Pope Christodoulos of Alexandria

Pope

Christodoulos of Alexandria
Pope; Christodoulos of Alexandria
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Papacy began	1047
Papacy ended	1077
Predecessor	Shenouda II
Successor	Cyril II
Personal details
Born	Egypt
Died	1077; Egypt
Buried	Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence	The Hanging Church

Last updated December 26, 2024

Pope Christodoulos of Alexandria (also known as Abd-el-Messiah) (died 1077) was the 66th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.

Pope Christodoulos was the one who ordered that the Copts should standardize on the Bohairic Dialect, which was the dialect of parts of Northern Egypt and the monasteries of the Scetes. This was the dialect that was starting to weaken and give way to Arabic. His intention was to strengthen the weakening Coptic. However, he inadvertently helped weaken the Coptic further in the region where it was still going strong, the Sahidic region (Upper Egypt). It is not unexpected that Sahidic Coptic survived to the 15th and 16th century. We know of an Italian visitor to Upper Egypt in the 17th century who wrote that he met a Coptic priest and an old woman who could still speak Coptic

Relations with Antioch

The Patriarchs of Antioch and the Pope of Alexandria had for many years kept in close touch with one another. More than once their relations were strained, as happened particularly in the time of Patriarch John IX bar Shushan, and Christodulus, when they fell out over the proper presentation of the Eucharistic oblations, in which the Lyrian Jacobites were in the habit of mingling a little oil and salt (Neale, Patriarchate of Alexandria, II, 214). Christodulus insultingly rejected the practice, and John of Antioch wrote in its defence. In 1169 a new controversy, about the use of auricular confession severed the once friendly relations between the two communions.

Ethiopia

Following the death of the Abuna of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Emperor of Ethiopia sent an embassy asking Pope Christodoulos to ordain a new one. He replied that he was unable to ordain one due to persecution against the Christians in Egypt at the time. As a result, an adventurer named Abdun took advantage of this interregnum and presented himself to the Ethiopian Emperor with forged documents, claiming to be the newly appointed Abuna.^[1]

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References

The canons of Christodoulos (1932). Arabic text with translation by British Coptologist Oswald Hugh Ewart Burmester(1897–1977). In Le Muséon ,^[2] XLV (1932), pp. 77–84.
History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, by O. H. E. Burmester

Notes

↑ J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 63.
↑ Le Muséon. Louvain [etc.].

Preceded by Shenouda II	Coptic Pope 1047–1077	Succeeded by Cyril II

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[1] J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 63.

[2] Le Muséon. Louvain [etc.].

[1]

[2]

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons