Coptic Orthodox Church
On Wednesday the 2nd of February 2011, in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Coptic Christians joined hands and formed a protective ring around their Muslim neighbors, who were kneeling in prayer. The Coptic Orthodox Church, whose members stood in that circle, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. Its followers form Egypt's largest minority, and they make up the largest Christian population in the Middle East and North Africa. Its leader bears the title pope of Alexandria, yet Alexandria is no longer where he sits.
This documentary asks how a church that traces its origin to the middle of the 1st century endured centuries of Islamic rule and watched its own language fade from everyday speech. It asks what broke its communion with much of the Christian world, and who reshaped it within living memory. It also asks a deceptively simple question: how many people actually belong to it? Nobody agrees on the answer.
Tradition names Saint Mark the Evangelist, a companion of the Apostles, as the founder of the church, around AD 42. The church regards itself as the subject of many Old Testament prophecies.
In the same city stood the Catechetical School of Alexandria, described as the oldest catechetical school in the world. Jerome records that Mark himself founded the Christian School of Alexandria. The school became a leading center of the allegorical method of reading the Bible. It encouraged a rapprochement between Greek culture and the Christian faith. It also set out to defend orthodox teaching in an era when doctrine was still in flux.
The school's theological college was re-established in 1893 with five students, one of whom later became its dean. Today it has campuses in Alexandria and Cairo and in dioceses across Egypt. Abroad, it teaches in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, and London. Men and women there study theology, church history, missionary studies, and the Coptic language.
The doctrinal questions that school was built to answer would soon be argued before emperors.
In AD 325, Emperor Constantine I convened the Council of Nicaea after Pope Alexander I of Alexandria proposed gathering a council to answer heresies. The trouble began with an Alexandrian presbyter named Arius, whose dispute over the nature of Christ spread across the Christian world and is now called Arianism. Hosius of Cordova presided, and the council's work led to the Nicene Creed.
In AD 381, Pope Timothy I of Alexandria presided over the First Council of Constantinople. It judged Macedonius, who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The council completed the Nicene Creed by affirming that divinity.
The next quarrel centered on Nestorius, the patriarch of Constantinople. He taught that God the Word dwelt in the man Jesus rather than being joined to human nature. As a result, he refused Mary the title Theotokos, meaning Mother of God, and called her Christotokos, Mother of Christ. The Council of Ephesus confirmed the teachings of Athanasius and restored the title. It also declared anyone who divided Christ into two hypostases to be anathema, echoing Cyril's phrase "One Nature for God the Word Incarnate".
In AD 451, at Chalcedon, Emperor Marcian tried to heal the divisions in the church. Pope Dioscorus of Alexandria answered that an emperor should not meddle in church affairs. Imperial delegates responded with harsh disciplinary measures, and Dioscorus was later exiled. Two years earlier, in AD 449, he had headed the second Council of Ephesus, which Chalcedonian historians called the "Robber Council". It held to the Miaphysite formula of one incarnate nature of God the Word.
The two sides describe Christ differently. Oriental Orthodox Christians say he is one nature, fully human and fully divine. Chalcedonians say he is recognized in two natures. Oriental Orthodoxy argues that the two-nature wording is no different from what the Nestorians taught.
Alexandria now had two patriarchs. One was the native Egyptian, today's Coptic pope. The other was the Melkite or imperial patriarch, now known as the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria. Almost the entire Egyptian population rejected Chalcedon and stayed with the native church.
Copts defend Dioscorus on several grounds. Alexandrian theology holds that he was never condemned as a heretic by the council's canons. Copts also believe he was forcibly kept from attending the council's third session, the result of a conspiracy by the Roman delegates. They reject the label Monophysite, which Chalcedonians once used, and regard that teaching as a heresy. Miaphysite comes closer, since it describes a conjoined nature, human and divine, united indivisibly in the Incarnate Logos.
Since the 1980s, theologians from both sides have met and concluded that many differences come from using different terms for the same thing. In the summer of 2001, the Coptic and Greek Orthodox patriarchates of Alexandria agreed to recognize each other's baptisms and marriages.
Bishop John of Nikiu wrote a chronicle of the Muslim invasion of Egypt in AD 639, seen from the Coptic side. It survives only in an Ethiopic text in Ge'ez, although some scholars believe it was first written in Coptic. John accuses the invaders of having "despoiled the Egyptians of their possessions and dealt cruelly with them". He is just as harsh about their commander, Amr ibn al-As. Yet he admits that after the conquest Amr "took none of the property of the Churches".
Egypt stayed mainly Christian for a long time. By the end of the 12th century, however, it had become a largely Muslim country. One scholar points to the repression of Coptic revolts, Arab-Muslim immigration, and conversion. Umayyad rulers taxed Christians at a higher rate than Muslims, which pushed merchants toward Islam and weakened the church's economic base. The church survived, but it struggled to keep the Egyptian elite. That same century made the Copts a religious minority, and in the 14th and 15th centuries Islam replaced Nubian Christianity.
In 969, Egypt passed to the Fatimid dynasty, which ruled until 1171 and was largely favorable to Christians. The great exception was the persecution led by Caliph al-Hakim between 1004 and 1013. It brought clothing regulations, a ban on publicly celebrating Christian festivals, and the dismissal of Christian and Jewish officials. By the end of his reign he rescinded these measures, and Copts regained privileged positions in the administration.
During the patriarchate of Cyril II, from 1078 to 1092, the patriarchal residence moved from Alexandria to Cairo. The grand vizier Badr al-Jamali demanded that the pope settle in the capital. When Saladin entered Egypt in 1163, he brought a government devoted to defending Sunni Islam, and Christians were again discriminated against and expected to keep their ceremonies and buildings modest. Under the Ottomans, Copts were grouped with other Oriental Orthodox and Nestorian peoples in the Armenian millet.
In 1798, the French invaded Egypt without success, and the British helped the Turks regain power under the Muhammad Ali dynasty. Early in the 19th century, that dynasty's stability and tolerance began to improve the Copts' position, and the state stopped treating their community as an administrative unit. In 1855, Sa'id Pasha abolished the jizya tax, and soon afterward Copts began serving in the army.
Pope Cyril IV founded the first modern Coptic schools in 1853, including the first Egyptian school for girls. He also set up a printing press, only the second national press in the country. His relations with other denominations were so warm that when the Greek Patriarch left Egypt for a long period, he entrusted his church to the Coptic patriarch.
Only in the 19th and 20th centuries did ethnic Egyptian Christians widely begin calling themselves Coptic Orthodox. The name set them apart from Catholic Copts and from the mostly Greek Eastern Orthodox.
In 2013, the theologian Samuel Tadros wrote of Pope Shenouda III, "Today's Coptic Church as an institution is built solely on his vision". Shenouda led the church from 1971 to 2012. In that time the synod codified its internal laws for the first time.
Shenouda raised the number of bishops from 26 to 117 and ordained hundreds of priests, which greatly reduced the influence of any single bishop. He began a yearly synod meeting, and the body of church law grew considerably. New curriculums trained priests and deacons and prepared newlyweds. For the first time in the church's modern history, women could be ordained as deacons.
The synod also adopted a model of community development. It brought hospitals, adult literacy schools, orphanages, libraries, and community centres. Much of the work was paid for by donations from wealthy Coptic industrialists and from Copts abroad. Shenouda also talked with the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. On the 10th of May 1973, he visited the Vatican, where the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches issued a joint Christological declaration.
He also pushed the church deeper into politics, seeing it as a way to defend Coptic interests as Islamism and terrorist attacks rose. In 1981, President Anwar Sadat ordered him into exile at a Coptic monastery far from Cairo. The exile ended a few months later, when Muslim extremists assassinated Sadat. Under President Hosni Mubarak, Shenouda often protested persecution by leaving Cairo for seclusion, and the regime frequently moved quickly to address the issue. Some church members criticized this political role, among them the prominent monk Father Matta El Meskeen.
Shenouda died on the 17th of March 2012. Many Copts mourned him and worried, because he had constantly met Muslim leaders to keep the peace. They feared that good relations might break down without his mediation. The Muslim Brotherhood had just won 70% of the parliamentary elections, which sharpened fears of growing Islamic control of Egypt.
His successor, Pope Tawadros II, keeps ties with the Egyptian government and with other churches. Shenouda had criticized the spread of Protestant teaching and books in Coptic churches. Tawadros has instead increased dialogue with several Protestant churches. He is a relatively less political figure and has voiced support for the state's institutions in times of crisis. Even so, in 2013 he backed the movement demanding the removal of Egypt's Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.
Human Rights Watch has noted growing religious intolerance and sectarian violence against Copts in recent years. It also faults the Egyptian government for failing to investigate properly and prosecute those responsible. More than a hundred Egyptian Copts were killed in sectarian clashes from 2011 to 2017, and many homes and businesses were destroyed.
In Minya, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights documented 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016. Coptic Christian women and girls are often abducted and disappear.
In 2015-21 men traveled to Libya to support their families. There they were kidnapped and beheaded by the Islamic State in Libya.
In 2023, Pope Francis announced that the 21 Coptic martyrs would be added to the Catholic Roman Martyrology. On the 10th of May that year, Pope Tawadros visited the Vatican to celebrate Coptic-Catholic Friendship day. He gifted the Vatican relics from each of the 21 martyrs.
Seven times a day, Coptic Orthodox Christians pray the canonical hours from a breviary called the Agpeya. They face east in anticipation of the Second Coming, and the practice is rooted in Psalm 119:164, where David prays to God seven times a day. Church bells call the faithful to these hours. Before praying they wash their hands and face, and they remove their shoes to show they stand before a holy God. They prostrate three times in the name of the Trinity and do so 41 times for each Kyrie eleison in an hour. Women customarily wear a head covering during prayer. Churches themselves are built facing east, and buildings acquired from other denominations are remodeled to match.
Fasting is strict. Traditionally it means going without food and water from midnight to sunset, after which water and one vegetarian meal are allowed. Supper also excludes meat, eggs, and dairy. Before Holy Communion, Copts fast from midnight, or for at least nine hours. Every Wednesday and Friday of the year is a fast day, Wednesday for the betrayal of Christ and Friday for his crucifixion and death. In total, fast days number between 210 and 240 a year, so Copts avoid all animal products for up to two-thirds of the year. Advent lasts 43 days and Lent 55. In August, 15 days of fasting precede the Dormition of the Mother of God. Another fast runs from Pentecost to the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. During Lent, married couples refrain from sexual relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer. Even so, the church forbids no particular food, unlike Islam or Judaism, though meat that still contains blood after cooking is discouraged.
Feasts follow the fasts, and major feasts are always preceded by one. Christmas, which usually falls on January 6 or 7, has been a national holiday in Egypt since 2003. It is the only Christian holiday so recognized. The Seven Major Feasts are Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension, Annunciation, and Christmas. There are also Seven Minor Feasts, from the Circumcision of the Lord to Thomas Sunday, along with several indigenous feasts of the Theotokos and days honoring important martyrs.
The language of the liturgy is Coptic, a descendant of Ancient Egyptian. Its alphabet comes from Greek, with extra characters borrowed from the Demotic script. The Bohairic dialect is used mainly for worship, and many hymns have passed down for centuries. After the Arab conquest, Arab rulers banned Coptic and Arabic gradually replaced it. Most Copts now speak Arabic as their first language, so the service books print the Coptic text with Arabic in a parallel column.
The pope carries the titles Father of fathers, Shepherd of shepherds, Ecumenical Judge, and 13th among the Apostles. He presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District of Cairo, and he heads the Holy Synod. Under him the church counts 27 metropolitanates, 20 of them in Egypt. It also has 66 dioceses, with 39 diocesan bishops in Egypt, 14 in Europe, and six in North America. Seventeen patriarchal monasteries stand in Egypt, and one in Australia. The Church of Alexandria claims jurisdiction over all of Africa.
Ethiopia's church has the oldest ties. Tradition says Saint Matthew and Saint Bartholomew first evangelized Ethiopia, and the first convert may have been the eunuch described in Acts 8:27-40. In 325 AD, Frumentius, one of two men from Tyre who were likely brothers, converted Ezana of Axum. From then on, Ethiopia received its archbishops from the Coptic church. Until the mid-twentieth century they were ethnic Copts. On the 14th of January 1951, Joseph II consecrated Abuna Basilios as the first native head of the Ethiopian church. In 1959, Pope Cyril VI crowned him the first Patriarch of Ethiopia.
Eritrea followed after its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, when its new government appealed to Pope Shenouda III. In 1994, Shenouda ordained Abune Phillipos as the first Archbishop of Eritrea and consecrated four bishops to form a local synod. Four years later, in 1998, he enthroned Eritrea's first patriarch, completing its autocephaly. In the 1990s, the Orthodox Church of the British Isles joined the Coptic church as the British Orthodox Church. By 2015 it had formally separated as a non-canonical, autocephalous church.
Counting the members is harder than listing the bishops. Egyptian censuses and third-party surveys have not found more than 4 million Coptic Orthodox Christians, and Pew estimated 4 million Orthodox Christians in 2016. Media reports often use 10 percent of the population, or 10 million. In 2017, the government-owned newspaper Al Ahram estimated 10 to 15 percent, while the church claimed 20 to 25 million. In 2023, Pope Tawadros II put the figure at 15 million in Egypt and 2 million abroad. Church leaders say government counts miss Christians, and Egyptian censuses have not reported on religion since 2006. The World Christian Database, published in 2021, estimated 8,798,000 Oriental Orthodox Christians in Egypt. Sudan holds between 150,000 and 200,000 adherents, and the diaspora is roughly estimated at close to 1 million. Until a census asks the question again, the true size of the church remains open.
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Common questions
What is the Coptic Orthodox Church?
It is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt, led by the pope of Alexandria, who presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District of Cairo.
Why did the Coptic Church separate from the churches that accepted the Council of Chalcedon?
The disagreement was over the nature of Christ. Oriental Orthodox Christians hold that Christ is one incarnate nature, fully human and fully divine, while Chalcedonians recognize two natures. After AD 451, Alexandria had two patriarchs.
What language does the Coptic Church use in worship?
Its liturgy uses Coptic, mainly the Bohairic dialect, a descendant of Ancient Egyptian written in an alphabet derived from Greek. Because most Copts speak Arabic, service books print Arabic in a parallel column.
How many Copts are there?
Estimates differ widely. Egyptian censuses and surveys have reported no more than 4 million, while the church claimed 15 million in Egypt and 2 million abroad in 2023. Egyptian censuses have not reported on religion since 2006.
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