Coptic
Orthodox Christianity is the indigenous
form of Christianity that, according to
tradition, the apostle Mark established
in Egypt in the middle of the 1st century
AD (approximately 42). The church belongs
to the Oriental Orthodoxy, and the see
of Alexandria in Coptic Christianity has
been a distinct church body since the
Council of Chalcedon in 451. Its leader
is the Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch
of the Holy See of Saint Mark, currently
Pope Shenouda III. In the Eastern Orthodox
Church, the head of Egyptian national
church is also known as the "Patriarch
of Alexandria". For more information
see List of Patriarchs of Alexandria.
Egypt is often identified as the place
of refuge that the Holy Family sought
in its flight from Judea: "When he
arose, he took the young Child and His
mother by night and departed for Egypt,
and was there until the death of Herod
the Great, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called
My Son" (Matthew 2:12-23).
The
Egyptian Church, which is now more than
nineteen centuries old, was 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 LORD in the midst of the
land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD
at its border." The first Christians
in Egypt were mainly Alexandrian Jews
such as Theophilus, whom Saint 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.
|
|
