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| St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral Photo by Roland Unger |
Christianity in Egypt was brought by Saint Mark the evangelist and apostle of Christ. Saint Mark is regarded as the founder of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the first bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Christianity became the majority religion of Egypt from 4th to 6th century until the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. The church of Egypt which is also called Coptic Orthodox Church belongs to the oriental orthodox family of churches. The Copts were the original native inhabitants of Egypt who were Christians. The word Copt is a westernized version of the Arabic “qubt” which was derived from Greek “Aigyptus” or Egypt. There are also other foreign Christian groups such as the Europeans and the Americans, but Copts only refer to native Egyptian Christians. Coptic is a language which was spoken in Egypt until it was supplanted by Arabic in the 8th century. Coptic is now extinct and used only in liturgical services in the church. Other languages used in church services include Greek and Arabic.
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| Coptic Altar in the Church of Holy Sepulchre Photo by Afandus |
Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the
Great and named after him was the center of trade and learning during the Greek
and Roman eras in Egypt. It was also a hub for the spread of Christianity to
that country and to Africa and some parts of Asia. In ancient times Alexandria rivaled Rome and
Constantinople as the capital cities of Christendom.
The different interpretation on the nature
of Christ led to schism among early Christians. A priest named Arianus
maintained that Christ was not co-equal with God the Father because He created
him. Nestorius, a patriarch of
Constantinople disputed the adoration of Virgin Mary as the mother of God. Two bishops of Alexandria, Saints Athanasius
and Cyril, defended the Christian orthodoxy against Arianism and Nestorianism. To
settle misunderstandings, Pope Leo of Rome called the Council of Chalcedon in
451 A.D. to settle the issue. In the council the church authorities defined the
nature of Christ as one person with two distinct natures which are human and
divine a position that was accepted by the churches of Rome and Constantinople.
Most Egyptian Christians who rejected the
council’s decree were accused by Rome of Monophysitism, a doctrine that says
that Christ has only one nature. Taking exception of that labelling, the churches
of Alexandria broke away from Rome. For them, their doctrine is miaphysitism which
is believing in incarnate word, and that Christ is united in divine and human
natures without mingling, without confusion and without alteration. Doctrinal
and cultural differences created rift between most Egyptians and their
Byzantine rulers. This situation facilitated the Arab conquest of Egypt in the
7th century.
During the Arab conquest, the Arabs were
regarded as liberators at first. But later the Copts were made to pay jizya tax
and relegated to dhimmi status. These impositions caused discontent on the
Copts, but the Islamic authorities were able to deal effectively with them.
Later the tax was abolished, and Copts were allowed to join the army, and they
were given equal rights as other citizens of Egypt such as the freedom to
exercise their religion. But despite
those accommodations Copts complained of being discriminated against and of
being treated as second class citizens. A case in point is the construction of
a church. Christians are required to seek first the permission from the
president before a construction could be undertaken. The authority to grant
them permits was later lowered to the office of a provincial governor. On the
other hand, there is no restriction regarding the construction of a mosque. The
degree of freedom the faithful exercised depended on the personality of who the
incumbent ruler was. Some officials could be harsh while others could be kind. The
restrictions placed on the Copts forced many of them to convert to Islam or to
immigrate to other countries such as the United States, Canada, and Europe.
This situation has resulted in the decrease of the Copts’ population. Once the
majority of Egypt the Copts now constitute only about 10% of the population.
Sectarian problem in Egypt manifests itself
during a riot in the early second decade of 2000 which killed 26 people mostly
Christians. After a destruction of a church, Christian made a sit-in strike in
front of a TV stations. Suddenly, men with sticks barged in their midst and
attacked them. Clashes ensued. Instead of quelling the violence, the army soldiers
rammed the Christian protesters with their vehicles. Christians accused the
authorities for not doing enough to stop the violence and for not bringing the
perpetrators of the attack to justice.
At present the headquarters of the Coptic
Orthodox Church is the Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo, Egypt
and is headed by Pope Tawadros II. There are also churches in Africa, Asia and
overseas churches in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Coptic
Christians makes up the largest and most significant minority in Egypt’s 2025 population
of 118, 365, 995.
Although Copts constitute only a minority
in Egypt, most of them are economically better off than other Egyptians, and they
hold about 25% of the nation’s wealth. Among the famous Copts are Boutrous Boutrous Ghali,
the sixth Secretary General of the United Nations and the late Fayez Sarofim, who
was one of the richest men in the world.
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