Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria

The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطية الأرثوذكسية, translit=al-Kanīsa al-Qibṭiyya al-ʾUrṯūḏuksiyya), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt, servicing Africa and the Middle East. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the Pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Father of fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds, Ecumenical Judge and the thirteenth among the Apostles. The See of Alexandria is titular, and today, 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. The church has approximately 25 million members worldwide and is Egypt's largest Christian denomination.

According to its tradition, the Coptic Church was established by Mark, an apostle and evangelist, during the middle of the 1st century (c. AD 42). Eusebius of Caesarea, the author of ''Ecclesiastical History'' in the 4th century, states that Mark came to Egypt in the first or third year of the reign of Emperor Claudius, i.e. AD 41 or 43 Due to disputes concerning the nature of Christ, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church schismed after the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, resulting in a rivalry with the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. In the 4th to 7th centuries, the Coptic Church gradually expanded due to the Christianization of the Aksumite Empire and of two of the three Nubian kingdoms, Nobatia and Alodia, while the third Nubian kingdom, Makuria, recognized the authority of the Coptic Pope after initially being aligned to the State church of the Roman Empire.

After AD 639, Egypt was ruled by its Islamic conquerors from Arabia, and the treatment of the Coptic Christians ranged from tolerance to open persecution. 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 Christianity was supplanted by Islam. 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 Arab Spring in 2011, the Copts have been suffering increased religious discrimination and violence.

History

Apostolic foundation

The Egyptian Church is traditionally believed to be founded by Mark the Evangelist around AD 42, and regards itself as the subject of many prophecies in the Old Testament. Isaiah the prophet, in Chapter 19, Verse 19 says "In that day there will be an altar to the in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the at its border". The first Christians in Egypt were common people who spoke Egyptian Coptic. There were also Alexandrian Jewish people such as Theophilus, whom Luke the Evangelist addresses in the introductory chapter of his gospel. When the church was founded by Mark during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, a great multitude of native Egyptians (as opposed to Greeks or Jews) embraced the Christian faith.

Christianity spread throughout Egypt within half a century of Mark's arrival in Alexandria, as is clear from the New Testament writings found in Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt, which date around the year AD 200, and a fragment of the Gospel of John, written in Coptic, which was found in Upper Egypt and can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century. In the 2nd century, Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into the local languages, namely Coptic.

Coptic language in the Church

The Coptic language is a universal language used in Coptic churches in every country. It descends from Ancient Egyptian and uses the Coptic alphabet, a script descended from the Greek alphabet with added characters derived from the Demotic script. Today, Coptic is used primarily for liturgical purposes. Many of the hymns in the liturgy are in Coptic and have been passed down for several thousand years. The language is used to preserve Egypt's original language, which was banned by the Arab invaders, who ordered Arabic to be used instead. Some examples of these hymns are cop, Ⲡ̀ⲟⲩⲣⲟ, translit=ep.ouro, lit=the king, cop, Ⲕ̀ⲥ̀ⲙⲁⲣⲱⲟⲩⲧ, translit=ek.esmaro'oot, lit=(thou) blessed, cop, Ⲧⲁⲓϣⲟⲩⲣⲏ, translit=tai.shouri, lit=this censer, and many more.

Contributions to Christianity

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. Around AD 42, under the leadership of the scholar Pantanaeus, the school of Alexandria became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as Athenagoras, Clement, Didymus, and the native Egyptian Origen, who was considered the father of theology and who was also active in the field of commentary and comparative Biblical studies.

The theological college of the catechetical school was re-established in 1893.

Cradle of monasticism and its missionary work

Many Egyptian Christians went to the desert during the 3rd century, and remained there to pray and work and dedicate their lives to seclusion and worship of God. This was the beginning of the monastic movement, which was organized by Anthony the Great, Paul of Thebes, the world's first anchorite, Macarius the Great and Pachomius the Cenobite in the 4th century.

Christian monasticism was born in Egypt and was instrumental in the formation of the Coptic Orthodox Church character of submission, simplicity and humility, thanks to the teachings and writings of the Great Fathers of Egypt's Deserts. By the end of the 5th century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered throughout the Egyptian desert. A great number of these monasteries are still flourishing and have new vocations to this day.

All Christian monasticism stems, either directly or indirectly, from the Egyptian example: Basil the Great Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, founder and organizer of the monastic movement in Asia Minor, visited Egypt around AD 357 and his rule is followed by the Eastern Orthodox churches; Jerome who translated the Bible into Latin, came to Egypt, while en route to Jerusalem, around AD 400 and left details of his experiences in his letters; Benedict founded the Benedictine Order in the 6th century on the model of Pachomius, but in a stricter form. Countless pilgrims have visited the Desert Fathers to emulate their spiritual, disciplined lives.

Role and participation in the Ecumenical Councils

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 Ecumenical Council of Nicea AD 325 was convened by Constantine after the Pope Alexander I of Alexandria requested to hold a Council to respond to heresies, under the presidency of Hosius of Cordova to resolve the dispute. This eventually led to the formulation of the Symbol of Faith, also known as the Nicene Creed. The Creed was based largely on the teaching put forth by a man who eventually would become Athanasius of Alexandria, the chief opponent of Arius, and 20th bishop of Alexandria and therefore a Pope according to Coptic Christians.

Council of Constantinople

In the year AD 381, Pope Timothy I of Alexandria presided over the second ecumenical council known as the Ecumenical 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:

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.

Council of Ephesus

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 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 Virgin Mary, declaring her instead to be "Mother of Christ" ''Christotokos''.

The Council confirmed the teachings of Athanasius and confirmed the title of Mary as " Mother of God". It also clearly stated that anyone who separated Christ into two hypostases was anathema, as Cyril had said that there is "One Nature r One Hypostasisfor God the Word Incarnate" (''Mia Physis tou Theou Logou Sesarkōmenē''). The introduction to the creed, still recited in the church, is formulated as follows:

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. ot_dissimilar_to_the_"Axion_Estin"_Chant_still_used_in_Orthodoxy.html" ;"title="Axion_Estin.html" ;"title="ot dissimilar to the "Axion Estin">ot dissimilar to the "Axion Estin" Chant still used in Orthodoxy">Axion_Estin.html" ;"title="ot dissimilar to the "Axion Estin">ot dissimilar to the "Axion Estin" Chant still used in Orthodoxy/blockquote>

Council of Chalcedon

When in AD 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 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" (Greek: μία φύσις Θεοῦ Λόγου σεσαρκωμένη (''mia physis Theou Logou sesarkōmenē'')), and upheld Eutyches

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