Copts in Libya
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| 60,000 | |
| Languages | |
|
Arabic Liturgical: Coptic language |
|
| Religion | |
| Coptic Orthodoxy |
Copts are an ethnoreligious group that form the largest Christian group in Libya, the Coptic Orthodox Church in the country having an estimated 60,000 adherents. The Coptic Church is known to have historical roots in Libya long before the Arabs (and Islam) advanced westward from Egypt into Libya. A part of the community is made up of immigrants from Egypt (see Copts in Egypt).
The Coptic population is estimated to number 60,000. The Copts are the largest Christian denomination, followed by c. 40,000 Roman Catholics and a small number of Anglicans. They are present in all three major regions.
Historically speaking, Christianity spread to the Pentapolis in North Africa from Egypt;Synesius of Cyrene (370-414), bishop of Ptolemais, received his instruction at Alexandria in both the Catechetical School and the Museion, and he entertained a great deal of reverence and affection for Neoplatonist Hypatia, whose classes he had attended. Synesius was consecrated by Theophilus of Alexandria in 410. Since the Council of Nicaea in 325, Cyrenaica had been recognized as an ecclesiastical province of the See of Alexandria, in accordance with the ruling of the Nicaean Fathers. The Pope of Alexandria to this day includes the Pentapolis in his title as an area within his jurisdiction.
The Coptic congregations in several countries were under the ancient Eparchy of the Western Pentapolis, which was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church for centuries until the 13th century.
...
Wikipedia