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The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the official name for the largest Christian church in Egypt. The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. This church was established by Saint Mark the apostle and evangelist in the 1st century.
The vast majority of Egyptian Christians are Copts who belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, an Oriental Orthodox Church. [2] [3] As of 2019, Copts in Egypt make up approximately 10 percent of the nation's population, [4] with an estimated population of 9.5 million (figure cited in the Wall Street Journal, 2017) [5] or 10 million (figure cited in the Associated Press, 2019). [6]
Christmas has been a national holiday in Egypt since 2003. It is the only Christian holiday in Egypt. [81] Coptic Christmas, which usually falls on January 6 or 7 is a major feast. Other major feasts are Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension, and Annunciation. These are known in the Coptic world as the Seven Major Feasts.
[19] [20] They are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East, [21] as well as in Sudan [7] and Libya. [22] Copts account for roughly 5–15 percent of the population of Egypt; [23] [24] Copts in Sudan account for 1 percent of the Sudanese population, and Copts in Libya similarly account for 1 percent of the Libyan ...
In January 2017, following twin terrorist attacks that killed at least 27 Coptic Egyptians at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Cairo in December 2016, the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi commissioned the construction of the country's largest mosque and church in the new administrative capital to become symbols of coexistence and national unity. [7]
The Hanging Church is the most famous Coptic Christian church in Cairo, as well as possibly the first built in basilican style. [4] The church is the site of several reported Marian apparitions. [8] She is said to have appeared in a dream to Pope Abraham in the 970s in the story of how the Mokattam Mountain was moved by the faith of Simon the ...
The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. [5] Christians represent around 15% to 20% of a population of over 115 million Egyptians, though estimates vary (see Religion in Egypt).
The library was originally intended to be a church by Pope Cyril IV, but because of its deviation from the eastern direction it was never consecrated and thus became the library. [25] It contains a rich collection of printed books and the largest collection of Coptic manuscripts in Egypt, which amount to some 1,863 volumes. [23]