Coptic Church of Alexandria
| Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ̀ⲛⲣⲉⲙ̀ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ ̀ⲛⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ (Coptic) |
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Coptic Orthodox cross
Reads: Jesus Christ, the Son of God |
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| 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 |
| Liturgy | Alexandrian Rite |
| 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 |
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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 rest of the Christian Church (which would split 600 years later into 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. The Coptic Church follows the Alexandrian Rite for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony.
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