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The Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches. Its leader is the Patriarch of Alexandria, also referred to as the Pope of Alexandria – a position not to be confused with that of the Roman Catholic Pope in Rome, nor to be confused with either of the other two bishops bearing the title of Patriarch of Alexandria (one in communion with the Roman Pope and the other the head of one of the canonical Eastern Orthodox churches). The current incumbent is Pope Shenouda III.
By some accounts there are approximately 50 million Coptic Orthodox Christians in the world: they are found primarily in Egypt, EthiopiaThe Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ityop'iya Amharic ) is a country of northeastern Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation in the continent. Unique among African countries, the Ethiopian monarchy maintai, and EritreaAnother article treats the Greek city of Eretria. The State of Eritrea is a country in northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the east. The northeast of the country has an extensive coastline with the, but there are significant numbers in SudanAs distinct from the African region of the same name (usually shortened to the Sudan the Republic of the Sudan (or just Sudan is the largest country in Africa, situated in the northeast part of the continent. The capital is Khartoum. It borders Egypt to t and IsraelThis article discusses the State of Israel. For other meanings of Israel see Israel (disambiguation). The State of Israel Medinat Yisrael in Hebrew, Daulat Israil in Arabic) is a country in the Middle East on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea., and in diaspora throughout the world. However, as applied to the Tewahedo ChurchThe Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Church until it was granted its own Patriarch by Cyril VI, the Coptic Pope, in 1959. It claims a membership of close to 36 million people world w of Ethiopia, which before 1950 was a part of the Coptic Church of Egypt, the word Coptic can be considered a misnomer because it means Egyptian. The Eritrean Orthodox ChurchThe Eritrean Orthodox Tewahido Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches. It was formerly a part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Ethiopia, its autocephaly being reluctantly recognized by the Ethiopian Patriarchate after Eritrea was give similarly became independent of the Tewahedo Church during the 1990s. These three churches remain in full communionFull communion is a mutual recognition between Christian churches or denominations that the partner churches hold "the essentials of the Christian faith". It includes mutual recognition of members common celebration of the Lord's Supper/Holy Communion/Euc with each other and with the other Oriental Orthodox churches.
The first Christians in Egypt were mainly Alexandrian Jews such as Theophilus, whom St. Luke the Apostle addresses in the introductory chapter of his gospel. When the church was founded by St. Mark, a great multitude of native Egyptians (as opposed to Greeks or Jews) embraced the Christian faith. In the second century Christianity began to spread to the rural areas, and scriptures were translated into local languages.
In the third century, during the persecution of Decius, some Christians fled to the desert, and remained there to pray after the persecutions abated. This was the beginning of the monastic movement, which was reorganized by the saints Antony and Pachomius in the 4th century. It attracted the attention of Christians in other parts of the world, who came to Egypt to see what was happening. Many took monastic ideas back with them, so monasticism spread throughout the Christian world.
In the 4th century, a Libyan priest called Arius started a theological dispute about the nature of Christ that spread throughout the Christian world. The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea ( 325) was convened to resolve the dispute and eventually led to the formulation of the Symbol of Faith, also known as the Nicene Creed. In the year 381, Pope Timothy of Alexandria presided over the second ecumenical council known as the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople which completed the Nicene Creed with this confirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit: