Saint anianus is considered by the coptic church to be the second bishop of alexandria after saint mark. The pope of the coptic orthodox church of alexandria is the leader of the coptic orthodox church of alexandria, a faith with ancient christian roots in egypt. Pope of the coptic orthodox church of alexandria wikipedia. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. The egyptian orthodox church is an oriental orthodox christian church based in egypt, africa and the middle east. Severus of alashmunein hermopolis, history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria 1904 part 2. Many of the accounts are in fact older greek and coptic works translated into arabic and edited by sawirus d. Agatho to michael i 766 classic reprint french edition evetts, b. History of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria iii. Agatho to michael i 766 classic reprint french edition at.
The compilation was based on earlier biographical sources. How ever, evidence indicates that christianity was introduced. Mark is considered the founder of the coptic church. Severus of alashmunein hermopolis, history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria 1904 part 1. Medhat ibrahim seminarian deacon, theological college, elmina egypt just as st. The current holder of this position is pope tawadros ii, who was selected as the 118th pope on november 18, 2012. Historically, this office has included the designation pope etymologically father, like abbot. The holy synod is the highest authority in the church of alexandria, which has between 12 and 18 million members worldwide, 10 to 14 million of whom are in egypt.
History of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria. This infuriated the copts and they retaliated by electing a native rival orthodox patriarch. History of the coptic church the word copt is derived from the greek word aigyptos, which was, in turn, derived from hikaptah, one of the names for memphis, the first capital of ancient egypt. Iii, agathon to michael i 766 arabic text edited, translated and annotated by b. List of coptic orthodox popes of alexandria, for the popes of the coptic orthodox church. Formal relations between the coptic church of alexandria and the ethiopian orthodox tewahedo church were resumed on july 2007. Severus ibn almuqaffa, bishop, theologian, author and historian first author of the history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria. From its very beginning, alexandria developed rapidly into one of the worlds great cities. Nonetheless, the patriarchs and popes of alexandria played a leading role in theology in the first centuries of christianity. The patriarch of alexandria is the archbishop of alexandria, egypt. The see of alexandria is nominal, and today the coptic pope leads from saint marks coptic orthodox cathedral in the abbassia district in cairo. List of patriarches of alexandria greek orthodox patriarchate of alexandria and all africa web site. The patriarch of alexandria also known as the bishop of alexandria or pope of alexandria is the highestranking bishop of egypt.
Pdf the influence of the history of the patriarchs of. The modern use of the term coptic describes egyptian christians. Conse quently, the see of alexandria was split between two patriarchs. Concerning the laws, customs, and patriarchs of the coptic or. Greek orthodox church of alexandria list of patriarchs of alexandria, for the earlier patriarchs of alexandria prior to the schism. The head of the church and the see of alexandria is the patriarch of alexandria on the holy see of saint mark, who also carries the title of coptic. Following the traditions of the church, the pope is chairman and head of the holy synod of the coptic orthodox patriarchate of alexandria as a first among equals.
There is protection and security for the place where benjamin, the patriarch of the coptic christians is, and peace from god. The fame of severus rests mainly on his history of the patriarchs of alexandria, which contains biographies of the coptic popes and patriarchs of alexandria. From the founding of the coptic church until the second ecumenical council in the year 381, the patriarch of alexandria ranked next to the bishop of rome. Saint mark ordained also three presbyters milaius, sabinus and credo and eleven others for other positions, mostly deacons. The patriarch is patriarch ibrahim isaac sedrak, elected in 20. Pdf reconstructing womens history from christianarabic. Saint cyril, pope of alexandria, was the head of the ecumenical council which was held in. Hierarchical succession of the patriarchal see of alexandria at the orthodox research institute. The coptic church of egypt is the earliest christian church in the world, going back to around 42 ad. The history of the coptic patriarchs for that is what i prefer to call it is a monumental, historical work of the coptic church that covers the lives of its patriarchs from st. Coptic catholic patriarchate of alexandria wikipedia. The modern use of the term coptic describes egyptian christians, as well as the last stage of the ancient egyptian language script. Severus of alashmunein hermopolis, history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria 1910 part 4.
List of patriarches of alexandria greek orthodox patriarchate of alexandria. Benjamin guided the coptic church through a period of turmoil in egyptian history that included the fall of egypt to the sassanid empire, followed by egypts reconquest under the byzantines, and finally the arab islamic conquest in 642. The following is a list of all of the coptic orthodox popes of alexandria who have led the coptic orthodox church of alexandria and have succeeded the apostle mark the evangelist in the office of bishop of alexandria, who founded the church in the 1st century, and marked the beginning of christianity in africa the coptic orthodox church of alexandria is one of the oriental orthodox churches. History of the patriarchs of alexandria calisphere.
The alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major episcopal sees along with rome and antioch before constantinople or jerusalem were granted similar status in 381 and 451, respectively. History of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria, vol. A brief history of the christian church coptic orthodox. Search the history of over 418 billion web pages on the internet. Orthodox and copts are one church, says patriarch of.
Dec 18, 2014 the coptic church of egypt is the earliest christian church in the world, going back to around 42 ad. They were invited everywhere to speak about the christian faith. Mark the apostle who ministered in egypt, ordained a bishop, priests, and deacons to aid him in his ministry and was martyred in alexandria, and not only because her first patriarch is st. The head of the orthodox church in alexandria visited patriarch tawadros ii, the head of the coptic church yesterday, january 20, at the headquarters of the coptic patriarchate in alexandria to greet him and congratulate him with the feast of theophany, celebrated the day before, reports romfea. List of greek orthodox patriarchs of alexandria wikipedia. The leader of the church and the apostolic see of alexandria is the patriarch of alexandria on the holy see of saint mark, who also embodies the authority of coptic pope.
The decline of the melkite church in islamic egypt and its. The head of the church and the see of alexandria is the patriarch of alexandria. At the council of chalcedon, the coptic church was misquoted and its teachings were wrongly deemed as being eutychean. Mark the evangelist, the spiritual leader of the largest.
Pdf the influence of the history of the patriarchs of alexandria on. The history of the patriarchs of alexandria is a major historical work of the coptic orthodox church of alexandria. List of the patriarchs of alexandria and all africa, 42 ad up to today. Almuqaffa died 987, bishop of hermopolis magna in upper egypt, many are in fact older coptic works translated into arabic and edited by sawirus.
According to bishop eusebius of caesarea, as well as coptic traditions, saint mark the evangelist, who wrote the earliest of the four new testament gospels, was the founder and first bishop. Nov 25, 2017 consequently, mark escaped, and left alexandria, but not before consecrating anianus as bishop of alexandria. The coptic church, church of alexandria, melbourne 1978,1. Therefore all popes following st mark on the see are his successors and carry the distinguished title of pope and successor of st. The history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria is a historical account of the patriarchs of the coptic church. The first part of it is a compilation made, as we read in one of the prefaces at the head of the manuscripts, by severus, bishop of eleschmounein in upper egypt, between minieh and asiout, based on greek and coptic documents which he found in the monasteries of his country, and which he. Egypt nikos katsikas with reverence, today, the patriarch of alexandria ordained the new bishop of kisumu and western kenya, markos, at the feast of the holy church of saint savvas the sanctified, one of the historical greekorthodox monasteries in africa that have linked their history to. The first half of the arabic text is known as the tarikh batarikat alkanisah almisriyah transliterated arabic and was edited and translated into english by b. Mark the evangelist, its 1 st patriarch in the first century, to cyril v, its 112 th patriarch in the late nineteenth century 1896. Mark to benjamin i, we learn about the persecution of benjamin, the patriarch of the copts, who was forced to escape, fleeing from place to place and hiding in the remote fortified monophysite monasteries in upper egypt evetts, vol. From the history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria s. He is revered as a saint by the coptic orthodox church, the eastern orthodox church, and the catholic church.
It is written in arabic, but draws extensively on greek and coptic sources. He is regarded as one of the greatest patriarchs of the coptic church. Coptic church alexandria egypt historians history history of the patriarchs. Texts in arabic, armenian and syriac i history of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria. A history of the patriarchs of alexandria presents a series of biographies of the coptic patriarchs from the beginning st mark to 849 ad. The patriarch of alexandria was accused of being eutychean, because he had presided over the second council of ephesus which had absolved eutyches, although a later coptic council had condemned the teachings of eutyches, and. An egyptian town, rakote, already existed there on the shore and was a fishermens resort. Mark the apostle is the founder of the coptic church so he is also her first pope. The newly elected patriarch, abune paulos was officially recognized by the coptic orthodox church of alexandria in 1992 as the legitimate patriarch of ethiopia. History of the patriarchs of the coptic church of alexandria i.
The library of congress would like to learn more about these materials and would like to hear from individuals or institutions that have any additional information or know of their history. A history of the patriarchs of alexandria is a unique series of biographies of the egypt christian coptic patriarchs from the earliest, st. Orthodoxy coptic orthodox church a brief history of the christian church f our historic patriarchal centers jerusalem, antioch, alexandria, and rome were established in the first century, and constantinople in the fourth. The coptic church or the church of alexandria is called see of st. Evetts and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The coptic orthodox church is an apostolic church, not only because her founder is st.
The patriarchs trace back their lineage to mark the evangelist following the council of chalcedon in 451, a schism occurred in egypt, between those who accepted and those who rejected the decisions of the council. He is thus the superior of all coptic dioceses, mostly in and around egypt where all its sees are. The people of egypt before the arab conquest in the 7th century identified themselves and their language in greek as aigyptios arabic qib. He was the first bishop of alexandria, and in the year 66 ce, was martyred there. The patriarchate of alexandria is a patriarchal see of the coptic catholic church in egypt. Reconstructing womens history from christianarabic sources. According to bishop eusebius of caesarea, as well as coptic traditions, saint mark the evangelist, who wrote the earliest of the four new testament gospels, was the founder and first bishop of the church of alexandria, even before the church of rome was established. Mark the evangelist, holy apostle and martyr, on the holy apostolic throne of the great city of alexandria. The egyptian church, o r the coptic church, has currently more than 19 centuries of history, which makes it one of the oldest christian churches in the world, having its origin in the church of alexandria, that emerged from the differences in the tanks of the doctrinal monophysite heresy in the v th and vi th centuries, whose adherents is. The history of the patriarchs of alexandria is the liber pontificalis of the coptic church. History of the patriarchs christian classics ethereal. Mark the evangelist in the city of alexandria around 61 a.
Coptic orthodox church of alexandria, also called coptic orthodox church, oriental orthodox church and principal christian church in predominantly muslim egypt. The coptic catholic patriarchate of alexandria is the patriarchal and only metropolitan see of the head of the eastern sui iuris coptic catholic church, a particular church in the catholic church in full communion with the holy see, which follows the alexandrian rite in its own coptic language. Appendix b the patriarchs of the coptic church and the rulers of egypt. The origins of the ancient coptic church of egypt ancient. Mark the evangelist converted the egyptians, thus founding the coptic christian church. The leader of the coptic orthodox church of alexandria is known as pope of alexandria and patriarch of all africa on the holy see of st. It is written in arabic, but draws extensively on greek and coptic sources the compilation was based on earlier biographical sources. The history of the coptic patriarchs for that is what i prefer to call it1 is a monumental, historical work of the coptic church that covers the lives of its patriarchs from st. Marks successor through an unbroken chain of popes since the apostolic age, but also because she preserves the. And yet, the coptic history of the patriarchs, the main book that collects the lives of the coptic patriarchs, has only two short and inadequate paragraphs to tell us about dioscorus. After the holy patriarch cyril had departed to his rest, dioscorus was made patriarch in the see of the city of alexandria. List of coptic orthodox popes of alexandria wikipedia. Besides the greek orthodox patriarch, the head of the coptic church also has the title patriarch of alexandria. Then amr, son of alasi, wrote to the provinces of egypt a letter, in which he said.
45 854 1503 337 1355 737 1030 1102 1279 995 836 756 922 301 1301 1391 174 188 1502 1258 1368 818 982 121 738 59 318 342 1129 1322 1468 424 570 1210 657 420 1151 1213 1439 1358 806 1443 128 272 176