Christianity is the second largest religion in Egypt.[note 1][1] The vast majority of Egyptian Christians are Copts. As of 2019, Copts in Egypt make up approximately 10 percent of the nation's population, with an estimated population of 9.5 million or 10 million. In 2018, approximately 90% of Egyptian Christians were Coptic Orthodox.
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] Smaller or larger figures have also been cited, in the range of somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population,[7] with the Egyptian government estimating lower numbers and the Coptic Orthodox Church claiming 15 million Christians living in Egypt.[8][4] A lack of definite, reliable demographic data renders all estimates uncertain.[7][4] Outside of Egypt, there are roughly 1 million members of the Coptic Orthodox abroad.[9] In 2018, approximately 90% of Egyptian Christians were Coptic Orthodox.[3]
Other than the Coptic Orthodox Church, two other Oriental Orthodox churches have members in Egypt: the Armenian Apostolic and Syriac Orthodox churches.[2]
Scattered among the various churches are a number of converts from Islam to Christianity. A 2015 study estimated that there were 14,000 such believers in Egypt.[16]
In Egypt, Copts have relatively higher educational attainment, relatively higher wealth index, and a stronger representation in white collar job types, but limited representation in security agencies. The majority of demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators are similar among Copts and Muslims.[17] Historically; many Copts were accountants, and in 1961 Coptic Christians owned 51% of the Egyptian banks.[18] A Pew Center study about religion and education around the world in 2016, found that around 26% of Egyptian Christians obtain a university degree in institutions of higher education.[19]
Copts tend to belong to the educated middle and upper-middle class,.[20] According to scholar Lois Farag "The Copts still played the major role in managing Egypt's state finances. They held 20% of total state capital, 45% of government employment, and 45% of government salarie".[21] As of the 1980s, 45% of the medical doctors and 60% of the pharmacists of Egypt were Christians.[22]
A number of Coptic business and land-owning families became very wealthy and influential such as the Egyptian Coptic Christian Sawiris family[23] that owns the Orascom conglomerate, spanning telecommunications, construction, tourism, industries and technology.[24][25] In 2008, Forbes estimated the family's net worth at $36 billion.[26][27][28][29] Copts have relatively higher educational attainment and relatively higher wealth index; scholars Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein argue that this is due to Coptic Christianity emphasis on literacy and that Coptic Christianity encouraged the accumulation of human capital.[30]
According to Eusebius,[43] Mark was succeeded by Anianus as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of Nero (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.[44][45][46][47]
According to Severus ibn al-Muqaffa, the rise of Christianity in Alexandria in the second half of the first century was accompanied by persecution by the Romans, so much so that after the departure of the third Pope of Alexandria Avilius in 93 AD, a new pope could not be chosen until 95 AD. This pope, Kedron, was himself martyred under the emperor Trajan. Despite this, the bishops elected a new pope, indicating that the church had such a powerful base that no amount of persecution, not even the murder of the pope himself, could overcome it.
Will Durant presents some social characteristics of Christian communities in the first centuries. According to him, these communities were composed mostly of lower- and middle- class people. While some wealthier people did convert to Christianity, they remained a minority. The community would support its poorest families and finance missions.[48]Christianity spread throughout the large cities before the countrysides, which is why the Latin word pagan, originally meaning "rustic", came to mean non-Christian. In contrast to the wider society, Christian marriages were more stable, which allowed the number of children to increase throughout the duration of the marriage and ensured a decent life for the children. Abortion and infanticide, common among pagans, were forbidden to Christians, who would often rescue abandoned babies, baptise them, and raise them Christian. Additionally, the church performed services such as caring for the sick, caring for the elderly, and distributing charity. The pagan historian Lucian describes early Christians as "disdaining things terrestrial, and holding these as belonging to all in common",[48] as the New Testament also states.[49]
Pope Primus was elected as the 5th Pope of Alexandria in 106 AD, and the Catechetical School of Alexandria arose in his days, as did the number of churches in Egypt and beyond, despite the emperor Hadrian continuing the persecution of Christians. The next two popes, Justus and Eumenes, were also Deans of the Catechetical School of Alexandria.[50][51][52] The persecutions by Hadrian intensified during their pontificates, but subsided during that of the next two popes, Markianos and Celadion, due to the ascension of the relatively tolerant emperor Marcus Aurelius. Since the middle of the second century, the Catechetical School has produced many Church Fathers whose writings are still read and studied today, including Origen and Clement of Alexandria, as well as Saints Pantaenus and Athenagoras. Some of the most important Church Fathers in the West, such as Saints Augustine and Jerome, were influenced by the School of Alexandria too. Another milestone of the second century was the first Bible translations into Coptic from its original Koine Greek. Coptic was, along with Syriac and Latin, one of the earliest languages the New Testament was translated into.
Pope Demetrius (188-230) established a liturgical calendar by which fasts and feast days were determined. He was engaged in the controversy over the canonical calculation of Easter, and was the first to apply the calculation method for determining the date of Easter. His method was later approved by the Council of Nicea,[53] which made one of the duties of the patriarch of Alexandria to determine the dates of the Easter and to announce it to the other Christian churches.[54] This duty fell on this officiate because of the erudition at Alexandria he could draw on.
Pope Demetrius died in 230 after a long pontificate, and neither his pontificate nor that of his predecessor Julian (178-188) saw any violent persecution of Christians, except that the restrictions against them were not lifted, and he had warned the bishops against leaving Alexandria. Despite this, the Pope would secretly leave to ordain new priests in other cities and villages. By 300, about a quarter of the population in the eastern half of the Roman Empire was Christian.[48]
During the second century, the Church also fought against Gnosticism, which syncretized Christianity with the beliefs that had prevailed before it. Its monks engaged in meditation and philosophy in pursuit of spiritual knowledge (gnosis), which they believed could be attained solely by human effort without God's help. Gnostic beliefs were not well understood to historians until the discovery of their writings, such as the Nag Hammadi library, in the 20th century. The gnostics wrote false gospels and ascribed them to Biblical figures. For example, the Gospel of Judas portrays Jesus' betrayer Judas Iscariot as a partner in salvation and redemption. The Church Fathers, such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria, produced anti-Gnostic writings which contributed to the fall of the movement, although it would take several centuries to completely disappear.
Christian teachings conflicted with Roman beliefs regarding the deification and worship of Roman emperors, and Christians refused to serve in the Roman army and took Sundays off to perform religious rites. Roman authorities thus saw being a Christian as a crime against the state, and Christianity as a subversive religion that threatens the safety and security of the empire. Therefore, they banned Christian gatherings and organised persecutions against Christians, which reached their height under Diocletian. The Christians faced this persecution with strength and endurance, with thousands choosing to suffer torture and death over denying their faith in Christ. The Coptic Church began counting the years, the Era of the Martyrs, from the beginning of Diocletian's reign, and commemorates the martyrs on Nayrouz, which is the beginning of the year in the Coptic calendar.
The conflict between Arians and the Orthodox Church continued after the Council of Nicea, and was so intense that Athanasius was exiled five times by four different Roman emperors during his 45-year-long pontificate (328-373), spending 17 of those years in exile. In Coptic literature, Athanasius is the first patriarch of Alexandria to use Coptic as well as Greek in his writings.[60] Other heresies which arose later were addressed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, which made additions to the Nicene Creed, including the section about the Holy Spirit.
In 446, an aged monk from Constantinople called Eutyches began teaching that Christ only has one nature. In reaction to Nestorianism, he had adopted an extreme view in the opposite direction. Eutyches was condemned and exiled by a synod presided over by Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople, who also sent a full account to Leo, Pope of Rome. Eutyches appealed to Dioscorus, Pope of Alexandria, who, under the impression that Eutyches had repented, held his own synod annulling Flavian's ruling and absolving Eutyches. The Emperor Theodosius II convened a council, the Second Council of Ephesus, in which Dioscorus reinstated Eutyches and deposed Flavian, as well as Eusebius of Dorylaeum, Theoderet of Cyrrus, Ibas of Edessa, and Domnus II of Antioch. Flavian died shortly afterward, and Dioscorus was accused of killing him. Leo, who could not attend the council himself, wrote a letter called Leo's Tome explaining his views on the doctrinal issues involved, which Dioscorus considered Nestorian. After Emperor Theodosius died, the new emperor and empress Marcian and Pulcheria convened another council, the Council of Chalcedon, in 451.[61] This council deposed Pope Dioscorus and had him exiled to Gangra. It also read Leo's Tome and declared it orthodox, despite its contradictions with Pope Cyril's teachings, specifically the third of his Twelve Anathemas.[62]
The near-immediate result of the council was a major schism.[clarification needed] The bishops who were uneasy with the language of Pope Leo's Tome repudiated the council, saying that the acceptance of two physes was tantamount to Nestorianism. Dioscorus of Alexandria advocated miaphysitism and had dominated the Council of Ephesus.[63]Churches that rejected Chalcedon in favor of Ephesus broke off from the rest of the Eastern Church in a schism, the most significant among these being the Church of Alexandria, today known as the Coptic Orthodox Church.[64] The rise of the "so-called" monophysitism in the East (as branded by the West) was led by the Copts of Egypt. This must be regarded[dubious–discuss] as the outward expression of the growing nationalist trends[citation needed] in that province against the gradual intensification of Byzantine imperialism, soon to reach its consummation during the reign of Emperor Justinian.
Most (but not all) of the emperors in this period were Chalcedonians. Some of them persecuted the non-Chalcedonian Church, while others attempted to resolve the schism. In 482, Emperor Zeno made an attempt to reconcile christological differences between the supporters and opponents of the Chalcedonian Definition by issuing an imperial decree known as the Henotikon, but those efforts were mainly politically motivated and ultimately proved to be unsuccessful in reaching a true and substantial reconciliation.[65] In 518, the new Byzantine Emperor Justin I (who accepted Chalcedon), demanded that the entire Church in the Roman Empire accept the Council's decisions. Justin ordered the replacement of all non-Chalcedonian bishops, including the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria.
During the reign of emperor Justinian I (527–565), whose wife Theodora was non-Chalcedonian, new attempts were made towards reconciliation. One of the most prominent Oriental Orthodox theologians of that era was Severus of Antioch. In spite of several, imperially sponsored meetings between heads of Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox communities, no final agreement was reached. The most notable persecution of Copts during this period was by the staunch monothelitistCyrus of Alexandria.
Under Muslim rule
Egypt as well as some other Asian and African Byzantine territories were conquered by Muslims in the 7th century. Under Muslim rule, the Copts were cut off from the mainstream of Christianity and were compelled to adhere to the Pact of Umar covenant. They were assigned to Dhimmi status. Under the rule of the Bahri Mamluks, many Christians were forcefully converted and persecuted across Egypt.[66] Their position improved dramatically in the early 19th century under the rule of Muhammad Ali. He abolished the Jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) and allowed Copts to enroll in the army. Pope Cyril IV, 1854–61, reformed the church and encouraged broader Coptic participation in Egyptian affairs. Khedive Isma'il Pasha, in power 1863–79, further promoted the Copts. He appointed them judges to Egyptian courts and awarded them political rights and representation in government. They flourished in business affairs.[67][full citation needed]
The first Anglican presence in Egypt was established in 1819 by missionaries from the Church Mission Society, who endeavored to distribute copies of the Gospels in Arabic.[68] The first Anglican church in Egypt, called St. Mark's was consecrated on December 17, 1839, in Alexandria, followed by All Saint's Church, in Cairo, consecrated on January 23, 1876.
Some Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of the Coptic Museum in 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some prominent Coptic thinkers from this period are Salama Moussa, Louis Awad and Secretary-General of the Wafd PartyMakram Ebeid.
President Nasser welcomes a delegation of Coptic bishops (1965)
In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser led some army officers in a coup d'état against King Farouk, which overthrew the Kingdom of Egypt and established a republic. Nasser's mainstream policy was pan-Arab nationalism and socialism. The Copts were severely affected by Nasser's nationalization policies, though they represented about 10–20% of the population.[72] In addition, Nasser's pan-Arab policies undermined the Copts' strong attachment to and sense of identity about their Egyptian pre-Arab, and certainly non-Arab identity which resulted in permits to construct churches to be delayed along with Christian religious courts to be closed.[72]
Many Coptic intellectuals hold to "Pharaonism," which states that Coptic culture is largely derived from pre-Christian, Pharaonic culture, and is not indebted to Greece. It gives the Copts a claim to a deep heritage in Egyptian history and culture. Pharaonism was widely held by Coptic scholars in the early 20th century. Most scholars today see Pharaonism as a late development shaped primarily by western Orientalism, and doubt its validity.[73][74]
In 1003, the Coptic Orthodox Church faced persecution during the rule of the sixth Fatimid caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, Al-Hakim destroyed as many as 3,000 churches during his reign, as well as outlawing the use of wine, which was necessary for the religious practices of both the Christians and Jews under his rule.[75] In 1005, Al-Hakim ordered that Christians and Jews alike be made to follow the "law of differentiation" called ghiyār, and wear a black belt, mintaq or zunnar, and a black turban, 'imāmah.[76] In 1009, al-Hakim ordered and carried out the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a prominent cite for the Christian faith.
Present day
Religious freedom in Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by discriminatory and restrictive government policies. Coptic Christians, being the largest religious minority in Egypt, were also negatively affected. While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch, "Egyptians are able to convert to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents."[77] The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim.[78] Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam to Christianity (or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening.[79] In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam.[80] However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards,[81][82] but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.[83]
Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches. Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, and then in August 2017, the Parliament of Egypt removed the legal restrictions that limited the construction of new churches.[84][85]
In 2006, one person attacked three churches in Alexandria, killing one person and injuring 5–16.[86] The attacker was not linked to any organisation and described as "psychologically disturbed" by the Ministry of Interior.[87] In May 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported increasing waves of mob attacks by Muslims against ethnic Copts.[88] Despite frantic calls for help, the police typically arrived after the violence was over.[88] The police also coerced the Copts to accept "reconciliation" with their attackers to avoid prosecuting them, with no Muslims convicted for any of the attacks.[89] In Marsa Matrouh, a Bedouin mob of 3,000 Muslims tried to attack the city's Coptic population, with 400 Copts having to barricade themselves in their church while the mob destroyed 18 homes, 23 shops, and 16 cars.[88][citation needed]
Fox News reported that Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have expressed concern about alleged "human trafficking" of Coptic women and girls as victims of abductions, forced conversion to Islam, sexual exploitation, and forced marriage to Muslim men.[90]
Boutros Boutros-Ghali was a Copt who served as Egypt's foreign minister under President Anwar Sadat. In addition, Naguib Sawiris, a Coptic businessman, was ranked in 2024 by Forbes as the 7th richest man in Africa with a net worth of 3.8B$.[91] However, many Copts continue to complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security, and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion.[92][93]
In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas (January 7) was recognized as an official holiday.[94]
In August 2013, following the 3 July 2013 Coup and clashes between the military and Morsi supporters, there were widespread attacks on Coptic churches and institutions in Egypt by Sunni Muslims.[95][96] According to at least one Egyptian scholar, Samuel Tadros; the attacks are the worst violence against the Coptic Church since the 14th century.[97]
USA Today reported that "forty churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged". The Facebook page of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party was "rife with false accusations meant to foment hatred against Copts", according to journalist Kirsten Powers. The Party's page claimed that the Coptic Church had declared "war against Islam and Muslims" and that "The Pope of the Church is involved in the removal of the first elected Islamist president. The Pope of the Church alleges Islamic Sharia is backwards, stubborn, and reactionary."[97][98][99] On August 15, nine Egyptian human rights groups under the umbrella group "Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights", released a statement saying,
In December … Brotherhood leaders began fomenting anti-Christian sectarian incitement. The anti-Coptic incitement and threats continued unabated up to the demonstrations of June 30 and, with the removal of President Morsi … morphed into sectarian violence, which was sanctioned by … the continued anti-Coptic rhetoric heard from the group's leaders on the stage … throughout the sit-in.[97][100]
On February 25, 2016, an Egyptian court convicted four Coptic Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam, after they appeared in a video mocking Muslim prayers.[101]
Egypt is ranked by Open Doors as the 38th most dangerous country to be a Christian[102]
The Coptic community in Egypt faces a complex situation. While security services have intervened in some cases to locate abducted Coptic girls, concerns persist regarding the practice of forced conversion. Restrictions on building and renovating churches contribute to a sense of discrimination among Copts. However, there have been instances of progress. In October, a long-standing village feud was resolved through reconciliation efforts spearheaded by the Supreme Committee for Reconciliation at al-Azhar in cooperation with Qena Governorate. Researcher Patrick Zaki, who was imprisoned for his work highlighting discrimination against Copts, was pardoned and released in July. Additionally, a fatwa issued by al-Azhar in March allowed a young child raised by Coptic parents to remain with them after being abandoned by his biological family. It is important to note that during the year, civil society groups and Coptic organizations reported continued instances of alleged abduction and forced conversion of Coptic women and girls.[103]
↑ Figures vary, but censuses and other survey based third party analyses estimates the Christian population of Egypt at approximately 5%. Eight consecutive census results from 1927 (8.3% Christian) to 1996 (5.7% Christian) shows a declining trend in Christian population.[note 3] However censuses may have been under-counting Christians.[note 3]
The nation-wide Demographic and Health Survey (2008) conducted with the support of US AID showed about 5% of the respondents were Christian.[note 3]
QScience Connect in 2013 using 2008 data estimated that 5.1% of Egyptians between the ages of 15 and 59 were Copts.[note 4]
The Pew Foundation estimated 5.1% for Christians in 2010.[note 5]
Other estimates are not based on surveys, but there is an observed trend among generally reliable sources to safely approximate the Christian population at 10%. Encyclopædia Britannica says that Copts constitute up to 10% of the population of Egypt.[note 6]
In 2017, CNN estimated the Coptic Christian population between 6 and 11 million.[note 7]Al-Ahram newspaper, one of the government owned newspapers in Egypt, reported the percentage between 10% and 15% (2017).[note 8]
In 2018, government agencies including the US department of state estimated the Egyptian Christian population at 9 to 10% (close to 10 million).[note 9]
↑ The Coptic Church accords with identifying Mark the Evangelist with John Mark, as well as that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Jesus (Luke 10:1), as Hippolytus confirmed. Coptic tradition also holds that Mark the Evangelist hosted the disciples in his house after Jesus's death, that the resurrected Jesus came to Mark's house (John 20), and that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost in the same house. Furthermore, Mark is also believed to have been among the servants at the Marriage at Cana who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1–11).[31][32]
"Excluded and Unequal". The Century Foundation. 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020. Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population.
Related Research Articles
The Coptic Orthodox Church, also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Father of fathers, Shepherd of shepherds, Ecumenical Judge and the 13th among the Apostles.
Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days, from 14 November 1971 until his death.
Copts are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan, and predominantly follow the Orthodox Church in Alexandria. They are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East, as well as in Sudan and Libya. Copts account for roughly 5–15 percent of the population of Egypt; Copts in Sudan account for 1 percent of the Sudanese population, and Copts in Libya similarly account for 1 percent of the Libyan population.
Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a Coptic church located in the Abbassia District in Cairo, Egypt. The cathedral is the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. It was built during the time when Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was Pope, and was consecrated on 25 June 1968.
Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam, although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census, religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Orthodox Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.
Christianity in Africa arrived in Africa in the 1st century AD, and in the 21st century the majority of Africans are Christians. Several African Christians influenced the early development of Christianity and shaped its doctrines, including Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo. In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, followed by the Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia and several Christian Berber kingdoms.
The immigration of the Copts to Canada might have started as early as the late 1950s. Due to an increasing amount of discrimination towards Copts in Egypt in the 1970s and low income in Egypt. Canada has been receiving a greater number of these immigrants, and the number of Coptic immigrants into Canada has been growing ever since.
The "Coptic period" is an informal designation for Late Roman Egypt and Byzantine Egypt. 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.
Christianity is a minority religion in Libya. It has been present in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica since Roman times.
Coptic Cairo is a part of Old Cairo which encompasses the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. It is believed in Christian tradition that the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church. Coptic Cairo was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt both before and during the Islamic era, as most of its churches were built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.
Coptic history is the part of the history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items related to Coptic Christianity are on display in many museums around the world and a large number is in the Coptic Museum in Coptic Cairo.
Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. Today, Christians make up approximately 5% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 13% in the early 20th century. Cyprus is the only Christian majority country in the Middle East, with Christians forming between 76% and 78% of the country's total population, most of them adhering to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Lebanon has the second highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, around 40%, predominantly Maronites. After Lebanon, Egypt has the next largest proportion of Christians, at around 10% of its total population. Copts, numbering around 10 million, constitute the single largest Christian community in the Middle East.
The persecution of Copts and discrimination against Coptic Orthodox Christians are historic and widespread issues in Egypt. Their treatment is indicative of the poor status of Christians in the Middle East more widely, despite the fact that the religion is native to the Middle East, and that Christianity in Egypt dates back to the Roman era. Copts are the indigenous Christians in Egypt, usually Oriental Orthodox, who currently make up 10% of the population—the largest religious minority of that country. Copts have cited instances of persecution throughout their history and Human Rights Watch has noted "growing religious intolerance" and sectarian violence against Coptic Christians in recent years, as well as a failure by the Egyptian government to effectively investigate properly and prosecute those responsible. However, as political violence is common many churches believe that the attacks against the church are not religious statements, instead political statements. Since 2011, hundreds of Egyptian Copts have been killed in sectarian clashes, and many homes, churches and businesses have been destroyed. In just one province (Minya), 77 cases of sectarian attacks on Copts between 2011 and 2016 have been documented by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The abduction and disappearance of Coptic Christian women and girls also remains a serious ongoing problem.
Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils—the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus. They reject the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. Hence, these Churches are also called Old Oriental Churches or Non-Chalcedonian Churches.
The 2011 Alexandria bombing was an attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, on Saturday, 1 January 2011. 23 people died and another 97 were injured as a result of the attack, which occurred as Christian worshipers were leaving a New Year service. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians in a decade, since the Kosheh massacre in 2000 left 20 Copts dead. The target of the bombing was the Saints Church, a Coptic church located across the street from the Masjid Sharq El-Madina mosque.
The Coptic diaspora consists of Copts who live outside of their primary area of residence within parts of present-day Egypt, Libya and Sudan.
The 2011 Imbaba church attacks were a series of attacks that took place in Egypt on 7 May 2011 against Coptic Christian churches in the poor working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in Giza, near Cairo. The attacks were blamed on Salafi Muslims, and the attacks began when the Muslims attacked the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mina, where they alleged a Christian woman was being held against her will because she wanted to convert to Islam. The attacks resulted in the burning of 3 Coptic Orthodox churches, and the destruction of many Christian-owned houses and businesses. In addition, 15 people were killed in the attacks, and about 232 injured. Among those killed were four Christians and six Muslims, while two other bodies were still unidentified. Imbaba has been known to be a stronghold of Muslim fundamentalists since the 1970s, but also comprises a significant number of Coptic Christians.
Copts in Egypt refers to Coptic Christians born in or residing in Egypt.
Copts in Libya may refer to people born in or residing in Libya of full or partial Coptic origin. Coptic people are an ethnoreligious group that form the largest Christian group in Libya, the Coptic Orthodox Church in the country having an estimated 60,000 adherents. The Coptic Church is known to have historical roots in Libya long before the Arabs advanced westward from Egypt into Libya. A part of the community is made up of immigrants from Egypt.
On 2 November 2018, masked gunmen opened fire on a group of Egyptian Christians travelling by bus through Minya. There was a convoy of three vehicles and two of them managed to escape. The vehicles were carrying Copts traveling from Sohag Governorate and Minya Governorate in Egypt to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor. At least 7 people from Minya were killed while 12 others were injured. A similar attack near the same place had happened in 2017.
1 2 "US Dept of State 2018 report on Egypt". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17. The U.S. government estimates the population at 99.4 million (July 2018 estimate). Most experts and media sources state that approximately 90 percent of the population is officially designated as Sunni Muslims and approximately 10 percent is recognized as Christian (estimates range from 5 to 15 percent). Approximately 90 percent of Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, according to Christian leaders.
↑ "Who are Egypt's Coptic Christians?". CNN. 10 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2020. The largest Christian community in the Middle East, Coptic Christians make up the majority of Egypt's roughly 9 million Christians. About 1 million more Coptic Christians are spread across Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the World Council of Churches.
↑ Mohamoud YA, Cuadros DF, Abu-Raddad LJ. Characterizing the Copts in Egypt: Demographic, socioeconomic and health indicators, QScience Connect 2013:22 doi:10.5339/connect.2013.22
↑ B. Rugh, Andrea (2016). Christians in Egypt: Strategies and Survival. Springer. p.30. ISBN9781137566133.
↑ M. Farag, Lois (2013). The Coptic Christian Heritage: History, Faith and Culture. Routledge. p.83. ISBN9781134666843. The Copts, who were 7 percent of the population in the nineteenth century, still played the major role in managing Egypt's state finances. They held 20 percent of total state capital, 45 percent of government employment ...
↑ Athanasius, (Patriarch of Alexandria) (1920), Select treatises of St. Athanasius in controversy with the Arians, Volume 3, Translator and Editor John Henry Newman, Longmans, Green and co.
↑ Atiya, Aziz S. (1991), The Coptic Encyclopedia, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, ISBN0-02-897025-X
1 2 Nisan, Mordechai (2002). Minorities in the Middle East. McFarland. p.144. ISBN978-0-7864-1375-1.
↑ van der Vliet, Jacques (June 2009), "The Copts: 'Modern Sons of the Pharaohs'?", Church History & Religious Culture, 89 (1–3): 279–90, doi:10.1163/187124109x407934
↑ Reid, Donald Malcolm (2003). "7". Whose Pharaohs?: Archaeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I. U. of California Press. pp.258ff. ISBN9780520240698.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
