General Congregation Council () is part of the

Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

and represents the laity of the Church, it is also known as the Coptic Orthodox Lay Council Established in February 1874 during the vacancy time of the Patriarchal Throne before the election of Pope Cyril V of Alexandria. The order for its establishment was issued by

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Shari ...

who was, then, the Khedive of Egypt. The first rules of the Council were issued in January 1874 by Khedive

Tewfik Pasha Mohamed Tewfik Pasha ( ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and the Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the s ...

who ruled Egypt after his father

. By 1883, the Council was fully established and in charge of managing non ecclesiastical matters of the church. The Chairman of the council is the

Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria The pope (; ), officially the pope of Alexandria and the patriarch of the see of St. Mark, also known as the bishop of Alexandria, or the patriarch of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Eg ...

General Secretary

Currently the General Secretary for the Council is Dr. Tharwat Bassily, الدكتور ثروت باسيلي previously this post has seen many prominent Copts like Boutros Ghali بطرس غالى the grandfather of Boutros Boutros Ghali بطرس بطرس غالى and Habib Elmasry the father of Iris Habib Elmasry.

Members

Currently the Council is formed of twenty four members (males and females) elected by the Copts in Egypt and is chaired by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Relations with the Popes

The Council had a disagreement with Pope Cyril V of Alexandria at the start of his pontificate, which was resolved in the Pontiff's favour. This was followed by several confrontations between the two parties, primarily because of the Pope's objection about the interference of the Council in the church's matters. There were at many times tension between the Council and the Pope, especially during the Pontificate of Pope Macarius III (1942–1944), the council agreed with The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the decision to remove Pope Joseph II (1946–1956) from office in 1954. During the Pontificate of Pope Cyril VI (1959–1971) there was no major disagreements and Pope Shenouda III (1971–2012) maintained a good relationship with the Council, since he was the Chairman of the Council.

References

Coptic Orthodox Church Religious organizations established in 1874 Christian organizations established in the 1870s 1874 establishments in Egypt {{CopticOrthodoxy-stub

General Secretary

Members

Relations with the Popes

See also

References