Coptic Church

Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ̀ⲛⲣⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ ̀ⲛⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ
Coptic Orthodox cross Reads: Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Founded	AD 42 (according to tradition)
Founder	The Apostle and Evangelist Mark
Independence	Apostolic Age
Recognition	Oriental Orthodoxy
First head	Mark the Evangelist
Current Head	Pope Tawadros II
Headquarters	Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt
Territory	Egypt and all Africa
Possessions	Egypt, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Middle East, Israel, South Africa, Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Western Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean Islands
Language	Coptic, Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, English, French, German, Swahili, Afrikaans, and several other languages
Members	~18 - 22 million total: About 20 million in Egypt, 500,000 in Sudan, 60,000 Libya, 1 - 2 million in Coptic diaspora
Website	Official website of HH Pope Tawadros II

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the largest Christian Church in Egypt, Northeast Africa and the Middle East.

According to tradition, the Church was established by Saint Mark, an apostle and evangelist, in the middle of the 1st century (approximately AD 42). The head of the Church and the See of Alexandria is the Patriarch of Alexandria on the Holy See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Coptic Pope. The See of Alexandria is titular, and today the Coptic Pope presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District in Cairo.

The Coptic Orthodox Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of Churches, which has been a distinct Christian body since the schism following the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, when it took a different position over Christology from that of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The precise Christological differences that caused the split with the Coptic Christians are still disputed, highly technical, and mainly concerned with the nature of Christ. The foundational roots of the Coptic Church are based in Egypt, but it has a worldwide following.

Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the Holy Family sought in its flight from Judea: