General Congregation Council ( ar, المجلس الملي العام للأقباط الأرثوذكس) is part of the

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 القبطي� ...

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 Pope Cyril V of Alexandria (Abba Kyrillos V), 112th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark for 52 years, 9 months and 6 days. He was the longest-serving Pope in the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He was born as Youhann ...

. The order for its establishment was issued by

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...

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 ( ar, محمد توفيق باشا ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Egypt and the Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the sixth rul ...

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 of the Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ, translit=Papa; ar, البابا, translit=al-Bābā), also known as the Bishop of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Egypt. The ...

General Secretary

Currently the General Secretary for the Council is Dr.

Tharwat Bassily Tharwat Bassily ('') Ph.D.'', (14 September 1940 – 5 December 2017) was an Egyptian businessman. Bassily graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University in 1967. He was founder and chairman of the board of Amoun Pharmaceutical Co ...

, الدكتور ثروت باسيلي previously this post has seen many prominent

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Co ...

s like

Boutros Ghali , image = Boutros Ghali Pasha.jpg , order = 9th Prime Minister of Egypt , monarch = Abbas II , birth_date = , birth_place = Kiman-al-'Arus, Beni Suef, Ottoman Empire , death_date = , death_place = Cairo, Khedivate o ...

بطرس غالى the grandfather of

Boutros Boutros Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (; , ar, بطرس بطرس غالي ', ; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1992 to 1996. An academi ...

بطرس بطرس غالى and Habib Elmasry the father of

Iris Habib Elmasry Iris Habib Elmasry (إيريس حبيب المصري) was a prominent Coptic Historian (1910–1994). Biography Iris Habib Elmasry was born into a Coptic family in 1910. Her family name ''Elmasry'' in the Arabic language means The Egyptian. Her ...

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 ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Relations with the Popes

The Council had a disagreement with

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 Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 u ...

(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 19th century 1874 establishments in Egypt {{OrientalOrthodoxy-stub

General Secretary

Members

Relations with the Popes

See also

References