View source for Coptic Orthodox Church

{{Short description|Christian denomination based in Egypt}}
{{Redirect|Coptic Church|the architectural style|Coptic architecture|church buildings|Lists of Coptic church buildings|an Eastern Catholic particular church|Coptic Catholic Church}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon               = Coptic Orthodox Church Logo.svg
| icon_width         = 36px
| icon_alt           = 
| name               = Coptic Orthodox Church
| native_name        = {{nobold|{{native name|cop|ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ|italic=no}}<br />{{native name|ar|الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية}}}}
| native_name_lang   = cop
| image              = Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral.jpg
| imagewidth         = 300px
| alt                = 
| caption            = [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]], [[Cairo]], Egypt
| type               = [[Autocephaly]]
| main_classification = [[Christianity|Christian]]
| orientation        = [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]]
| scripture          = [[Septuagint]], [[New Testament]], [[Bible translations into Coptic|Coptic versions]]
| theology           = [[Oriental Orthodox theology]]
| polity             = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| governance         = [[Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church]]
| leader_title       = [[Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church|Pope]]
| leader_name        = [[Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria|Tawadros II]]
| area               = [[Egypt]], [[Libya]], [[Sudan]], [[Middle East]], and [[Coptic diaspora|diaspora]]
| language           = [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Koine Greek|Greek]], [[Arabic]], [[Varieties of Arabic|Dialectal Arabic]], [[Berber languages|Tamazight]] (minority)
| liturgy            = [[Coptic Rite]]
| headquarters       = [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]], Cairo, Egypt
| founder            = St. [[Mark the Evangelist]] (traditional)
| founded_date       = 42 A.D
| founded_place      = [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt (Roman province)|Egypt]]
| separations        = [[Coptic Catholic Church]] (1895) <br /> [[British Orthodox Church]] (2015)
| members            = 18-20 million<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="QScience" /><ref name="Harvard University" /><ref name="CNN" /><ref name="USDeptofState" /><ref name="UKFCO">{{cite web |last1=UK |first1=Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) |title=Country Profile: The Arab Republic of Egypt |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/country-profiles/middle-east-north-africa/egypt/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090705015153/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/country-profiles/middle-east-north-africa/egypt/ |archive-date=5 July 2009 |access-date=19 April 2020 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |language=en}}</ref><ref name="TCF">{{cite web |date=9 May 2019 |title=Excluded and Unequal |url=https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?session=1 |language=en |publisher=The Century Foundation |quote=Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130154407/https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?session=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| other_names        = ''Coptic Church''<br />''Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria''
| website            = https://copticorthodox.church/en
| logo               = 
}}
{{Contains special characters|Coptic}}

The '''Coptic Orthodox Church''' ({{langx|cop|Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ|translit=Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-orthodhoxos|lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church}}; {{Langx|ar|الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية|al-Kanīsa al-Qibṭiyya al-ʾUrthūdhuksiyya}}), also known as the '''Coptic''' '''Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria''', is an [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox Christian]] church based in [[Egypt]]. The head of the church and the [[Apostolic see|See]] of [[Alexandria]] is the [[pope of Alexandria]] on the Holy Apostolic See of [[Mark the Evangelist|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 see|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|Middle East and North Africa (MENA)]].<ref name="Pew">{{Cite web |last=Hackett |first=Conrad |date=February 16, 2011 |title=How many Christians are there in Egypt? |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |url-status=live |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002004401/https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ }}</ref><ref name="QScience">{{Cite journal |last1=Mohamoud |first1=Yousra A. |last2=Cuadros |first2=Diego F. |last3=Abu-Raddad |first3=Laith J. |date=June 1, 2013 |title=Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators |journal=QScience Connect |language=en |publisher=Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals |volume=2013 |issue=1 |page=22 |doi=10.5339/connect.2013.22 |issn=2223-506X |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Harvard University">{{Cite web |title=Coptic Christianity in Egypt |url=https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/coptic-christianity-egypt |access-date=March 11, 2023 |website=Religion and Public Life |publisher=Harvard Divinity School |language=en |archive-date=12 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312010826/https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/coptic-christianity-egypt |url-status=live }}</ref> They make up the largest share of the approximately 10 million Christians in Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |title=Egyptian Coptic protesters freed |newspaper=BBC |date=22 December 2004 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4117831.stm }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitedcopts.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3073&Itemid=71 |title=? |date=29 October 2008 |publisher=United Copts of Great Britain |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/08/28/55639.html |title=? |publisher=العربية.نت |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603215320/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/08/28/55639.html |archive-date=3 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2386 |title=The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt |author1=Khairi Abaza |author2=Mark Nakhla |date=25 October 2005 |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref>

The Coptic Orthodox Church was established by Saint Mark, an [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostle]] and [[Four Evangelists|evangelist]], during the middle of the 1st century ({{circa|AD 42}}).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Meinardus |first=Otta Friedrich August |title=Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-977-424-757-6 |page=28 |chapter=The Coptic Church: Its History, Traditions, Theology, and Structure. |jstor=j.ctt15m7f64}}</ref> Due to disputes concerning the [[Hypostatic Union|nature of Christ]], the Oriental Orthodox Churches were [[Chalcedonian Schism|in schism]] after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in AD 451.<ref name="MeinardusOFA">{{cite book |last1=Meinardus |first1=Otto F. A. |title=Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity |date=1 October 2002 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |isbn=978-1-61797-263-8 |pages=60–61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GljEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP60 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164811/https://books.google.com/books?id=8GljEAAAQBAJ&pg=PP60 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After AD 639, Egypt was ruled by its [[Islam]]ic 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 church|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.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria-Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coptic-Orthodox-Church-of-Alexandria |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818002821/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coptic-Orthodox-Church-of-Alexandria |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html|title=Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?|author=Matt Rehbein|date=10 April 2017|publisher=CNN|access-date=8 August 2019|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215000615/https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Oriental Orthodox sidebar}}
{{Copts}}

=== Apostolic foundation ===
According to tradition, the Coptic Church was founded by St. [[Mark the Evangelist]] {{circa|AD 42}}; it regards itself as the subject of many [[prophecies]] in the [[Old Testament]].<ref name=":0" />

==== Coptic language in the church ====
The [[Coptic language]] is a universal language used in Coptic churches in every country. It descends from [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] and uses the [[Coptic alphabet]], a script descended from the [[Greek alphabet]] with added characters derived from the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic script]]. Today, the Bohairic dialect of Coptic is used primarily for [[Coptic Liturgy|liturgical]] purposes.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com" /> Many of the hymns in the liturgy are in Coptic and have been passed down for many centuries. The language is used to preserve Egypt's original language, which was banned by the Arab invaders, who ordered the use of Arabic instead.<ref>{{Cite web | url =http://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=3283&A=365617 | title =الأقباط متحدون – اللغة القبطية | access-date =28 October 2018 | archive-date =1 August 2020 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200801024954/https://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=3283&A=365617 | url-status=live }}</ref> However, most Copts speak [[Arabic]], the official language of Egypt.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com" /> Hence, Arabic is also used in church services nowadays. The service books, though written in Coptic, have Arabic text in parallel columns.<ref name="Britannica" />

==== Catechetical School of Alexandria ====
The [[Catechetical School of Alexandria]] is the oldest [[catechetical]] school in the world. [[Jerome]] records that the Christian School of Alexandria was founded by Mark himself.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/patrology/schoolofalex/I-Intro/chapter1.html |title =The School of Alexandria – Part I – An Introduction to the School of Alexandria |publisher =Copticchurch.net |access-date =2 January 2011 |archive-date =1 December 2010 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20101201203013/http://copticchurch.net/topics/patrology/schoolofalex/I-Intro/chapter1.html |url-status =live }}</ref>

The theological college of the catechetical school was re-established in 1893.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last =Attia|first =Fr Matthew|date =2015-07-06|title =The Catechetical School of Alexandria|url =http://becomeorthodox.org/the-catechetical-school-of-alexandria/|access-date =2020-09-16|website =Become Orthodox|language =en-US|archive-date =30 January 2021|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20210130050103/http://becomeorthodox.org/the-catechetical-school-of-alexandria/|url-status =dead}}</ref>

The school became a leading center of the  [[Allegorical interpretation of the Bible|allegorical method of biblical interpretation]], espoused rapprochement between Greek culture and the Christian faith, and attempted to assert orthodox Christian teachings against [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] views in an era of doctrinal flux.<ref>{{Cite web |title =Didymus The Blind {{!}} Alexandrian Scholar, Biblical Exegete & Church Father {{!}} Britannica |url =https://www.britannica.com/biography/Didymus-the-Blind |access-date =2024-04-29 |website =www.britannica.com |language =en}}</ref>

==== Role and participation in the ecumenical councils ====
==== Council of Nicaea ====
{{Main|First Council of Nicaea}}

In the 4th century, an Alexandrian [[presbyter]] named [[Arius]] began a theological dispute about the nature of Christ that spread throughout the Christian world and is now known as [[Arianism]]. The [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicea]] in AD&nbsp;325 was convened by [[Emperor Constantine I]] after [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria]] proposed holding a council to respond to heresies.<ref>{{Cite web|url =https://st-takla.org/Coptic-History/CopticHistory_02-History-of-the-Coptic-Church-Councils-n-Christian-Heresies/Encyclopedia-Coptica-History__005-Magma3-Nekia-325.html|title =مجمع نيقية المقدس 325 م. &#124; St-Takla.org|website =st-takla.org|access-date =30 May 2018|archive-date =9 September 2017|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170909031923/http://st-takla.org/Coptic-History/CopticHistory_02-History-of-the-Coptic-Church-Councils-n-Christian-Heresies/Encyclopedia-Coptica-History__005-Magma3-Nekia-325.html|url-status =live}}</ref> A council under the presidency of [[Hosius of Cordova]] attempted to resolve the dispute. This eventually led to the formulation of the Symbol of Faith, also known as the [[Nicene Creed]].<ref name="Carroll 1987 11">{{harvnb|Carroll|1987|p=11}}</ref>

==== Council of Constantinople ====
{{Main|First Council of Constantinople}}

In AD&nbsp;381, Pope [[Timothy I of Alexandria]] presided over the second ecumenical council known as the [[First Council of Constantinople]], to judge Macedonius, who denied the Divinity of the Holy Spirit. This council completed the [[Nicene Creed]] with this confirmation of the divinity of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]]:

<blockquote>We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified who spoke by the Prophets and in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church. We confess one Baptism for the remission of sins and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the coming age, Amen<ref name="HayJeff">{{cite book |last1=Hay |first1=Jeff |title=World Religions |date=6 March 2009 |publisher=Greenhaven Publishing LLC |isbn=978-0-7377-4627-3 |page=228 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1n5mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164810/https://books.google.com/books?id=1n5mDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA228 |url-status=live }}</ref></blockquote>

==== Council of Ephesus ====
{{Main|Council of Ephesus}}
[[File:CopticAltar.jpg|thumb|Coptic Icon in the Coptic Altar of the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], [[Jerusalem]]]]

Another theological dispute in the 5th century occurred over the teachings of [[Nestorius]], the patriarch of Constantinople who taught that God the Word was not [[Hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostatically]] joined with human nature, but rather dwelt in the man Jesus. As a consequence of this, he denied the title "Mother of God" ([[Theotokos]]) to the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]], declaring her instead to be "Mother of Christ" ''[[Christotokos]]''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The council confirmed the teachings of [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]] and confirmed the title of Mary as "[[Mother of God]]".<ref name="NashJohnF">{{cite book |last1=Nash |first1=John F. |title=Christianity: the One, the Many: What Christianity Might Have Been and Could Still Become Volume 1 |date=14 February 2008 |isbn=978-1-4628-2571-4 |pages=202–203 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5JZjZU-OdoC&pg=PA202 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164810/https://books.google.com/books?id=g5JZjZU-OdoC&pg=PA202 |url-status=live }}</ref> It also clearly stated that anyone who separated Christ into two hypostases was anathema, as Cyril had said that there is "One Nature for God the Word Incarnate" (''Mia Physis tou Theou Logou Sesarkōmenē''). The introduction to the creed is formulated as follows:{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

<blockquote>We magnify you O Mother of the True Light and we glorify you O saint and Mother of God ''(Theotokos)'' for you have borne unto us the Saviour of the world. Glory to you O our Master and King: Christ, the pride of the Apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the rejoicing of the righteous, firmness of the churches and the forgiveness of sins. We proclaim the Holy Trinity in One Godhead: we worship Him, we glorify Him, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord bless us, Amen.<ref name="NashJohnF" /></blockquote>

==== Council of Chalcedon ====
{{Main|Council of Chalcedon}}

[[File:StMarkCathAlex.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|St. Mark Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria]]]]
The church of Alexandria was part in communion with the rest of Christendom until the [[Council of Chalcedon]].<ref name="Encyclopedia.com">{{cite web |title=Coptic Christians-Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coptic-christians |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212024143/https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coptic-christians |url-status=live }}</ref> When, in AD&nbsp;451, Emperor [[Marcian]] attempted to heal divisions in the church, the response of [[Dioscorus of Alexandria|Pope Dioscorus]]–the Pope of Alexandria who was later exiled–was that the emperor should not intervene in the affairs of the church. It was at [[Chalcedon]] that the emperor, through the imperial delegates, enforced harsh disciplinary measures against Pope Dioscorus in response to his boldness. In AD&nbsp;449, Pope Dioscorus headed the 2nd Council of Ephesus, called the "[[Robber Council]]" by Chalcedonian historians. It held to the [[Miaphysite]] formula which upheld the Christology of "One Incarnate Nature of God the Word" ([[Byzantine Greek|Greek]]: μία φύσις Θεοῦ Λόγου σεσαρκωμένη (''mia physis Theou Logou sesarkōmenē'')).<ref>{{cite book|title=Apollinaris von Laodicea und seine Schule: Texte und Untersuchungen|author=Apollinaris of Laodicea|author-link=Apollinaris of Laodicea|editor-first=Hans|editor-last=Lietzmann|editor-link=Hans Lietzmann|year=1904|page=251|chapter=Πρὸς Ἰοβιανόν|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/apollinarisvonl01apolgoog#page/n269/mode/2up|language=de, el|publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck Verlag]]}}</ref><ref name="MeinardusOFA" />

In terms of Christology, the [[Oriental Orthodox]] (Non-Chalcedonians) understanding is that Christ is "One Nature—the Logos Incarnate," ''of'' the full humanity and full divinity. The Chalcedonians' understanding is that Christ is ''recognized in'' two natures, full humanity and full divinity.<ref name="Britannica" /> Oriental Orthodoxy contends that such a formulation is no different from what the [[Nestorianism|Nestorians]] teach.<ref name="MeinardusOFA" />

From that point onward, Alexandria would have two patriarchs: the non-Chalcedonian native Egyptian one, now known as the [[List of Coptic Orthodox popes|Coptic pope of Alexandria and patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of St. Mark]], and the [[Melkite]] or Imperial patriarch, now known as the [[Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020603083958/http://www.greekorthodox-alexandria.org/ Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria].</ref><ref name="MeinardusOFA" />

Almost the entire Egyptian population rejected the terms of the Council of Chalcedon and remained faithful to the native Egyptian Church (now known as the Coptic Orthodox Church).<ref name="georgetown1">{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/egypt |title=Egypt |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |access-date=14 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220145046/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/egypt |archive-date=20 December 2011 |url-status=dead }} See drop-down essay on "Islamic Conquest and the Ottoman Empire"</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Olupona |first=Jacob K. |title=African Religions: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-979058-6 |location=Oxford |pages=90 |oclc=839396781}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-08 |title=Theodosius Of Alexandria |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-of-Alexandria |access-date=2023-04-24 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>

By anathematizing Pope Leo because of the tone and content of his tome, as per Alexandrine Theology perception, Pope Dioscorus was found guilty of doing so without due process; in other words, the Tome of Leo was not a subject of heresy in the first place, but it was a question of questioning the reasons behind not having it either acknowledged or read at the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] in AD&nbsp;449. Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria was never labeled as a heretic by the council's canons.
Copts also believe that the pope of Alexandria was forcibly prevented from attending the third congregation of the council from which he was ousted, apparently the result of a conspiracy tailored by the Roman delegates.<ref>Romanides, John S. [http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.06.en.orthodox_and_oriental_orthodox_consultation.htm Leo of Rome's Support of Theodoret] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201232506/http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.06.en.orthodox_and_oriental_orthodox_consultation.htm |date=1 February 2021 }}.</ref>

Before the current positive era of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox dialogues, Chalcedonians sometimes used to call the non-Chalcedonians "[[Monophysites]]", though the Coptic Orthodox Church in reality regards Monophysitism as a heresy. The Chalcedonian doctrine in turn came to be known as "[[Dyophysite]]". A term that comes closer to Coptic Orthodoxy is Miaphysite, which refers to a conjoined nature for Christ, both human and divine, united indivisibly in the Incarnate Logos.{{sfn|Winkler|1997|p=33-40}}{{sfn|Brock|2016|p=45–52}}

=== From Chalcedon to the Arab conquest of Egypt ===
=== Muslim conquest of Egypt ===
[[File:Bischop of Faras.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Makuria]]n wall painting depicting a Nubian bishop and [[Virgin Mary]] (11th century)]]
The [[Muslim invasion of Egypt]] took place in AD&nbsp;639. Relying on eyewitness testimony, Bishop [[John of Nikiu]] in his Chronicle provides a graphic account of the invasion from a Coptic perspective. Although the Chronicle has only been preserved in an [[Geʽez|Ethiopic (Ge'ez)]] text, some scholars believe that it was originally written in Coptic.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pummer|first1=Reinhard|title=Early Christian Authors on Samaritans and Samaritanism: Texts, Translations and Commentary (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism)|date=2002|pages=377–378}}</ref> John's account is critical of the invaders who he says "despoiled the Egyptians of their possessions and dealt cruelly with them",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Charles|first1=Robert H|title=The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, Chapter CXV: paragraph 7|date= 1913}}</ref> and he details the atrocities committed by the Muslims against the native population during the conquest:<blockquote>And when with great toil and exertion they had cast down the walls of the city, they forthwith made themselves masters of it, and put to the sword thousands of its inhabitants and of the soldiers, and they gained an enormous booty, and took the women and children captive and divided them amongst themselves, and they made that city a desolation.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Charles|first1=Robert H|title=The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, Chapter CXVIII: paragraph 12|date= 1913}}</ref></blockquote>

Though critical of the Muslim commander ([[Amr ibn al-As]]), who, during the campaign, he says "had no mercy on the Egyptians, and did not observe the covenant they had made with him, for he was of a barbaric race",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Charles|first1=Robert H|title=The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, Chapter CXX: paragraph 36|date= 1913}}</ref> he does note that following the completion of the conquest, Amr "took none of the property of the Churches, and he committed no act of spoilation or plunder, and he preserved them throughout all his days."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Charles|first1=Robert H|title=The Chronicle of John, Bishop of Nikiu: Translated from Zotenberg's Ethiopic Text, Chapter CXXI: paragraph 3|date= 1913}}</ref>

Despite the political upheaval, the Egyptian population remained mainly Christian. However, gradual conversions to [[Islam]] over the centuries had changed Egypt from a Christian to a largely Muslim country by the end of the 12th century.<ref>Kamil, Jill (1997). ''Coptic Egypt: History and Guide''. Cairo: American University in Cairo.</ref> Another scholar writes that a combination of "repression of Coptic revolts", Arab-Muslim immigration, and Coptic conversion to Islam resulted in the demographic decline of the Copts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=O'Sullivan|first=Shaun|year=2006|title=Coptic Conversion and the Islamization of Egypt|url=http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_X-2_2006-OSullivan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005005310/http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_X-2_2006-OSullivan.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-05 |url-status=live|journal=Mamluk Studies Review|volume=10 |pages=65–79|doi=10.6082/M16Q1VB4 }}</ref> Egypt's Umayyad rulers taxed Christians at a higher rate than Muslims, driving merchants towards Islam and undermining the economic base of the Coptic Church.<ref>Jerry Bentley, ''Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchange in Pre-Modern Times'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 93.</ref> Although the Coptic Church did not disappear, the Umayyad tax policies made it difficult for the church to retain the Egyptian elites.<ref>Jerry Bentley, ''Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 93.</ref>

=== Under Islamic rule (640–1800) ===
[[File:Coptic prayer book.png|thumb|Arabic Coptic Prayer book, 1760]]
In 969, Egypt entered the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]] dynasty (in Egypt from 969 to 1171), who adopted a largely favorable attitude toward the Christians. The major exception to this was the persecution led by Caliph al-Hakim between 1004 and 1013, which included clothing regulations, prohibition of publicly celebrating Christian festivals, and dismissal of Christian and Jewish functionaries. However, at the end of his reign al-Hakim rescinded these measures, allowing the Copts to regain privileged positions within the administration.<ref name="CambridgeHist">{{cite book |last1=Micheau |first1=Françoise |editor1-last=Angold |editor1-first=Michael |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 5: Eastern Christianity |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-81113-2 |pages=371–403 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-christianity/eastern-christianities-eleventh-to-fourteenth-century-copts-melkites-nestorians-and-jacobites/E76D6F90D45A81BC32149E8D24135DBD |access-date=20 December 2021 |language=English |chapter=Eastern Christianities (eleventh to fourteenth century): Copts, Melkites, Nestorians and Jacobites |archive-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610000445/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-christianity/eastern-christianities-eleventh-to-fourteenth-century-copts-melkites-nestorians-and-jacobites/E76D6F90D45A81BC32149E8D24135DBD |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Coptic patriarchal residence moved from Alexandria to Cairo during the patriarchate of [[Pope Cyril II of Alexandria|Cyril II (1078–92)]]. This move was at the demand of the grand vizier [[Badr al-Jamali]], who insisted that the pope establish himself in the capital.<ref name="CambridgeHist" /> When [[Saladin in Egypt|Saladin entered Egypt]] in 1163, this ushered in a government focused on defending Sunni Islam. Christians were again discriminated against, and meant to show modesty in their religious ceremonies and buildings.<ref name="CambridgeHist" />

During the Ottoman period, Copts were classified alongside other Oriental Orthodox and Nestorian peoples under the [[Armenian millet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suny |first1=Ronald Grigor |title="They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else": A History of the Armenian Genocide|title-link=They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6558-1|page=48}}</ref>

In 1798, the French invaded Egypt unsuccessfully and the British helped the Turks to regain power over Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Traditional Egyptian Christianity: History of the Coptic Orthodox Church|last=Partrick|first=Theodore Hall|publisher=Fisher Park Press|year=1996|location=North Carolina}}</ref>

=== From the 19th century-1952 revolution ===
The position of Copts began to improve early in the 19th century under the stability and tolerance of the [[Muhammad Ali Dynasty]]. The Coptic community ceased to be regarded by the state as an administrative unit. In 1855 the [[jizya]] tax was abolished by Sa'id Pasha.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rowberry|first1=Ryan|last2=Khalil|first2=John|year=2010|title=A Brief History of Coptic Personal Status Law|url=https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=jmeil|journal=Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Law|volume=3|pages=81–139|access-date=26 November 2019|archive-date=27 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927030857/http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=jmeil|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, the Copts started to serve in the Egyptian army.<ref name="StGeorge">{{cite web |url=http://suscopts.org/stgeorgedaytona/coptic_church.html |title=Saint George Coptic Church |publisher=Suscopts.org |access-date=2014-04-03 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203233529/https://suscopts.org/stgeorgedaytona/coptic_church.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Coptic monks.jpg|thumb|Coptic monks, between 1898 and 1914]]
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Coptic Church underwent phases of new development. In 1853, [[Pope Cyril IV of Alexandria|Pope Cyril IV]] established the first modern Coptic schools, including the first Egyptian school for girls. He also founded a printing press, which was only the second national press in the country. The pope established very friendly relations with other denominations, to the extent that when the Greek Patriarch in Egypt had to absent himself from the country for a long period of time, he left his church under the guidance of the Coptic patriarch.<ref name="StGeorge" />

The Theological College of the School of Alexandria was reestablished in 1893.<ref name=":11" /> It began its new history with five students, one of whom was later to become its dean. Today it has campuses in Alexandria and Cairo, and in various dioceses throughout Egypt, as well as outside Egypt. It has campuses in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, and London, where potential clergymen and other qualified men and women study many subjects, including theology, church history, missionary studies, and the Coptic language.<ref name="StGeorge" />

=== From the mid 20th-early 21st centuries ===
{{Religion in Egypt}}In 1959, the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] was granted its first own patriarch [[Abuna Basilios]] by [[Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria|Pope Cyril VI]].<ref name="ShinnOfcansky" /> Furthermore, the [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] similarly became independent of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1994, when four bishops were consecrated by [[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria]] to form the basis of a local Holy Synod of the Eritrean Church. In 1998, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church gained its [[autocephaly]] from the Coptic Orthodox Church when its first patriarch was enthroned by Pope Shenouda III.<ref name="MeltonBaumann" />

Since the 1980s theologians from the Oriental (non-Chalcedonian) Orthodox and Eastern (Chalcedonian) Orthodox churches have been meeting in a bid to resolve theological differences, and have concluded that many of the differences are caused by the two groups using different terminology to describe the same thing.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/wccfops2.194|title=Growth in Agreement II. Reports and Agreed Statements of Ecumenical Conversations at World Level 1982–1998, ed. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Harding Meyer, William G. Rusch, WCC and Michigan|date=2000|others=World Council of Churches}}</ref>

In the 1990s, the Orthodox Church of the British Isles (formerly the [[Catholicate of the West]]) joined the Coptic Orthodox Church as a diocese named the [[British Orthodox Church]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Clarke |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-49970-0 |pages=301 |language=en |chapter=Independent episcopal churches |quote=As Mar Georgius (and with tites including Patriarch of Glastonbury, Apostolic Pontiff of Celtia, etc.), he was the leader of the Catholicate of the West, which became the Orthodox Church of the British Isles. Under Newman's nephew and successor, William Newman Norton, this Church was eventually brought under the legitimate jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Cairo in 1994. Following a common schismatic pattern in such Churches, some of its priests rejected this new alliance and split off to form the British Eparchy of the Celtic Orthodox Church, giving their allegiance to a French Primate. Both of these British Churches are tiny. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DouBAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Catholic+Apostolic+Church+of+Antioch%22&pg=PA301}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date= |title=Press Release on the union of Coptic and British Orthodox Churches |url=https://britishorthodox.org/glastonbury-review-archive/misc/press-release-on-the-union-of-coptic-and-british-orthodox-churches/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130110655/https://britishorthodox.org/glastonbury-review-archive/misc/press-release-on-the-union-of-coptic-and-british-orthodox-churches/ |archive-date=2010-11-30 |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=The British Orthodox Church within the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate}}</ref><ref name=":23">{{Cite web |title=BRITISH ORTHODOX UNITE WITH COPTIC PATRIARCHATE |url=http://www.britishorthodox.org/bocpress.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105230418/http://www.britishorthodox.org/bocpress.php |archive-date=5 November 2004 |website=British Orthodox Church}}</ref> By 2015, it formally separated with the Coptic Orthodox Church as a non-canonical, autocephalous church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joint announcement from the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom and the British Orthodox Church of the British Isles {{!}} The British Orthodox Church |url=https://britishorthodox.org/5330/joint-announcement-from-the-coptic-orthodox-church-in-the-united-kingdom-and-the-british-orthodox-church-of-the-british-isles/ |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=britishorthodox.org}}</ref>

In the summer of 2001, the Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox patriarchates of Alexandria agreed to mutually recognize baptisms performed in each other's churches, making re-baptisms unnecessary, and to recognize the sacrament of marriage as celebrated by the other.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=Pastoral Agreement between the Coptic Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates of Alexandria |url=https://orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/pastoral-agreement-between-the-coptic-orthodox-and-greek-orthodox-patriarchates-of-alexandria/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130040725/https://orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/pastoral-agreement-between-the-coptic-orthodox-and-greek-orthodox-patriarchates-of-alexandria/ |archive-date=30 January 2021 |access-date=2019-03-14 |website=Orthodox Unity (Orthodox Joint Commission) |language=en}}</ref>

In [[Tahrir Square]], Cairo, on Wednesday 2 February 2011, Coptic Christians joined hands to provide a protective cordon around their Muslim neighbors during [[salat]] (prayers) in the midst of the [[2011 Egyptian Revolution]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110206113155/http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/03/5981906-christians-protect-muslims-during-prayer-in-cairos-dangerous-tahrir-square Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo's dangerous Tahrir square], Nevine Zaki, 3 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011</ref>

==== Continued persecution into the 21st century ====
{{Main|Persecution of Copts}}

While Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history, [[Human Rights Watch]] has noted growing religious intolerance and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, and a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/01/24/egypt-and-libya-year-serious-abuses Egypt and Libya: A Year of Serious Abuses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704163742/http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/01/24/egypt-and-libya-year-serious-abuses|date=4 July 2011}}, Human Rights Watch, 24 January 2010</ref><ref name="Egypt's Persecuted Christians">{{cite news |last=Zaki |first=Moheb |date=18 May 2010 |title=Egypt's Persecuted Christians |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703745904575248301172607696 |url-status=live |access-date=4 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603203131/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703745904575248301172607696.html |archive-date=3 June 2010}}</ref> More than a hundred Egyptian copts were killed in sectarian clashes from 2011 to 2017, and many homes and businesses destroyed. In [[Minya Governorate|Minya]], 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016 were documented by the [[Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights]].<ref name="Eltahawy-nyt-12-16">{{cite news |last1=Eltahawy |first1=Mona |date=22 December 2016 |title=Egypt's Cruelty to Christians |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/opinion/egypts-cruelty-to-christians.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region |url-status=live |access-date=22 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224220308/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/opinion/egypts-cruelty-to-christians.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region |archive-date=24 December 2016}}</ref> Coptic Christian women and girls are often abducted and disappear.<ref>{{cite book |last1=United States. Congress. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe |url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo55657 |title=Escalating Violence Against Coptic Women and Girls: Will the New Egypt be More Dangerous than the Old? : Hearing before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, July 18, 2012 |date=18 July 2012 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |access-date=8 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511090304/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-112jhrg93217/pdf/CHRG-112jhrg93217.pdf |archive-date=11 May 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Masress : Sectarian tensions rise in wake of crime boss death |url=http://www.masress.com/en/dailynews/168782 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125080803/http://www.masress.com/en/dailynews/168782 |archive-date=25 January 2016 |access-date=2 January 2016 |work=Masress}}</ref>

In 2015, 21 men traveled to Libya to support their families.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 21 Martyrs of Libya: Videotaped Instanteous Sainthood – Literature – Resources |url=http://www.suscopts.org/resources/literature/1200/the-21-martyrs-of-libya-videotaped-instanteous-sai/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States}}</ref> There, they would be [[2015 kidnapping and beheading of Copts in Libya|kidnapped and beheaded]] by the Islamic State in Libya.

==== Continued church reforms ====
Under Pope Shenouda III, from 1971 to 2012, the church underwent a large transformation. Writing in 2013, the [[theologian]] Samuel Tadros stated "Today's Coptic Church as an institution is built solely on his vision".<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Tadros |first=Samuel |date=2013-09-15 |title=The Coptic Church in peril: The Islamization of Egypt and the end of Egyptian Christianity |url=https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-coptic-church-in-peril-the-islamization-of-egypt-and-the-end/10099626 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307174041/https://www.abc.net.au/religion/the-coptic-church-in-peril-the-islamization-of-egypt-and-the-end/10099626 |archive-date=7 March 2021 |access-date=2020-08-05 |website=ABC Religion & Ethics |language=en-AU}}</ref> For the first time in its history, the synod codified its internal laws. It also established numerous coptic institutions within and outside of Egypt. Shenouda raised the number of bishops from 26 to 117 and ordained hundreds of priests, which greatly reduced the influence of any one bishop. Shenouda also instituted a yearly meeting of the synod, which greatly expanded the number of laws governing the church. This included instituting church curriculums for the education of new priests, new deacons, and newly weds. For the first time in the Coptic Church's modern history, women could become ordained as deacons. The synod also adopted a model for community development, dramatically increasing the scope of community services provided by the church, including: hospitals, adult literacy schools, orphanages, libraries, and community centres. Much of this work was fuelled by donations from wealthy Coptic industrialists and Copts from abroad. Shenouda also held talks with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, in an effort to promote ecumenism .<ref name=":3" />  On 10 May 1973, Shenouda visited the Vatican, where a joint Christological declaration was issued jointly by the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches.<ref>{{Cite web |title=joint christological declaration |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/speeches/1973/may/documents/hf_p-vi_spe_19730510_dichiarazione-comune.html}}</ref>

Pope Shenouda also increased the church's involvement in politics, seeing it as a way to advocate for the interest of Copts, during the rise of Islamism in Egypt and increase in terrorist attacks. The president of Egypt, [[Anwar Sadat]] ordered that Shenouda be put into exile in a Coptic Monastery far away from Cairo in 1981. This exile was short lived, ending when Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists a few months later. Under president Hosni Mubarak, Shenouda continued his political stance and often protested persecution of Copts by leaving Cairo and staying in seclusion, which often caused the regime to quickly address issues. Shenouda's political involvement drew criticism from some church members, including the prominent monk [[Matta El Meskeen|Father Matta El Meskeen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=How a bishop's murder could change Egypt's Coptic church |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-bishops-murder-could-change-egypts-coptic-church |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111130248/https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/how-bishops-murder-could-change-egypts-coptic-church |archive-date=11 January 2021 |access-date=2020-08-05 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-27 |title=Fr Matta El Meskeen |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fr-matta-el-meskeen-6096971.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311090418/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fr-matta-el-meskeen-6096971.html |archive-date=11 March 2020 |access-date=2020-08-05 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

On 17 March 2012, Pope Shenouda died, leaving many Copts mourning and worrying as tensions rose with [[Muslims]]. Shenouda constantly met with Muslim leaders in order to create peace, his death resulting in concerns that without his mediation good relations would break down. Many were worried about increased Islamic control of Egypt as the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] won 70% of the parliamentary elections.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Fahim |first=Kareem |date=20 March 2012 |title=Coptic Pope Shenouda III's Death Adds to Fears in Egypt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/middleeast/coptic-pope-shenouda-iiis-death-adds-to-fears-in-egypt.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/middleeast/coptic-pope-shenouda-iiis-death-adds-to-fears-in-egypt.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |date=4 December 2011 |title=Muslim Brotherhood Sweeps Up Over One-Third of Votes in Egyptian Elections |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/04/egypt-election-results-muslim-brotherhood_n_1127897.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091649/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/04/egypt-election-results-muslim-brotherhood_n_1127897.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2012 |work=HuffPost}}</ref> Shenouda's approach to church leadership has, in part, been adopted by the current patriarch. [[Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria]] maintains relations with the Egyptian government and other churches. However, while Shenouda was critical of the expanded influence of Protestant teaching and books in Coptic churches, Tawadros has increased ecumenical dialogue with several Protestant churches. In 2013, Tawadros supported the movement demanding the removal of Egyptian Islamist president [[Mohamed Morsi]].<ref>{{cite web |date=6 July 2013 |title=Pope Tawadros II Supports Revolution |url=http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/egyptian-coptic-pope-supports-ousting-of-morsi-22324 |access-date=16 October 2014 |work=ecumenicalnews.com}}</ref> However, Tawadros has been a relatively less political figure than his predecessor and has expressed support for the Egyptian government's institutions during crises.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Politics Stymie Religious Reform in Egypt's Coptic Church |date=20 November 2018 |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/11/politics-stymie-religious-reform-egypts-coptic-church }}</ref>

In 2020, a woman in Florida accused a former priest of [[sexual assault]] when she was a minor. She claimed that he was defrocked in 2014, but continued presenting himself as a priest. In response, the synod issued a public statement disavowing him and instituted anti-abuse measures. Several dioceses in North America and Europe issued statements in support of sexual assault survivors.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=19 July 2020 |title=Coptic Church strips alleged paedophile priest of clerical status |url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/coptic-church-strips-alleged-paedophile-priest-of-clerical-status-1.1051559 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728103327/https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/coptic-church-strips-alleged-paedophile-priest-of-clerical-status-1.1051559 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=2020-07-28 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=For Coptic Church, changes, questions after priest ouster |website=[[Associated Press News]] |date=7 October 2020 |url=https://apnews.com/article/egypt-media-florida-social-media-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-26e17b7551434e77e5880677e807bc51 }}</ref>

On 10 May 2023, Pope Tawadros visited the Vatican to celebrate Coptic-Catholic Friendship day and the 50 year anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III. In this same year Pope Francis announced that the 21 Coptic Martyrs killed by ISIS in Libya in 2015 would be added to the Catholic Roman Martyrology, and Pope Tawadros gifted relics from each of the [[2015 kidnapping and beheading of Copts in Libya|21 martyrs]] to the Vatican.<ref>{{Cite web |title =50th anniversary of Coptic-Catholic Friendship day |date =11 May 2023 |url =https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-05/pope-francis-tawadros-ii-coptic-orthodox-martyrs-egypt.html}}</ref>

== Fasts, feasts, liturgy and canonical hours ==
{{Main|Coptic Rite|Coptic monasticism|Fasting and abstinence of the Coptic Orthodox Church}}
[[File:Agpeya_Breviary.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Agpeya]] is a [[breviary]] used in Coptic Orthodox Christianity to pray the [[canonical hours]] at [[Fixed prayer times#Christianity|seven fixed prayer times]] of the day, in the [[direction of prayer|eastward direction]].<ref name="Dawood2013"/>]]Communicants of the Coptic Orthodox Church use a [[breviary]] known as the [[Agpeya]] to pray the [[canonical hours]] at seven [[fixed prayer times]] while facing in the [[direction of prayer|eastward direction]], in anticipation of the [[Second Coming of Jesus]]; this Christian practice has its roots in Psalm 119:164, in which the prophet [[David]] prays to God seven times a day.<ref name="Amherst1906">{{cite book |author1=[[Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney]] |title=A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1906 |publisher=Methuen |page=399 |language=en |quote=Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.}}</ref><ref name="Dawood2013">{{cite web |last1=Dawood |first1=Bishoy |title=Stand, Bow, Prostrate: The Prayerful Body of Coptic Christianity |url=https://www.clarionreview.org/2013/12/stand-bow-prostrate-the-prayerful-body-of-coptic-christianity/ |publisher=The Clarion Review |access-date=6 August 2020 |language=en |date=8 December 2013 |quote=Standing facing the East is the most frequent prayer position. ... This is further emphasized in the fact that Copts pray facing the East, waiting for the return of Jesus in glory; his return as the enthroned Pantocrator is portrayed in the iconography that is placed before the worshippers. |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810085554/http://www.clarionreview.org/2013/12/stand-bow-prostrate-the-prayerful-body-of-coptic-christianity/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="EOTC2020">{{cite web |title=Prayers of the Church |url=https://www.ethiopianorthodoxchurch.ca/prayers-church |publisher=[[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] |access-date=25 July 2020 |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725181427/https://www.ethiopianorthodoxchurch.ca/prayers-church |url-status=live }}</ref> Church bells enjoin Christians to pray at these hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the relationship between bells and the church? When and where did the tradition begin? Should bells ring in every church? |url=https://www.suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States |access-date=8 August 2020 |language=en |year=2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201140729/https://www.suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |url-status=live }}</ref> Before praying, they [[Ablution in Christianity|wash]] their hands and face to be clean before and present their best to God; [[Tradition of removing shoes in the home and houses of worship|shoes are removed]] to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.<ref name="Amherst1906"/><ref name="Kosloski2017">{{cite web |last1=Kosloski |first1=Philip |title=Did you know Muslims pray in a similar way to some Christians? |url=https://aleteia.org/2017/10/16/did-you-know-muslims-pray-in-a-similar-way-to-some-christians/ |publisher=[[Aleteia]] |access-date=25 July 2020 |language=en |date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617023333/https://aleteia.org/2017/10/16/did-you-know-muslims-pray-in-a-similar-way-to-some-christians/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During each of the seven fixed prayer times, Coptic Orthodox Christians pray "prostrating three times in the name of the [[Holy Trinity|Trinity]]; at the end of each Psalm ... while saying the 'Alleluia';" and 41 times for each of the [[Kyrie eleison]]s present in a canonical hour.<ref name="Kosloski2017"/> In the Coptic Orthodox Church, it is customary for women to wear a [[Christian headcovering]] when praying.<ref name="Russell2010">{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Thomas Arthur |title=Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions |date=2010 |publisher=Universal-Publishers |isbn=978-1-59942-877-2 |page=42 |language=en}}</ref> The Coptic Orthodox Church observes days of [[ritual purification]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=[[Ian Bradley]] |title=Water: A Spiritual History |date=2 November 2012 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4411-6767-5 |language=English|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= H. Bulzacchelli|first=Richard|title=Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7618-3501-1|pages=19|quote=The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.}}</ref> However, while meat that still contains blood after cooking is discouraged from being eaten, the Coptic Church does not forbid its members from consuming any particular type of food, unlike in Islam or [[Kashrut|Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States - Q&A |url=https://suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=338 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=suscopts.org |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009010908/https://suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=338 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Monastry3.jpg|thumb|left|A modern Coptic cathedral in [[Aswan]].]]

All churches of the Coptic Orthodox Church are designed to face the eastward direction of prayer and efforts are made to remodel churches obtained from other [[Christian denominations]] that are not built in this fashion.<ref name="Kalleeny2020">{{cite web |last1=Kalleeny |first1=Tony |title=Why We Face the East |url=https://www.suscopts.org/mightyarrows/east.html |publisher=St Mary and Archangel Michael Church |access-date=6 August 2020 |location=Orlando |language=en |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929142956/https://www.suscopts.org/mightyarrows/east.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Coptic Orthodox Christianity, fasting is defined as going without meat or dairy.<ref name="Samaan2024">{{cite web |last1=Samaan |first1=Moses |title=The Meaning of the Great Lent |url=https://www.lacopts.org/story/the-meaning-of-the-great-lent/ |publisher=[[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii]] |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=9 April 2009 |quote=The Church teaches us to fast until sunset. Fish is not allowed during this period. Also married couples should refrain from physical relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7: 5). We would like to emphasize the importance of the period of strict abstention during fasting. It is refraining from eating and drinking for a period of time, followed by eating vegetarian food.}}</ref> With respect to [[Eucharistic discipline]], Coptic Orthodox Christians [[Fasting#Christianity|fast]] from midnight onwards (or at least nine hours) prior to receiving the sacrament of [[Holy Communion]].<ref name="Farag2013"/> They fast every Wednesday and Friday of the year (Wednesdays in remembrance of the betrayal of Christ, and on Fridays in remembrance of His crucifixion and death).<ref name="Farag2013"/> In total, fast days in a year for Coptic Orthodox Christians numbers between 210 and 240. This means that Copts abstain from all animal products for up to two-thirds of each year.<ref name="Farag2013"/><ref name="JohnsonAlexopoulos" /> The fasts for [[Advent]] and [[Lent]] are 43 days and 55 days, respectively.<ref name="Farag2013"/> In August, before the celebration of the [[Dormition of the Mother of God]], Coptic Christians fast 15 days; fasting is also done before the feast of [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul]], starting from the day of [[Pentecost]].<ref name="Farag2013">{{cite book |last1=Farag |first1=Lois M. |title=The Coptic Christian Heritage: History, Faith and Culture |date=23 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-66684-3 |pages=133–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYK3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=dYK3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="JohnsonAlexopoulos" /> Married couples refrain from sexual relations during Lent "to give themselves time for fasting and prayer".<ref name="Samaan2024"/>

Christmas has been a national holiday in Egypt since 2003. It is the only Christian holiday in Egypt.<ref name="MeinardusOFA2">{{cite book |last1=Meinardus |first1=Otto F. A. |title=Christians in Egypt : Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Communities Past and Present |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-977-424-973-0 |pages=125–126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hx0nDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=hx0nDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 |url-status=live }}</ref> Coptic Christmas, which usually falls on January 6 or 7 is a major feast. Other major feasts are [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], [[Palm Sunday]], [[Easter]], Pentecost, [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension]], and [[Feast of the Annunciation|Annunciation]]. These are known in the Coptic world as the Seven Major Feasts. Major feasts are always preceded by fasts. Additionally, the Coptic Orthodox Church also has Seven Minor Feasts: the [[Feast of the Circumcision of Christ|Circumcision of the Lord]], Entrance into the Temple, Entrance into Egypt, [[Transfiguration of Jesus|Transfiguration]], [[Maundy Thursday]], Thomas Sunday, and [[Great Lent]].<ref name="Encyclopedia.com" /><ref name="MeinardusOFA2" /><ref name="FieldhouseP">{{cite book |last1=Fieldhouse |first1=Paul |title=Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions [2 volumes] |date=17 April 2017 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-412-4 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-FqDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164813/https://books.google.com/books?id=P-FqDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |url-status=live }}</ref> Furthermore, there are several indigenous feasts of the [[Theotokos]]. There are also other feasts commemorating the martyrdom of important saints from Coptic history.<ref name="JohnsonAlexopoulos">{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Maxwell E. |last2=Alexopoulos |first2=Stefanos |title=Introduction to Eastern Christian Liturgies |date=5 February 2022 |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=978-0-8146-6380-6 |pages=150–153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vMZcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=vMZcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA150 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Demographics ==
Available Egyptian census figures and other third-party survey reports have not reported more than 4 million Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="QScience" /> However media and other agencies, sometimes taking into account the claims of the church itself, generally approximate the Coptic Orthodox population at 10% of the Egyptian population or 10 million people.<ref name="Harvard University" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web |date=10 April 2017 |title=Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians? |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html |publisher=CNN |quote=The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1&nbsp;million more Coptic Christians are spread across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the World Council of Churches. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819141842/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USDeptofState">{{cite web |title=Egypt |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/egypt/ |website=United States Department of State |quote=The U.S. government estimates the population at 99.4&nbsp;million (July 2018 estimate).  Most experts and media sources state that approximately 90 percent of the population is officially designated as Sunni Muslims and approximately 10 percent is recognized as Christian (estimates range from 5 to 15 percent). Approximately 90 percent of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Christian leaders. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205040321/https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/egypt/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Egyptian Copts are the biggest Christian community in the Arab world. Estimates of their numbers vary, but generally range between 4.7 and 7.1 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copts in Egypt |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/copts/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Minority Rights Group |language=en-US}}</ref> The majority of them live in Egypt under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Since 2006, Egyptian censuses have not reported on religion and church leaders have alleged that Christians were under-counted in government surveys. In 2017, a government owned newspaper [[Al Ahram]] estimated the percentage of Copts at 10 to 15% and the membership claimed by the Coptic Orthodox Church is in the range of 20 to 25 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/281789/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-meets-world-Evangelical-churches-deleg.aspx|title=Egypt's Sisi meets world Evangelical churches delegation in Cairo – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online|website=english.ahram.org.eg|language=en|access-date=2017-12-26|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504020907/http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/281789/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-meets-world-Evangelical-churches-deleg.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Egypt's Coptic Bishop Morcos: We need to build 4,000 churches in next 10 years |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/03/02/Egypt-s-Coptic-Bishop-Morcos-We-need-to-build-4-000-churches-in-next-10-years.html |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en |date=2 March 2017 |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728094008/https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/03/02/Egypt-s-Coptic-Bishop-Morcos-We-need-to-build-4-000-churches-in-next-10-years.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2013/12/11/twenty-three-million-coptic-christians-in-egypt-says-authority/|title=Twenty-Three Million Coptic Christians in Egypt, Says Authority|date=2013-12-11|website=Raymond Ibrahim|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-23|archive-date=10 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610174107/https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2013/12/11/twenty-three-million-coptic-christians-in-egypt-says-authority/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Al-Akhbar English">{{cite news|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/12728|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112215842/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/12728|archive-date=12 January 2013|title=Egyptian Copts: It's All in the Number|last=Youssef|first=Abdel Rahman|date=30 September 2012|access-date=5 April 2016|website=Al-Akhbar English}}</ref>

There are also significant numbers in the diaspora outside Africa in countries such as the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[France]], and [[Germany]]. The exact number of Egyptian born Coptic Orthodox Christians in the diaspora is hard to determine and is roughly estimated to be close to 1 million.<ref>{{cite journal |title=How many Christians are there in Egypt? |journal=Pew Research Center |date=16 February 2011 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |quote=In the United States, Canada and Australia, the majority of Egyptian-born residents are Christian, but the estimated total size of the Egyptian-born Christian populations in these countries is approximately 160,000. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002004401/https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marzouki |first1=Nadia |title=The U.S. Coptic Diaspora and the Limit of Polarization |journal= Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique  |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160026412.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319053626/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160026412.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-19 |url-status=live |quote=The exact number of Copts living in the United States is a matter of debate. Estimates range from 91,200 to 750,000.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Washington DC |first1=The George Washington University |title=General Findings: Coptic Diaspora Survey |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277660027 |quote=As with most diasporas, the Coptic diasporans estimate their numbers to be much higher than official estimates, even higher than the estimates of all Egyptian national immigrants.}}</ref>

There are between 150,000 and 200,000 adherents in [[Sudan]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hassan|first1=Abdel Salaam|editor1-last=Verney|editor1-first=Peter|title=Sudan: Conflict and minorities|date=1995|publisher=Minority Rights Group International|page=26|chapter-url=http://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/old-site-downloads/download-881-Download-full-report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003091952/http://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/old-site-downloads/download-881-Download-full-report.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-03 |url-status=live|access-date=5 April 2016|chapter=The Copts}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Copts: Passive Survivors under Threat|journal=Africa Watch|date=10 February 1993|volume=5|issue=3|page=1|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/SUDAN932.PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210135616/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/SUDAN932.PDF |archive-date=2009-02-10 |url-status=live|access-date=5 April 2016}}</ref>

== Jurisdiction outside Egypt ==
[[File:ChristCopticArt.jpg|frame| [[Jesus Christ]] in a [[Coptic art|Coptic icon]]]]
Besides Egypt, the Church of Alexandria has jurisdiction over all of [[Africa]]. The following [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]] churches have strong historical ties to the Coptic Orthodox Church.

=== Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ===
{{Main|Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church}}
Tradition holds that Ethiopia was first evangelized by [[Matthew the Apostle|St. Matthew]] and [[Bartholomew the Apostle|St. Bartholomew]] in the 1st century ce, and the first Ethiopian convert is thought to have been the eunuch in Jerusalem mentioned in [[Acts of the Apostles|The Acts of the Apostles]] (8:27–40). Ethiopia was further Christianized in the 4th century ce by two men (likely brothers) from Tyre—St. Frumentius.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Ethiopian-Orthodox-Tewahedo-Church/33131 | title=Britannica Academic }}</ref> Ever since the conversion of [[Ezana of Axum]] to Christianity by [[Frumentius]] in 325 AD, the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] has received its archbishops from the Coptic Orthodox Church.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hancock |first=Graham |title=The Sign and the Seal |year=1992 |pages=239}}</ref> Until the mid-twentieth century, the metropolitans of the Ethiopian church were ethnic Copts. [[Pope Joseph II of Alexandria|Joseph II]] consecrated Archbishop [[Abuna Basilios]] as the first native head of the [[Ethiopian Church]] on 14 January 1951. In 1959, [[Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria]] crowned [[Abuna Basilios]] as the first [[List of Abunas of Ethiopia|Patriarch of Ethiopia]].<ref name="ShinnOfcansky">{{cite book |last1=Shinn |first1=David H. |last2=Ofcansky |first2=Thomas P. |title=Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia |date=11 April 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7457-2 |page=102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WU92d6sB8JAC&pg=PA102 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164816/https://books.google.com/books?id=WU92d6sB8JAC&pg=PA102 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ===
{{Main|Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church}}
Following the independence of [[Eritrea]] from Ethiopia in 1993, the newly independent Eritrean government appealed to [[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria]] for Eritrean Orthodox autocephaly. In 1994, Pope Shenouda ordained [[Abune Phillipos]] as first Archbishop of Eritrea.<ref name="MeltonBaumann">{{cite book |last1=Melton |first1=J. Gordon |last2=Baumann |first2=Martin |title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes] |date=21 September 2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-204-3 |page=993 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA993 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164816/https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA993 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Episcopal titles ===
{{Main|Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church}}[[File:Chuck Kennedy - The Official White House Photostream - P060409CK-0199 (pd).jpg|thumb|[[Pope Shenouda III]], the 117th [[Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church|Patriarch of Alexandria]] on the Holy Apostolic See of [[Saint Mark the Evangelist]] (1971–2012).]]

== Administration ==
{{Main|The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|Dioceses of the Coptic Orthodox Church}}
The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria is governed by its [[The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|Holy Synod]], which is headed by the [[Patriarch of Alexandria]]. Under his authority are the [[metropolitan archbishop]]s, [[metropolitan bishop]]s, [[Bishop|diocesan bishops]], [[Exarch|patriarchal exarchs]], [[missionary bishop]]s, [[auxiliary bishop]]s, [[suffragan bishop]]s, assistant bishops, [[chorbishop]]s and the [[patriarch]]al [[vicar]]s for the Church of Alexandria.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lacopts.org/orthodoxy/pope-of-alexandria/ | title=Pope of Alexandria &#124; Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles }}</ref> They are organized as follows:
* 23 metropolitanates, out of which 19 metropolitanates are in Egypt, one metropolitanate in the Near East, two in the USA and one in Africa; served by one metropolitan archbishops and 22 metropolitan bishops; out of the 23 hierarchs, one metropolitan archbishop is in the Near East, while 19 metropolitan bishops are in Egypt, two metropolitan bishops in the USA and one metropolitan bishop in Africa.
* 66 dioceses with 39 diocesan bishops are in Egypt, 14 diocesan bishops are in Europe, 6 diocesan bishops are in North America, two diocesan bishops are in South America, two diocesan bishops are in Sudan, two diocesan bishops in Australia, and one diocesan bishop in Africa.
* one suffragan diocese, with one suffragan bishop in North America.
* 5 auxiliary bishops, two in the Diocese of Los Angeles, two in the Southern USA diocese in North America and one in the diocese of Qena, Egypt.
* 13 assistant bishops in Egypt for 13 suffragan dioceses within an archdiocese under the Patriarch's jurisdiction.
* 8 patriarchal exarchates, with one in Asia & Australia, one in Africa, three in North America and three in Egypt.
* 18 bishop abbots for 17 patriarchal monasteries in Egypt and one patriarchal monastery in Australia.
* one general bishop, patriarchal emissary at large in USA
* four general bishops, administrators of patriarchal institutions in Egypt.
* one hegumen in the capacity of grand Economos, patriarchal vicar for Alexandria.
* one hegumen as administrative patriarchal vicar for Cairo.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Christianity|Egypt}}
* [[Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church]]
* [[General Congregation Council]]
* [[List of Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt]]
* [[Copts]]
* [[List of Coptic saints]]
* [[Coptic architecture]]
* [[Institute of Coptic Studies]]
* [[Coptic Orphans]]
* [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]]
** [[Orthodox Tewahedo]]
*** [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]
*** [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]
* [[Christian influences on the Islamic world]]
* [[Christianity and Islam]]
* [[Christianity in Africa]]
* [[Christianity in the Middle East]]
* [[Arab Christians]]
* [[Flight into Egypt]]
* [[Zabbaleen]]
* [[2011 Alexandria bombing]]
* [[Nag Hammadi massacre]]
* [[Persecution of Copts]]

== References ==
{{Reflist |colwidth = 30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|2}}
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* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=Miaphysite, not Monophysite!|journal=Cristianesimo Nella Storia|year=2016|volume=37|number=1|pages=45–52|isbn=978-88-15-26168-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ|access-date=21 February 2021|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423035524/https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ|url-status=live}}
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* {{cite book |last=Cannuyer |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Cannuyer |translator-last=Hawkes |translator-first=Sophie |date=2001 |title=[[Coptic Egypt: The Christians of the Nile]] |series="[[Découvertes Gallimard|Abrams Discoveries]]" series |location=New York |publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc. |isbn=978-0-8109-2979-1}}
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{{refend}}

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