Coptic Catholic Church

The Coptic Catholic Church[a] is an Eastern Catholic particular

Church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with
the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church, it Coptic Catholic Church
belongs to the Alexandrian liturgical tradition. Uniquely among the
Alexandrian Rite Eastern Catholic liturgies, the Coptic Catholic
Church uses the Coptic Rite and the Coptic language (derived
from Ancient Egyptian) in its liturgy; the Ethiopian Catholic
Church and Eritrean Catholic Church use the Ge'ez Rite.

The current Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria is Ibrahim

Isaac Sidrak, who replaced Antonios Naguib in 2013. The offices Cathedral of Our Lady of Egypt,
of the patriarchate are located in Cairo. The patriarchal Cathedral
Cairo, Egypt
of Our Lady of Egypt is in Nasr City, a suburb of Cairo.
Classification Eastern Catholic

History Polity Episcopal

Structure Patriarchate
Pope Francis
Beginnings
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac
Since the Council of Chalcedon in the 5th century and the official Sidrak
separation of the Coptic Church from the Western Christian and Associations Congregation for
Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church has attempted to the Oriental
achieve reunion with the Copts in Egypt many times. During the Churches
Council of Florence in 1442, the Coptic delegates present agreed
to a reunion with the papacy in Rome, but the Coptic populace Region Egypt, with
was opposed to the idea, and the union did not take effect. Further communities in
failed attempts at reunion were undertaken by Coptic delegates in Asia, Australia,
1560 and 1582.[4] Europe, and
North America
In the 17th century, at the behest of Pope Urban VIII, Catholic
Language Coptic, Arabic
missionaries (primarily Franciscans) started to come to Egypt. In
1630, a number of missions of the Capuchin Order were founded Liturgy Coptic Rite
in the Levant by Joseph of Paris, including in Cairo.[4] Although Headquarters Cathedral of Our
the mission in Cairo initially faced setbacks, tensions with the local Lady of Egypt,
Coptic priesthood were minimized with the arrival of Capuchin Cairo, Egypt
priest Agathangelo of Vendome to the city in 1633.
Congregations 166 (2016)
Initial relations between Catholics and Copts in Egypt were poor. Members 187,320 (2017)[1]
One Coptic councellor in 1637 referred to the Roman Church in
Ministers 243[2]
Egypt as "a brothel".[4][5] Attempts to excommunicate Catholic
offenders in the city were seemingly fruitless.[4] Agathangelo Official website coptcatholic.net
would later be hanged as a martyr in Ethiopia by order of the (http://www.coptc
[5]
Ethiopian king in 1638, and the mission in Cairo would start to atholic.net/)
[6]
decline. The Jesuits came in 1675. In 1713, the Coptic Patriarch
of Alexandria again submitted to Rome but, as in 1442, the union was not of long duration.[7]
In 1741, the Coptic bishop, Anba Athanasius of Jerusalem, became a Catholic.[7] In 1781, he was
appointed by Pope Benedict XIV as vicar apostolic of the less than 2,000 Egyptian Coptic Catholics.[6]
Eventually, Athanasius returned to the Coptic Orthodox Church and others served as Catholic vicar
apostolic.[6]

Patriarchate

Under the assumption that the Ottoman viceroy wanted a Catholic patriarch for the Coptic Catholics in
1824, the Pope established the Patriarchate of Alexandria[6] from the Apostolic Vicariate of Syria, Egypt,
Arabia and Cyprus[8] but it was basically titular.[6] The Ottomans in 1829 allowed the Coptic Catholics to
build their own churches.[6]

The number of Catholics of this rite increased to the point that Leo XIII in 1895 restored the Catholic
patriarchate.[7] He initially named Bishop Cyril Makarios as patriarchal vicar. Makarios then presided over
a synod, which led to the introduction of some Latin practices. In 1899, Leo appointed Makarios as
patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, taking the name Cyril II. He resigned in 1908 at the request of the
Pope over a controversy. The patriarchate seat remained vacant until an election in 1947[6] and was
administered by an apostolic administrator.[8]

Hierarchy
The Coptic Catholic Church sui juris comprises a single ecclesiastical province, covering Egypt alone. The
Patriarch is the sole Metropolitan Archbishop, retaining the ancient title Alexandria but his actual seat is in
Egypt's modern capital Cairo.

Coptic Catholic Church has eight suffragan bishops, throughout Egypt, comprising the only Coptic
Catholic ecclesiastical province: Abu Qurqas, Alexandria (Patriarch's original home seat), Assiut, Giza,
Ismailia, Luxor, Minya and Sohag.

Religious orders
The Coptic Catholic Church does not have Coptic monasteries.
Instead the Church has religious congregations such as the three
communities for women: the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Coptic
Sisters of Jesus and Mary (both based in Egypt) and the Egyptian
Province of the Little Sisters of Jesus. There is also a community of
male Franciscans and Jesuits.[6]

A map of the jurisdictions of the

Educational and health services
Coptic Catholic Church
Most candidates for the priesthood are trained at St. Leo's
Patriarchal Seminary, in suburban Cairo. More than 100 Coptic
Catholic parishes administer primary schools, and some have secondary schools as well. The church
maintains a hospital, a number of medical dispensaries and clinics, and several orphanages.[9]

Ecumenism
Relations between the Coptic Catholic Church and the larger Coptic Orthodox Church are generally very
good.[10]

See also
Eastern Catholicism
List of Catholic dioceses in Egypt
List of Catholic dioceses (structured view)
List of Coptic Catholic Patriarchs of Alexandria
Monasticism
Oriental Orthodox Church

Notes
a. Arabic: ‫[;الكنيسة القبطية الكاثوليكية‬3] Latin: Ecclesia Catholica Coptorum

References
1. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2017" (https://web.archive.org/web/20181024215818/http://
www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat17.pdf) (PDF).
Archived from the original (http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistic
s/eastcatholic-stat17.pdf) (PDF) on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
2. Roberson, Ronald G. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2010" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0150923222256/http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcath
olic-stat10.pdf) (PDF). Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics. Catholic Near East Welfare
Association. Archived from the original (http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-east
cath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat10.pdf) (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved
28 December 2011.
3. "‫( "الكنيسة الكاثوليكية تحتفل بذكرى القديس فالنتينو األسقف‬https://www.dostor.org/3359090).
www.dostor.org. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
4. Atiya, Aziz S.; et al., eds. (1991). "Coptic Relations With Rome". Coptic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. pp. 609–611. ISBN 0028970241.
5. Butler, Alban; Burns, Paul (1998) [1756]. Herbert, Thruston; et al. (eds.). Butler's Lives of the
Saints (https://books.google.com/books?id=O8O1_vnTS3QC&pg=PA50). Vol. 6 (new
full ed.). Kent: Burns & Oates. pp. 50–52. ISBN 0860122573.
6. Roberson, Ronald G. "The Coptic Catholic Church" (http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=
63&IndexView&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1). Eastern Catholic Churches.
Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
7. Fortescue, Adrian (1909). "Eastern Churches" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Ency
clopedia_(1913)/Eastern_Churches). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5.
8. "Patriarchal See of Alexandria" (http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/alex0.htm).
Catholic Dioceses in the World. GCatholic.org. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
9. "Pontifical Mission - The Coptic Catholic Church" (http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=63
&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=jer&pageno=1). www.cnewa.org. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
10. Sprague, Sean. "Upper Egypt's Copts: Coptic Christians strive to improve the lot of all
Egyptians" (https://cnewa.org/magazine/upper-egypts-copts-30952/). Retrieved
20 September 2020.

Sources and external links

Coptic Catholic Patriarchate official website (http://coptcatholic.net)
Coptic Catholic Church page at Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East (https://face
charity.org/eastern-churches/coptic-catholic-church-2/)
Article on "Life in a Coptic Catholic Village" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201051/h
ttp://www.cnewa.org/mag-article-bodypg-us.aspx?articleID=736)
"Italian-language video on the Coptic Catholic Church" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
ZcPZu02_RsI)
"Video of the ordination of Coptic Catholic deacons" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qob
nAQrtr6A)
Article on the Coptic Catholic Church by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA web site (https://c
newa.org/eastern-christian-churches/toc/the-catholic-eastern-churches/from-the-oriental-orth
odox-churches/the-coptic-catholic-church/)
Common Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Pope Alexandria Shenouda III, 1973 (https://www.
vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/anc-orient-ch-docs/rc_pc_christuni_doc
_19730510_copti_en.html)
GigaCatholic (http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/rite-Cp.htm)

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