Coptic church

The Coptic church is the by far largest church in Egypt, and Western scholars estimate their numbers to be
about 7 million, 11% of Egypt's population, while official statistics have the numbers down to 6% of the
population. The church is headed by the "pope and partriarch of Alexandria, Pentapolis and Ethiopia", but he
is now residing in Cairo. The selection of the pope is through lot, with three nominees, elected by both clergy
and laity.
The Coptic church is active in talks with other small churches, and have also found a platform for solving
theological differences with the Eastern Orthodox church, as it has been proven that many old disagreements
came from verbal differences.
Coptic church is sometimes used for the Ethiopian church, too, but this declared itself independent from the
Egyptian branch in 1959, and do not accept the term 'Coptic' being used for itself.
The name — from Greek (Aigyptos), through Arabic (qubt) — points in a direction of the Egyptian national
origins. While the Copts claim that their church was formed by the evangelist Mark, there are no historical
sources that clearly tell how the Egyptian, later Coptic, church was formed. There are indications that it
started among Jews in Alexandria in 1st century AD. This church brought central Christian personalities like
Clement of 2nd century and Origen of the 3rd century. The first convent was formed inside the Egyptian
church.
There were strong strides inside the church in the 4th anf 5th centuries on the question of the quality of Jesus;
man or God. A large group of the Egyptian Christians did not accept the decrees of Chalcedon of 451, that
Jesus was both man and God, but as one. They held to the loosing Monophysite party, and this group
developed into the church later known as Coptic.
The Copts soon came in a position of great animostiy towards the Byzantine Empire, and they did not opose
much towards the Arab invasion in th 7th century. The Coptic church's relations with the governments of
Egypt have sometimes been difficult, and the pope was forced from Alexandria from 1981 to 1985, but today
there are less politics of difference in treatment, than in decades. But the Copts have recently faced attacks
from militant Islamists of Egypt, and there have been som emigration of the Copts.

By: Tore Kjeilen

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