Coptic Orthodox Church: Difference between revisions

| icon              = Coptic cross.svg

| icon_width        = 40px

| name              = Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria

| caption            = [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]], Cairo, Egypt

| founder            = St. [[Mark the Evangelist]] (traditional)

| members            = 10 million<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="QScience" /><ref name="Harvard University" /><ref name="CNN" /><ref name="USDeptofState" /><ref name="UKFCO">{{cite web |last1=UK |first1=Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) |title=Country Profile: The Arab Republic of Egypt |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/country-profiles/middle-east-north-africa/egypt/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090705015153/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-the-fco/country-profiles/middle-east-north-africa/egypt/ |archive-date=5 July 2009 |access-date=19 April 2020 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |language=en}}</ref><ref name="TCF">{{cite journal |date=9 May 2019 |title=Excluded and Unequal |url=https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?session=1 |language=en |publisher=The Century Foundation |quote=Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130154407/https://tcf.org/content/report/christian-exclusion-from-egypts-security-state/?session=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

| other_names        = ''Coptic Church''<br />''Coptic Orthodox Church''

| logo              = [[File:Coptic Orthodox Church Logo.svg|50px]]

The '''Coptic Orthodox Church''' ({{langx|cop|Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ|translit=Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-orthodhoxos|lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church}}), also known as the '''Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria''', is an [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox Christian]] church based in [[Egypt]]. The head of the church and the [[Apostolic see|See]] of [[Alexandria]] is the [[pope of Alexandria]] on the Holy Apostolic See of [[Mark the Evangelist|Saint Mark]], who also carries the title of Father of fathers, Shepherd of shepherds, Ecumenical Judge and the 13th among the Apostles.

The See of Alexandria is [[titular see|titular]]. The Coptic pope presides from [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]] in the [[Abbassia]] District in [[Cairo]]. The church follows the [[Coptic Rite]] for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony. Adherents of the Coptic Orthodox Church make up Egypt's largest and most significant minority population, and the largest population of Christians in the [[Middle East and North Africa|Middle East and North Africa (MENA)]].<ref name="Pew">{{Cite web |last=Hackett |first=Conrad |date=February 16, 2011 |title=How many Christians are there in Egypt? |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |url-status=live |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002004401/https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ }}</ref><ref name="QScience">{{Cite journal |last1=Mohamoud |first1=Yousra A. |last2=Cuadros |first2=Diego F. |last3=Abu-Raddad |first3=Laith J. |date=June 1, 2013 |title=Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators |journal=QScience Connect |language=en |publisher=Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals |volume=2013 |issue=1 |page=22 |doi=10.5339/connect.2013.22 |issn=2223-506X |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Harvard University">{{Cite web |title=Coptic Christianity in Egypt |url=https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/coptic-christianity-egypt |access-date=March 11, 2023 |website=Religion and Public Life |publisher=Harvard Divinity School |language=en |archive-date=12 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312010826/https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/coptic-christianity-egypt |url-status=live }}</ref> They make up the largest share of the approximately 10 million Christians in Egypt.<ref>{{cite news |title=Egyptian Coptic protesters freed |newspaper=BBC |date=22 December 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4117831.stm }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unitedcopts.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3073&Itemid=71 |title=? |date=29 October 2008 |publisher=United Copts of Great Britain |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/08/28/55639.html |title=? |publisher=العربية.نت |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603215320/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/08/28/55639.html |archive-date=3 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2386 |title=The Copts and Their Political Implications in Egypt |author1=Khairi Abaza |author2=Mark Nakhla |date=25 October 2005 |access-date=27 August 2010}}</ref>

 

After AD 639, Egypt was ruled by its [[Islam]]ic conquerors from [[Arabia]]. In the 12th century, the church relocated its seat from Alexandria to Cairo. The same century also saw the [[Copts]] become a religious minority. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Nubian Christianity was supplanted by Islam. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the larger body of ethnic Egyptian Christians began to call themselves Coptic Orthodox, to distinguish themselves from the Catholic Copts and from the Eastern Orthodox, who are mostly Greek.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |title=Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria-Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coptic-Orthodox-Church-of-Alexandria |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818002821/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Coptic-Orthodox-Church-of-Alexandria |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1959, the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] was granted [[autocephaly]]. This was extended to the [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] in 1998 following the successful [[Eritrean War of Independence]] from [[Ethiopia]]. Since the [[2011 Egyptian revolution]], Coptic Christians have suffered increased religious discrimination and violence.<ref name="cnn">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html|title=Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?|author=Matt Rehbein|date=10 April 2017|publisher=CNN|access-date=8 August 2019|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215000615/https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Coptic language]] is a universal language used in Coptic churches in every country. It descends from [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] and uses the [[Coptic alphabet]], a script descended from the [[Greek alphabet]] with added characters derived from the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic script]]. Today, the Bohairic dialect of Coptic is used primarily for [[Coptic Liturgy|liturgical]] purposes.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com" /> Many of the hymns in the liturgy are in Coptic and have been passed down for many centuries. The language is used to preserve Egypt's original language, which was banned by the Arab invaders, who ordered the use of Arabic instead.<ref>{{Cite web | url =http://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=3283&A=365617 | title =الأقباط متحدون – اللغة القبطية | access-date =28 October 2018 | archive-date =1 August 2020 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20200801024954/https://www.copts-united.com/Article.php?I=3283&A=365617 | url-status=live }}</ref> However, most Copts speak [[Arabic]], the official language of Egypt.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com" /> Hence, Arabic is also used in church services nowadays. The service books, though written in Coptic, have Arabic text in parallel columns.<ref name="Britannica" />

The school became a leading center of the [[Allegorical interpretation of the Bible | allegorical method of biblical interpretation]], espoused rapprochement between Greek culture and the Christian faith, and attempted to assert orthodox Christian teachings against [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] views in an era of doctrinal flux.<ref>{{Cite web |title =Didymus The Blind {{!}} Alexandrian Scholar, Biblical Exegete & Church Father {{!}} Britannica |url =https://www.britannica.com/biography/Didymus-the-Blind |access-date =2024-04-29 |website =www.britannica.com |language =en}}</ref>

Another theological dispute in the 5th century occurred over the teachings of [[Nestorius]], the patriarch of Constantinople who taught that God the Word was not [[Hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostatically]] joined with human nature, but rather dwelt in the man Jesus. As a consequence of this, he denied the title "Mother of God" ([[Theotokos]]) to the [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]], declaring her instead to be "Mother of Christ" ''[[Christotokos]]''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}

[[File:StMarkCathAlex.jpg|thumb|left|[[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|St. Mark Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria]]]]

The church of Alexandria was part in communion with the rest of Christendom until the [[Council of Chalcedon]].<ref name="Encyclopedia.com">{{cite web |title=Coptic Christians-Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coptic-christians |website=www.encyclopedia.com |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212024143/https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/coptic-christians |url-status=live }}</ref> When, in AD&nbsp;451, Emperor [[Marcian]] attempted to heal divisions in the church, the response of [[Dioscorus of Alexandria|Pope Dioscorus]]–the Pope of Alexandria who was later exiled–was that the emperor should not intervene in the affairs of the church. It was at [[Chalcedon]] that the emperor, through the imperial delegates, enforced harsh disciplinary measures against Pope Dioscorus in response to his boldness. In AD&nbsp;449, Pope Dioscorus headed the 2nd Council of Ephesus, called the "[[Robber Council]]" by Chalcedonian historians. It held to the [[Miaphysite]] formula which upheld the Christology of "One Incarnate Nature of God the Word" ([[Byzantine Greek|Greek]]: μία φύσις Θεοῦ Λόγου σεσαρκωμένη (''mia physis Theou Logou sesarkōmenē'')).<ref>{{cite book|title=Apollinaris von Laodicea und seine Schule: Texte und Untersuchungen|author=Apollinaris of Laodicea|author-link=Apollinaris of Laodicea|editor-first=Hans|editor-last=Lietzmann|editor-link=Hans Lietzmann|year=1904|page=251|chapter=Πρὸς Ἰοβιανόν|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/apollinarisvonl01apolgoog#page/n269/mode/2up|language=de, el|publisher=[[Mohr Siebeck Verlag]]}}</ref><ref name="MeinardusOFA" />

=== From the 19th century-1952 revolution ===

=== From the mid 20th-early 21st centuries ===

In the 1990s, the Orthodox Church of the British Isles (formerly the [[Catholicate of the West]]) joined the Coptic Orthodox Church as a diocese named the [[British Orthodox Church]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Clarke |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-49970-0 |pages=301 |language=en |chapter=Independent episcopal churches |quote=As Mar Georgius (and with tites including Patriarch of Glastonbury, Apostolic Pontiff of Celtia, etc.), he was the leader of the Catholicate of the West, which became the Orthodox Church of the British Isles. Under Newman's nephew and successor, William Newman Norton, this Church was eventually brought under the legitimate jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Cairo in 1994. Following a common schismatic pattern in such Churches, some of its priests rejected this new alliance and split off to form the British Eparchy of the Celtic Orthodox Church, giving their allegiance to a French Primate. Both of these British Churches are tiny. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DouBAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Catholic+Apostolic+Church+of+Antioch%22&pg=PA301}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date= |title=Press Release on the union of Coptic and British Orthodox Churches |url=https://britishorthodox.org/glastonbury-review-archive/misc/press-release-on-the-union-of-coptic-and-british-orthodox-churches/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130110655/https://britishorthodox.org/glastonbury-review-archive/misc/press-release-on-the-union-of-coptic-and-british-orthodox-churches/ |archive-date=2010-11-30 |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=The British Orthodox Church within the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate}}</ref><ref name=":23">{{Cite web |title=BRITISH ORTHODOX UNITE WITH COPTIC PATRIARCHATE |url=http://www.britishorthodox.org/bocpress.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105230418/www.britishorthodox.org/bocpress.php |archive-date=5 November 2004 |website=British Orthodox Church}}</ref> By 2015, it formally separated with the Coptic Orthodox Church as a non-canonical, autocephalous church.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joint announcement from the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom and the British Orthodox Church of the British Isles {{!}} The British Orthodox Church |url=https://britishorthodox.org/5330/joint-announcement-from-the-coptic-orthodox-church-in-the-united-kingdom-and-the-british-orthodox-church-of-the-british-isles/ |access-date=2025-06-07 |website=britishorthodox.org}}</ref>

In 2015, 21 men traveled to Libya to support their families.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 21 Martyrs of Libya: Videotaped Instanteous Sainthood – Literature – Resources |url=http://www.suscopts.org/resources/literature/1200/the-21-martyrs-of-libya-videotaped-instanteous-sai/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States}}</ref> There, they would be [[2015 kidnapping and beheading of Copts in Libya|kidnapped and beheaded]] by the Islamic State in Libya.

On 17 March 2012, Pope Shenouda died, leaving many Copts mourning and worrying as tensions rose with [[Muslims]]. Shenouda constantly met with Muslim leaders in order to create peace, his death resulting in concerns that without his mediation good relations would break down. Many were worried about increased Islamic control of Egypt as the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] won 70% of the parliamentary elections.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Fahim |first=Kareem |date=20 March 2012 |title=Coptic Pope Shenouda III's Death Adds to Fears in Egypt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/middleeast/coptic-pope-shenouda-iiis-death-adds-to-fears-in-egypt.html |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/world/middleeast/coptic-pope-shenouda-iiis-death-adds-to-fears-in-egypt.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |work=The New York Times}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite news |date=4 December 2011 |title=Muslim Brotherhood Sweeps Up Over One-Third of Votes in Egyptian Elections |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/04/egypt-election-results-muslim-brotherhood_n_1127897.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091649/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/04/egypt-election-results-muslim-brotherhood_n_1127897.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2012 |work=HuffPost}}</ref> Shenouda's approach to church leadership has, in part, been adopted by the current patriarch. [[Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria]] maintains relations with the Egyptian government and other churches. However, while Shenouda was critical of the expanded influence of Protestant teaching and books in Coptic churches, Tawadros has increased ecumenical dialogue with several Protestant churches. Tawadros is a less political figure than his predecessor and has expressed support for the Egyptian government's institutions during crises.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Politics Stymie Religious Reform in Egypt's Coptic Church |date=20 November 2018 |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/11/politics-stymie-religious-reform-egypts-coptic-church }}</ref>

 

In 2020, a woman in Florida accused a former priest of [[sexual assault]] when she was a minor. She claimed that he was defrocked in 2014, but continued presenting himself as a priest. In response, the synod issued a public statement disavowing him and instituted anti-abuse measures. Several diocese in North America and Europe, issued statements in support of sexual assault survivors.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=19 July 2020 |title=Coptic Church strips alleged paedophile priest of clerical status |url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/coptic-church-strips-alleged-paedophile-priest-of-clerical-status-1.1051559 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728103327/https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/coptic-church-strips-alleged-paedophile-priest-of-clerical-status-1.1051559 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=2020-07-28 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=For Coptic Church, changes, questions after priest ouster |website=[[Associated Press News]] |date=7 October 2020 |url=https://apnews.com/article/egypt-media-florida-social-media-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-26e17b7551434e77e5880677e807bc51 }}</ref>

[[File:Agpeya_Breviary.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Agpeya]] is a [[breviary]] used in Coptic Orthodox Christianity to pray the [[canonical hours]] at [[Fixed prayer times#Christianity|seven fixed prayer times]] of the day, in the [[direction of prayer|eastward direction]].<ref name="Dawood2013"/>]]Communicants of the Coptic Orthodox Church use a [[breviary]] known as the [[Agpeya]] to pray the [[canonical hours]] at seven [[fixed prayer times]] while facing in the [[direction of prayer|eastward direction]], in anticipation of the [[Second Coming of Jesus]]; this Christian practice has its roots in Psalm 119:164, in which the prophet [[David]] prays to God seven times a day.<ref name="Amherst1906">{{cite book |author1=[[Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney]] |title=A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1906 |publisher=Methuen |page=399 |language=en |quote=Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.}}</ref><ref name="Dawood2013">{{cite web |last1=Dawood |first1=Bishoy |title=Stand, Bow, Prostrate: The Prayerful Body of Coptic Christianity |url=https://www.clarionreview.org/2013/12/stand-bow-prostrate-the-prayerful-body-of-coptic-christianity/ |publisher=The Clarion Review |access-date=6 August 2020 |language=en |date=8 December 2013 |quote=Standing facing the East is the most frequent prayer position. ... This is further emphasized in the fact that Copts pray facing the East, waiting for the return of Jesus in glory; his return as the enthroned Pantocrator is portrayed in the iconography that is placed before the worshippers. |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810085554/http://www.clarionreview.org/2013/12/stand-bow-prostrate-the-prayerful-body-of-coptic-christianity/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="EOTC2020">{{cite web |title=Prayers of the Church |url=https://www.ethiopianorthodoxchurch.ca/prayers-church |publisher=[[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] |access-date=25 July 2020 |language=en |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725181427/https://www.ethiopianorthodoxchurch.ca/prayers-church |url-status=live }}</ref> Church bells enjoin Christians to pray at these hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the relationship between bells and the church? When and where did the tradition begin? Should bells ring in every church? |url=https://www.suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |publisher=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States |access-date=8 August 2020 |language=en |year=2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201140729/https://www.suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=1484&catid=386 |url-status=live }}</ref> Before praying, they [[Ablution in Christianity|wash]] their hands and face to be clean before and present their best to God; [[Tradition of removing shoes in the home and houses of worship|shoes are removed]] to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.<ref name="Amherst1906"/><ref name="Kosloski2017">{{cite web |last1=Kosloski |first1=Philip |title=Did you know Muslims pray in a similar way to some Christians? |url=https://aleteia.org/2017/10/16/did-you-know-muslims-pray-in-a-similar-way-to-some-christians/ |publisher=[[Aleteia]] |access-date=25 July 2020 |language=en |date=16 October 2017 |archive-date=17 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617023333/https://aleteia.org/2017/10/16/did-you-know-muslims-pray-in-a-similar-way-to-some-christians/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During each of the seven fixed prayer times, Coptic Orthodox Christians pray "prostrating three times in the name of the [[Holy Trinity|Trinity]]; at the end of each Psalm … while saying the 'Alleluia';" and 41 times for each of the [[Kyrie eleison]]s present in a canonical hour.<ref name="Kosloski2017"/> In the Coptic Orthodox Church, it is customary for women to wear a [[Christian headcovering]] when praying.<ref name="Russell2010">{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Thomas Arthur |title=Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions |date=2010 |publisher=Universal-Publishers |isbn=978-1-59942-877-2 |page=42 |language=en}}</ref> The Coptic Orthodox Church observes days of [[ritual purification]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=[[Ian Bradley]] |title=Water: A Spiritual History |date=2 November 2012 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4411-6767-5 |language=English|quote=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last= H. Bulzacchelli|first=Richard|title=Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|year=2006|isbn=9780761835011|pages=19|quote=The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.}}</ref> However, while meat that still contains blood after cooking is discouraged from being eaten, the Coptic Church does not forbid its members from consuming any particular type of food, unlike in Islam or [[Kashrut|Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States - Q&A |url=https://suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=338 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=suscopts.org |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009010908/https://suscopts.org/q%26a/index.php?qid=338 |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Monastry3.jpg|thumb|left|A modern Coptic cathedral in [[Aswan]].]]

In Coptic Orthodox Christianity, fasting is defined as going without meat or dairy.<ref name="Samaan2024">{{cite web |last1=Samaan |first1=Moses |title=The Meaning of the Great Lent |url=https://www.lacopts.org/story/the-meaning-of-the-great-lent/ |publisher=[[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii]] |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=9 April 2009 |quote=The Church teaches us to fast until sunset. Fish is not allowed during this period. Also married couples should refrain from physical relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7: 5). We would like to emphasize the importance of the period of strict abstention during fasting. It is refraining from eating and drinking for a period of time, followed by eating vegetarian food.}}</ref> With respect to [[Eucharistic discipline]], Coptic Orthodox Christians [[Fasting#Christianity|fast]] from midnight onwards (or at least nine hours) prior to receiving the sacrament of [[Holy Communion]].<ref name="Farag2013"/> They fast every Wednesday and Friday of the year (Wednesdays in remembrance of the betrayal of Christ, and on Fridays in remembrance of His crucifixion and death).<ref name="Farag2013"/> In total, fast days in a year for Coptic Orthodox Christians numbers between 210 and 240. This means that Copts abstain from all animal products for up to two-thirds of each year.<ref name="Farag2013"/><ref name="JohnsonAlexopoulos" /> The fasts for [[Advent]] and [[Lent]] are 43 days and 55 days, respectively.<ref name="Farag2013"/> In August, before the celebration of the [[Dormition of the Mother of God]], Coptic Christians fast 15 days; fasting is also done before the feast of [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul]], starting from the day of [[Pentecost]].<ref name="Farag2013">{{cite book |last1=Farag |first1=Lois M. |title=The Coptic Christian Heritage: History, Faith and Culture |date=23 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-66684-3 |pages=133–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dYK3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=dYK3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="JohnsonAlexopoulos" /> Married couples refrain from sexual relations during Lent "to give themselves time for fasting and prayer".<ref name="Samaan2024"/>

Available Egyptian census figures and other third-party survey reports have not reported more than 4 million Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="QScience" /> However media and other agencies, sometimes taking into account the claims of the church itself, generally approximate the Coptic Orthodox population at 10% of the Egyptian population or 10 million people.<ref name="Harvard University" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web |date=10 April 2017 |title=Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians? |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html |publisher=CNN |quote=The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1&nbsp;million more Coptic Christians are spread across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the World Council of Churches. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819141842/https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/09/middleeast/egypt-coptic-christians/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USDeptofState">{{cite web |title=Egypt |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/egypt/ |website=United States Department of State |quote=The U.S. government estimates the population at 99.4&nbsp;million (July 2018 estimate).  Most experts and media sources state that approximately 90 percent of the population is officially designated as Sunni Muslims and approximately 10 percent is recognized as Christian (estimates range from 5 to 15 percent). Approximately 90 percent of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Christian leaders. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205040321/https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-report-on-international-religious-freedom/egypt/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Egyptian Copts are the biggest Christian community in the Arab world. Estimates of their numbers vary, but generally range between 4.7 and 7.1 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copts in Egypt |url=https://minorityrights.org/communities/copts/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Minority Rights Group |language=en-US}}</ref> The majority of them live in Egypt under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Since 2006, Egyptian censuses have not reported on religion and church leaders have alleged that Christians were under-counted in government surveys. In 2017, a government owned newspaper [[Al Ahram]] estimated the percentage of Copts at 10 to 15% and the membership claimed by the Coptic Orthodox Church is in the range of 20 to 25 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/281789/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-meets-world-Evangelical-churches-deleg.aspx|title=Egypt's Sisi meets world Evangelical churches delegation in Cairo – Politics – Egypt – Ahram Online|website=english.ahram.org.eg|language=en|access-date=2017-12-26|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504020907/http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/281789/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Sisi-meets-world-Evangelical-churches-deleg.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Egypt's Coptic Bishop Morcos: We need to build 4,000 churches in next 10 years |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/03/02/Egypt-s-Coptic-Bishop-Morcos-We-need-to-build-4-000-churches-in-next-10-years.html |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en |date=2 March 2017 |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728094008/https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/03/02/Egypt-s-Coptic-Bishop-Morcos-We-need-to-build-4-000-churches-in-next-10-years.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2013/12/11/twenty-three-million-coptic-christians-in-egypt-says-authority/|title=Twenty-Three Million Coptic Christians in Egypt, Says Authority|date=2013-12-11|website=Raymond Ibrahim|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-23|archive-date=10 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610174107/https://www.raymondibrahim.com/2013/12/11/twenty-three-million-coptic-christians-in-egypt-says-authority/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Al-Akhbar English">{{cite news|url=http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/12728|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112215842/http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/12728|archive-date=12 January 2013|title=Egyptian Copts: It's All in the Number|last=Youssef|first=Abdel Rahman|date=30 September 2012|access-date=5 April 2016|website=Al-Akhbar English}}</ref>

There are also significant numbers in the diaspora outside Africa in countries such as the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[France]], and [[Germany]]. The exact number of Egyptian born Coptic Orthodox Christians in the diaspora is hard to determine and is roughly estimated to be close to 1 million.<ref>{{cite journal |title=How many Christians are there in Egypt? |journal=Pew Research Center |date=16 February 2011 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |quote=In the United States, Canada and Australia, the majority of Egyptian-born residents are Christian, but the estimated total size of the Egyptian-born Christian populations in these countries is approximately 160,000. |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002004401/https://www.pewresearch.org/2011/02/16/how-many-christians-are-there-in-egypt/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marzouki |first1=Nadia |title=The U.S. Coptic Diaspora and the Limit of Polarization |journal= Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique  |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160026412.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319053626/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/160026412.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-19 |url-status=live |quote=The exact number of Copts living in the United States is a matter of debate. Estimates range from 91,200 to 750,000.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Washington DC |first1=The George Washington University |title=General Findings: Coptic Diaspora Survey |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277660027 |quote=As with most diasporas, the Coptic diasporans estimate their numbers to be much higher than official estimates, even higher than the estimates of all Egyptian national immigrants.}}</ref>

Besides Egypt, the Church of Alexandria has jurisdiction over all of [[Africa]]. The following [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]] churches have strong historical ties to the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Tradition holds that Ethiopia was first evangelized by [[Matthew the Apostle|St. Matthew]] and [[Bartholomew the Apostle|St. Bartholomew]] in the 1st century ce, and the first Ethiopian convert is thought to have been the eunuch in Jerusalem mentioned in [[Acts of the Apostles|The Acts of the Apostles]] (8:27–40). Ethiopia was further Christianized in the 4th century ce by two men (likely brothers) from Tyre—St. Frumentius.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/Ethiopian-Orthodox-Tewahedo-Church/33131 | title=Britannica Academic }}</ref> Ever since the conversion of [[Ezana of Axum]] to Christianity by [[Frumentius]] in 325 AD, the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] has received its archbishops from the Coptic Orthodox Church.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hancock |first=Graham |title=The Sign and the Seal |year=1992 |pages=239}}</ref> Until the mid-twentieth century, the metropolitans of the Ethiopian church were ethnic Copts. [[Pope Joseph II of Alexandria|Joseph II]] consecrated Archbishop [[Abuna Basilios]] as the first native head of the [[Ethiopian Church]] on 14 January 1951. In 1959, [[Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria]] crowned [[Abuna Basilios]] as the first [[List of Abunas of Ethiopia|Patriarch of Ethiopia]].<ref name="ShinnOfcansky">{{cite book |last1=Shinn |first1=David H. |last2=Ofcansky |first2=Thomas P. |title=Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia |date=11 April 2013 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7457-2 |page=102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WU92d6sB8JAC&pg=PA102 |language=en |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164816/https://books.google.com/books?id=WU92d6sB8JAC&pg=PA102 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Episcopal titles ===

{{Main|Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church}}[[File:Chuck Kennedy - The Official White House Photostream - P060409CK-0199 (pd).jpg|thumb|[[Pope Shenouda III]], the 117th [[Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church|Patriarch of Alexandria]] on the Holy Apostolic See of [[Saint Mark the Evangelist]] (1971–2012).]]

 

* 23 metropolitanates, out of which 19 metropolitanates are in Egypt, one metropolitanate in the Near East, two in the USA and one in Africa; served by one metropolitan archbishops and 22 metropolitan bishops; out of the 23 hierarchs, one metropolitan archbishop is in the Near East, while 19 metropolitan bishops are in Egypt, two metropolitan bishops in the USA and one metropolitan bishop in Africa.

*[[List of Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt]]

* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=Miaphysite, not Monophysite!|journal=Cristianesimo Nella Storia|year=2016|volume=37|number=1|pages=45–52|isbn=9788815261687|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ|access-date=21 February 2021|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423035524/https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ|url-status=live}}

* {{cite book |last=Cannuyer |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Cannuyer |translator-last=Hawkes |translator-first=Sophie |date=2001 |title=[[Coptic Egypt: The Christians of the Nile]] |series="[[Découvertes Gallimard|Abrams Discoveries]]" series |location=New York |publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc. |isbn=978-0-810-92979-1}}

* {{Cite book|last=Grillmeier|first=Aloys|author-link=Aloys Grillmeier|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451)|volume=1|year=1975|orig-year=1965|edition=2nd revised|location=Atlanta|publisher=John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH-cBwmmY2cC|access-date=11 November 2020|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423035502/https://books.google.com/books?id=LH-cBwmmY2cC|url-status=live}}

* {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451|volume=2/4|year=1996|location=Louisville|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=9780664223007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hw28f8aCnoC|access-date=11 November 2020|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423035510/https://books.google.com/books?id=-Hw28f8aCnoC|url-status=live}}

* Wolfgang Kosack, ''Novum Testamentum Coptice. Neues Testament, Bohairisch, ediert von Wolfgang Kosack. Novum Testamentum, Bohairice, curavit Wolfgang Kosack. / Wolfgang Kosack.'' neue Ausgabe, Christoph Brunner, Basel 2014. {{ISBN|978-3-906206-04-2}}.