Coptic Orthodox Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church is an Oriental Orthodox church based in Egypt, and the largest Christian church in the country. Its head is the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, at present Pope Tawadros II, who presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia district of Cairo.
Key facts
- Pope Tawadros II
- Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Abbassia, Cairo
- Oriental Orthodox
- Coptic and Arabic
- The Holy Synod
Origins
In the church's tradition, Saint Mark the Evangelist brought Christianity to Alexandria in the first century and founded the church there.
The church did not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Patriarchate's own history says the Coptic Church refused them together with the Syriac, Armenian and other Oriental Orthodox churches.
Organisation
The Holy Synod, in which the metropolitans and bishops sit under the presidency of the Pope, is the church's highest authority.
Services use Coptic and Arabic. The World Council of Churches describes Coptic as used mainly in church, with service books that give the Arabic text beside it.
Outside Egypt, the Patriarchate lists dioceses in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia, and an archdiocese of Jerusalem and the Near East.