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Coptic Christians lost their majority status in Egypt after the 14th century and the spread of Islam in the entirety of North Africa. Today, Copts form a major ethno-religious group whose origins date back to the Ancient Egyptians. [4] The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. [5]
The Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, romanized: Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-orthodhoxos, lit. 'the Egyptian Orthodox Church'), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt.
Coptic icon of St. Mark Portrait of a Coptic Christian woman by Bertha Müller, circa 1850 The Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. Although integrated in the larger Egyptian nation state, the Copts have survived as a distinct religious community forming around 5 to 20 percent of the population.
In 1741, the Coptic bishop, Anba Athanasius of Jerusalem, became a Catholic. [8] In 1781, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XIV as vicar apostolic of the fewer than 2,000 Egyptian Coptic Catholics. [7] Eventually, Athanasius returned to the Coptic Orthodox Church and others served as Catholic vicar apostolic. [7]
Christian Monasticism was born in Egypt and was instrumental in the formation of the Coptic Orthodox Church character of submission, simplicity and humility, thanks to the teachings and writings of the Great Fathers of Egypt's Deserts. By the end of the 5th century, there were hundreds of monasteries, and thousands of cells and caves scattered ...
Aswan Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Egypt. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are a communion of six autocephalous (that is, administratively completely independent) regional churches. [16] Below is a list of the six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches forming the main body of Oriental Orthodox Christianity.
The "Coptic period" is an informal designation for Late Roman Egypt (3rd−4th centuries) and Byzantine Egypt (4th−7th centuries).This era was defined by the religious shifts in Egyptian culture to Coptic Christianity from ancient Egyptian religion, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.
Despite the persecution under al-Hakim's reign, Egypt remained mainly Christian, but Coptic Christianity lost its majority status after the 14th century. [31] At the end of the Fatimid dynasty, Salah al-Din renewed discriminatory laws against non-Muslims, but there was little or no active persecution until the Mamluks came to power. [32]