According to tradition, the Coptic Church was founded by Saint Mark the Evangelist in Alexandria. As early as the 2nd century, it established a prestigious theological school, the Didascalia, which exerted a wide influence throughout the Christian world. In the 4th century, monasteries flourished in the desert (St. Anthony, St. Macarius, St. Pachomius, and others). In 1451, the Copts rejected the Council of Chalcedon, which condemned Monophysitism, and broke away.
At the end of the 19th century, a branch of this Church came under the jurisdiction of Rome: the Coptic Catholic Church. Today, it has 250,000 members in Egypt and among the diaspora under the patriarchate of His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak.
Since the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox community has exerted significant influence on Egypt’s political and social life, despite the attacks, discrimination, and socioeconomic pressures it faces.
The Coptic Orthodox Church, which has nearly 10 million members, is led by His Holiness Tawadros II. It is the largest Christian community in the Middle East.
