

After AD 639, Egypt was ruled by its Islamic conquerors from Arabia. In the 12th century, the church relocated its seat from Alexandria to Cairo. The same century also saw the Copts become a religious minority. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Nubian Christianity was supplanted by Islam. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the larger body of ethnic Egyptian Christians began to call themselves Coptic Orthodox, to distinguish themselves from the Catholic Copts and from the Eastern Orthodox, who are mostly Greek.[14] In 1959, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly. This was extended to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1998 following the successful Eritrean War of Independence from Ethiopia. Since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Coptic Christians have suffered increased religious discrimination and violence.[15]

  1. ^ a b Hackett, Conrad (16 February 2011). "How many Christians are there in Egypt?". Pew Research Center. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b Mohamoud, Yousra A.; Cuadros, Diego F.; Abu-Raddad, Laith J. (1 June 2013). "Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators". QScience Connect. 2013 (1). Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals: 22. doi:10.5339/connect.2013.22. ISSN 2223-506X.
  3. ^ a b "Coptic Christianity in Egypt". Religion and Public Life. Harvard Divinity School. Archived from the original on 12 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference USDeptofState was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ UK, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO). "Country Profile: The Arab Republic of Egypt". Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Excluded and Unequal". The Century Foundation. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2020. Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ "Egyptian Coptic protesters freed". BBC. 22 December 2004.
  9. ^ "?". United Copts of Great Britain. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  10. ^ "?". العربية.نت. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  11. ^ Khairi Abaza; Mark Nakhla (25 October 2005). "The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt". Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  12. ^ Meinardus, Otta Friedrich August (1999). "The Coptic Church: Its History, Traditions, Theology, and Structure.". Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity. American University in Cairo Press. p. 28. ISBN 9789774247576. JSTOR j.ctt15m7f64.
  13. ^ Meinardus, Otto F. A. (1 October 2002). Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-61797-263-8. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria-Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  15. ^ Matt Rehbein (10 April 2017). "Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?". CNN. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2019.