Coptic Catholic Church

The Coptic Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic church of the Alexandrian rite in full communion with Rome. It is a church sui iuris, with its own patriarch and synod, and its head carries the title Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts. The patriarchate was founded on paper by Pope Leo XII in 1824 and re-established by Pope Leo XIII in 1895. Its offices are in Cairo, and its cathedral, Our Lady of Egypt, is in Nasr City.

History

The Coptic Encyclopedia notes that Pope Benedict XIV granted faculties to a Coptic bishop, Athanasius, on 4 August 1741. In 1824 Pope Leo XII founded a Catholic patriarchate of Alexandria by the bull Petrus Apostolorum Princeps; the encyclopedia says the foundation remained on paper, and the Catholic Copts continued to be governed by vicars apostolic.

In 1895 a delegation led by the vicar apostolic Cyril Maqar petitioned Pope Leo XIII, who re-established the patriarchate for the Copts in the apostolic letter Christi Domini of November 1895 and named Cyril Maqar its administrator. The 1898 synod of Alexandria, held under Cyril Maqar's presidency, adopted several Latin feasts and practices, including the feasts of Corpus Christi, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception and Saint Joseph. On 19 June 1899 Cyril Maqar was appointed patriarch as Cyril II.

The encyclopedia records that the see was without a patriarch from 1908 until 9 August 1947, when Mark Khouzam, administrator since 30 December 1927, became patriarch as Mark II; the GCatholic listing gives 10 August. Stephanos I Sidarouss followed on 10 May 1958 and in 1965 became the first Coptic cardinal. The encyclopedia gives 5,000 communicants in 1895 and 107,500 in 1975; Wikipedia gives a figure of about 253,000 members in 2023.

1. 4 August 1741

   Pope Benedict XIV grants faculties to Bishop Athanasius.

2. 15 August 1824

   Leo XII founds a Catholic patriarchate of Alexandria, on paper.

3. November 1895

   Leo XIII re-establishes the patriarchate for the Copts.

4. 19 June 1899

   Cyril II is appointed the first patriarch of the restored see.

5. August 1947

   Mark II becomes patriarch after a vacancy since 1908.

6. 1965

   Patriarch Stephanos I Sidarouss is made a cardinal.

7. 18 January 2013

   Pope Benedict XVI grants communion to Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak.

Structure

The patriarchate is governed by the patriarch with the synod of the church's bishops. The patriarch also presides over the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy of Egypt. The patriarchal eparchy is Alexandria, with the patriarch's residence in Cairo. The GCatholic listing of the see gives nine eparchies in all.

Eparchies of the Coptic Catholic Church, with the year each was erected

Eparchy	Erected
Alexandria (patriarchal)	1895
Luxor	1895
Minya	1895
Assiut	1947
Sohag	1981
Ismailia	1982
Giza	2003
Abu Qurqas	2020
Al Qusia	2022

The church's seminary is the Saint Leo the Great Patriarchal Seminary at Maadi, in Cairo, where Pope Francis met the clergy, religious and seminarians of Egypt on 29 April 2017. The Coptic Encyclopedia, writing in 1991, lists pre-seminaries in Tahta and Alexandria, and a minor and a major seminary in Cairo, and names Al-Salah as the patriarchate's official Arabic bulletin.

The patriarch

The patriarch is elected by the synod of the Coptic Catholic Church and receives ecclesiastical communion from the Pope. Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak was elected on 15 January 2013, and Pope Benedict XVI granted him communion on 18 January 2013. The GCatholic listing records that he was ordained a priest in 1980, consecrated a bishop in 2002, and was Bishop of Minya from 2002 until his election.

Patriarchs of Alexandria of the Copts since the restoration of the see

Patriarch	Years
Cyril II (Cyril Maqar)	1899 to 1908
Mark II Khouzam	1947 to 1958
Stephanos I Sidarouss	1958 to 1986
Stephanos II Ghattas	1986 to 2006
Antonios Naguib	2006 to 2013
Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak	since 2013