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Coptic Catholic Church

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The Coptic Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Egypt in Cairo
The Coptic Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Egypt in Cairo

Coptic Catholic Church is a patriarchal Eastern Catholic church of the Alexandrian tradition, centered in Egypt and preserving the Coptic liturgical inheritance.[1]

Disciplinary status: Church discipline

Overview

The Coptic Catholic Church,[2] also known as the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria, is an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church, it 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 Geʽez Rite.[3]

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

Alexandrian inheritance

The Coptic Catholic Church shares the Christian heritage of Egypt and the Alexandrian liturgical tradition with the much larger Coptic Orthodox Church. Its worship uses the Coptic Rite, especially the liturgies associated with Saints Basil, Gregory, and Cyril, with Coptic and Arabic among its principal languages.

Attempts at reunion at Florence and later Catholic missions did not produce an immediate, continuous patriarchal structure. A Catholic vicariate developed in the eighteenth century, and Leo XIII restored the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria in 1895.

Patriarchal church

The patriarch and synod govern eparchies chiefly in Egypt according to Eastern canon law. Full communion with Rome does not make this church Latin: Catholic teaching requires it to preserve and renew its own theology, spirituality, liturgy, and discipline while pursuing truthful relations with the Coptic Orthodox Church.[4]

History

Beginnings

Since the Council of Chalcedon in the 5th century and the official separation of the Coptic Church from the Western Christian and Eastern Orthodox churches, the Catholic Church has attempted to achieve reunion with the Copts in Egypt many times. During the Council of Florence in 1442, the Coptic delegates present agreed to a reunion with the papacy in Rome,[5] but the Coptic populace was opposed to the idea, and the union did not take effect. Further failed attempts at reunion were undertaken by Coptic delegates in 1560 and 1582.[6]

In the 17th century, at the behest of Pope Urban VIII, Catholic missionaries (primarily Franciscans) started to come to Egypt. In 1630, a number of missions of the Capuchin Order were founded in the Levant by Joseph of Paris, including in Cairo.[6] Although the mission in Cairo initially faced setbacks, tensions with the local Coptic priesthood were eased following the arrival of the Capuchin priest Agathangelo of Vendôme in 1633.

Initial relations between Catholics and Copts in Egypt were poor. One Coptic councilor in 1637 referred to the Roman Church in Egypt as "a brothel".[6][7] Attempts to excommunicate Catholic offenders in the city were seemingly fruitless.[6] Agathangelo would later be hanged as a martyr in Ethiopia by order of the Ethiopian king in 1638,[7] and the mission in Cairo would start to decline.

The Jesuits came in 1675.[8]

In 1741, the Coptic bishop, Anba Athanasius of Jerusalem, became a Catholic.[9] In 1781, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XIV as vicar apostolic of the fewer than 2,000 Egyptian Coptic Catholics.[8] Eventually, Athanasius returned to the Coptic Orthodox Church and others served as Catholic vicar apostolic.[8]

Patriarchate

Under the assumption that the Ottoman viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha wanted a Catholic patriarch for the Coptic Catholics in 1824, the Pope established the Patriarchate of Alexandria[8] from the Apostolic Vicariate of Syria, Egypt, Arabia and Cyprus,[10] but it was basically titular.[8] The Ottomans in 1829 allowed the Coptic Catholics to build their own churches.[8]

Pope Gregory XVI appointed Theodore Abukarim as "Apostolic Delegate and Visitor to the Abyssinian people" (i.e. the Coptic Catholics in Egypt) in 1840.[11]

The number of Catholics of this rite increased to the point that Pope Leo XIII in 1895 restored the Catholic patriarchate.[9] 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 Roman pope over a controversy. The patriarchate seat remained vacant until an election in 1947[8] and was administered by an apostolic administrator.[10]

Current organisation

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, although his actual seat is in Egypt's modern capital Cairo.

The Coptic Catholic Church has eight suffragan bishops, throughout Egypt, comprising the only Coptic Catholic ecclesiastical province:[12][13]

Hierarchy

The present Coptic Catholic episcopate (14 hierarchs as per 25 May 2023) is as follows:[14][15]

Patriarch:

Eparchial Bishops:

Curial Bishop:

Emeritus Hierarchs:

Religious orders

The Coptic Catholic Church does not have any monasteries like the Coptic Orthodox Church, but there are several religious congregations: an Egyptian Franciscan province, and three communities of religious sisters, the Society of the Sacred Heart (actually known as 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.[8] A congregation of the Little Sisters of Jesus has been in Egypt since 1954.[16]

Clergy

Most candidates for the priesthood are trained at St. Leo's Patriarchal Seminary, in suburban Cairo.

Educational and health services

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.[17]

Ecumenical relations

Relations between the Coptic Catholic Church and the larger Coptic Orthodox Church are generally very good.[18]

See also

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Coptic Catholic Church is a particular Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.[19]

References

  1. Back to citation The Coptic Catholic Church — CNEWA historical and ecclesial profile.
  2. Back to citation Arabic: الكنيسة القبطية الكاثوليكية; "الكنيسة الكاثوليكية تحتفل بذكرى القديس فالنتينو الأسقف". www.dostor.org. Retrieved 2021-02-14. Latin: Ecclesia Catholica Coptorum, (Coptic: ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲕⲁⲑⲟⲗⲓⲕⲏ, romanized: Ti-eklisia en-remenkimi en-katholikos, lit. 'the Egyptian Catholic Church')
  3. Back to citation LaBanca, Nicholas (2019-02-19). "The Eastern Catholic Churches: Part 3, the Alexandrian Rite". Ascension Press Media. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
  4. Back to citation Orientalium Ecclesiarum — Vatican II decree on the dignity, traditions, and governance of the Eastern Catholic churches.
  5. Back to citation Curtin, D. P. (January 2007). Laetentur Caeli: Bulls of Union with the Greeks, Armenians, Coptic, and Ethiopian Churches. ISBN 9798869171504.
  6. Back to citation occurrence 6.0 Back to citation occurrence 6.1 Back to citation occurrence 6.2 Back to citation occurrence 6.3 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.
  7. Back to citation occurrence 7.0 Back to citation occurrence 7.1 Butler, Alban; Burns, Paul (1998) [1756]. Herbert, Thruston; et al. (eds.). Butler's Lives of the Saints. Vol. 6 (new full ed.). Kent: Burns & Oates. pp. 50–52. ISBN 0860122573.
  8. Back to citation occurrence 8.0 Back to citation occurrence 8.1 Back to citation occurrence 8.2 Back to citation occurrence 8.3 Back to citation occurrence 8.4 Back to citation occurrence 8.5 Back to citation occurrence 8.6 Back to citation occurrence 8.7 Roberson, Ronald G. "The Coptic Catholic Church". Eastern Catholic Churches. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  9. Back to citation occurrence 9.0 Back to citation occurrence 9.1 Fortescue, Adrian (1909). "Eastern Churches". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5.
  10. Back to citation occurrence 10.0 Back to citation occurrence 10.1 "Patriarchal See of Alexandria". Catholic Dioceses in the World. GCatholic.org. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  11. Back to citation Pope Gregory XVI, Pastorale officium (in Italian), published on 24 July 1840, accessed on 25 October 2025
  12. Back to citation Cheney, David M. "Coptic Catholic Church: current dioceses". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  13. Back to citation "La Iglesia Católica Copta" (in Spanish). Apologética Siloé. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  14. Back to citation "Coptic Catholic Church: Living Bishops". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  15. Back to citation "Coptic Church: Living Catholic Bishops". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  16. Back to citation L'Œuvre d'Orient, Egypt: A Hostel for Underprivileged Young Girls in Cairo, accessed on 20 June 2026
  17. Back to citation "Pontifical Mission - The Coptic Catholic Church". www.cnewa.org. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
  18. Back to citation Sprague, Sean. "Upper Egypt's Copts: Coptic Christians strive to improve the lot of all Egyptians". Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  19. Back to citation Coptic Catholic Church, official website
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