Traditions
C

Tradition · Oriental Orthodox

Coptic Orthodox Church

Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria

FollowersUncertainEgypt's Christians: about 4 million upwards · 2008How countedCouncil of Chalcedon451Alexandria rejected the council’s definition of Christ’s two natures; separate hierarchies hardened over the following century.Read the historyCompare with another tradition

The ancient church of Egypt, tracing its foundation to the evangelist Mark.

Relationships with other traditions

How it took shape

Through the wider family

Divisions that concern the Oriental Orthodox family as a whole, not this church alone.

Since then

Key timeline

View full timeline (4)
  1. 1st centuryTraditional

    Mark in Alexandria

    Tradition holds that the evangelist Mark founded the church of Alexandria.

  2. 451

    Council of Chalcedon

    Patriarch Dioscorus is deposed; the Egyptian church rejects the council’s definition.

Classification
Oriental Orthodox. The church of Alexandria that did not accept the Council of Chalcedon. Copts call their Christology miaphysite and reject the older label “Monophysite”.
What this entry covers
A self-governing church within a wider family. The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, one of the Oriental Orthodox churches.
Council of Chalcedon
451. Alexandria rejected the council’s definition of Christ’s two natures; separate hierarchies hardened over the following century.

Relationships with other traditions

Schism451 and afterA gradual process

The Council of Chalcedon and its aftermath

Oriental Orthodox churches (churches that did not receive Chalcedon)Eastern Orthodox churches (Chalcedonian East)Catholic Church (Chalcedonian West)

Schism: A breach of communion between churches. The Atlas never treats a schism as the founding of either side, and many developed gradually.

Chalcedon defined Christ as one person 'in two natures'. Most of the Egyptian church, and the churches of Armenia and much of Syria, rejected the definition as a departure from the teaching of Cyril of Alexandria; an Armenian synod rejected its Christology in 506.
5 sources
Causes
  • A dispute over how to express the union of divinity and humanity in Christ, compounded by imperial enforcement and regional alienation; separate hierarchies hardened over the following century.
    Source

    Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.

What remained shared
Later developments
Today as of October 2026

Separate, in formal dialogue

Not in full communion. Theological commissions have found the two Christologies compatible, but formal acceptance by the churches has been partial.
2 sources

Agreement recordAgreement recordCompare Coptic Orthodox Church and Eastern Orthodox ChurchCompare Coptic Orthodox Church and Catholic Church

CommunionAfter 451A gradual process

The Oriental Orthodox communion

Coptic Orthodox ChurchEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo ChurchArmenian Apostolic Church · the Syriac, Eritrean and Malankara Orthodox churches (not Atlas entries)

Communion: Churches agree to share communion, often only in some regions or between some member churches.

The Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Malankara Orthodox churches form the Oriental Orthodox family. The World Council of Churches describes them as 'in communion' with one another: they share the first three ecumenical councils and do not accept Chalcedon.
Source
What remained shared
  • Each keeps its own government: within the Armenian Church, the Catholicosate of Cilicia is 'in full communion' with Etchmiadzin but administratively independent.
    Source
Today as of 2002 (Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement), as published by the WCC in 2026

In communion

In communion with one another as churches of the Oriental Orthodox family.
Source

Compare Coptic Orthodox Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo ChurchCompare Coptic Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church

Formal dialogue1973

Catholic–Coptic Orthodox dialogue

Catholic ChurchCoptic Orthodox Church

Formal dialogue: Official theological conversation between churches. Agreed statements are recommendations until each church receives them.

In 1973 Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III signed a common declaration on Christ, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, and set up a joint commission.
Source
Later developments
Today as of October 2026

Separate, in formal dialogue

Not in full communion. In 2017 the two popes looked forward to 'the blessed day when we will at last gather at the same Eucharistic table'; the 1973 declaration acknowledged that differences since 451 'cannot be ignored'.
2 sources

Agreement recordCompare Coptic Orthodox Church and Catholic Church

Explained on other pages

Through the wider family

These concern the family of churches this tradition belongs to, not this church alone.

Full timeline

  1. 1973

    Common declaration with Rome

    Pope Shenouda III and Pope Paul VI confess a common faith in Christ and set up a joint commission, noting that differences since 451 “cannot be ignored”.

    Explained below: Catholic–Coptic Orthodox dialogue

  2. 1st centuryTraditional

    Mark in Alexandria

    Tradition holds that the evangelist Mark founded the church of Alexandria.

  3. 4th century

    Desert monasticism

    Egypt becomes the cradle of Christian monasticism, associated with Anthony the Great and Pachomius.

  4. 451

    Council of Chalcedon

    Patriarch Dioscorus is deposed; the Egyptian church rejects the council’s definition.

    Explained below: The Council of Chalcedon and its aftermath

Positions used in comparisons

Short, sourced statements that the Atlas compares across traditions. Where a tradition has no single teaching authority, the record says whose statement it follows.

God
Confesses 'one faith in the One Triune God'.
Source
Christ
Christ is perfect God and perfect man, one incarnate nature of God the Word, without mingling, change, division or separation.
2 sources
Creeds and councils
Receives the first three ecumenical councils; does not receive Chalcedon (451) or the later councils as ecumenical.
2 sources
Sacraments and ordinances
Seven sacraments, including Baptism, the Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders.
Source
Mary and the saints
Mary is confessed as ever-virgin and God-bearer; relics of the saints are venerated and their intercession asked.
Source

Compare these positions with another tradition

  • Coptic liturgy

    Liturgies of St Basil, St Gregory and St Cyril, in Coptic and Arabic.Not yet sourced

The follower figure

Uncertain Egypt's Christians: about 4 million upwards

What is counted
People who identify themselves with the tradition
As of
survey 2008; published 2011
Reported by
Pew Research Center, reviewing Egyptian census and survey data
Type
Estimate
Coverage
Christians in Egypt, most but not all of them Coptic Orthodox. The diaspora is not included.
Do not add
Includes Coptic Catholics and Protestants in Egypt.
This entry is
A self-governing church within a wider family. The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, one of the Oriental Orthodox churches.
Egypt's 1996 census recorded 5.7% Christians and a 2008 survey about 5%, which Pew put at roughly 4 million; church and media figures of 10% or more are also cited, and Pew notes possible under-reporting. The number is genuinely disputed.
Source

Replaces the starting figure. Workbook: 20,000,000 (no source or date).

Figures from different traditions measure different things and must not be added together or ranked against each other.

About the image · Editorial placeholder

Editorial initial. A Coptic cross design is planned once a documented form is selected.

Editorial status

Editorial draft. Built from the starting workbook with editorial corrections and framing. It has not yet been checked against independent sources.

References

  • Workbook linkNot yet checked

    copticorthodox.church

    Link supplied in the source workbook (“Christian Denominations”, row 14). It has not been checked to confirm that it supports every claim in that row.

Original workbook record

Imported unchanged from “Christian Denominations”, row 14. Values here are the starting dataset, not verified facts; where the Atlas differs, the reason is noted below.

Denomination / Tradition
Coptic Orthodox Church
Broader Tradition
Oriental Orthodoxy
Date Established / Split
451 AD
Origin / Location
Alexandria, Egypt
Forming Event / Schism
Council of Chalcedon Schism
Approx. Practitioners
20,000,000
Broke Away From
Unified Early Church
Primary Reason for Split / Core Doctrine
Rejection of the Council of Chalcedon's dyophysite definition of Christ's two natures in favor of Miaphysitism.
Reference / Information Link
https://copticorthodox.church

Editorial notes on this record

  • Approx. Practitioners: 20 million has no source or date; estimates of Egypt’s Christian population vary widely.
  • Date Established / Split: Primary event relabelled “Council of Chalcedon” (from “Chalcedonian division”) so that 451 reads as the start of a gradual separation, not an instant split.

Research sources for this entry

Every relationship, position and figure above cites these. Each links to the Atlas’s single source register, which shows what each source supports and whether it was read.