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The '''Coptic Orthodox Church''' is the portion of the [[Church of Alexandria]] which broke from the Byzantine churches in the wake of the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council]] in [[Chalcedon]] in 451. Sharing a common heritage before with the Chalcedonian Church of Alexandria, it traces its origins to the [[Apostle Mark]]. The church is one of the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] churches. Its leader is the Coptic Pope of Alexandria, currently [[Shenouda III Theodore II (GayyidSobhi Baki Soleiman) of Alexandria|Pope Shenouda IIITheodore II]]. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria cares for about 18 million Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt and abroad, besides being the Mother Church of both the [[Church of Ethiopia|Ethiopian ]] and [[Church of Eritrea|Eritrean]] Orthodox Tewahido Churches. More than 95% of the Christians of Egypt are Coptic Orthodox, but other "Patriarchates/Patriarchs of Alexandria" also exist (Coptic Catholic, Greek/Latin Catholic and Greek Orthodox - see 'Coptic Christianity Today' below), as well as small Protestant and Anglican denominations.

The [[Catechetical School of Alexandria]] is the oldest catechetical school in the world. Founded around 190 by the scholar [[Pantanaeusof Alexandria|Pantanaeus]], the school of Alexandria became an important institution of religious learning, where students were taught by scholars such as [[Athenagoras of Athens|Athenagoras]], [[Clement of Alexandria|Clement]], [[Didymus the Blind|Didymus]], and the great [[Origen]], who was considered the father of theology and who was also active in the field of commentary and comparative Biblical studies. Origen wrote over 6,000 commentaries of the [[Bible]] in addition to his famous ''[[Hexapla]]''. Many scholars such as St. [[Jerome]] visited the school of Alexandria to exchange ideas and to communicate directly with its scholars. The scope of this school was not limited to theological subjects; science, mathematics and humanities were also taught there. The question and answer method of commentary began there, and 15 centuries before Braille, wood-carving techniques were in use there by blind scholars to read and write.

* [http://www.copticmidlanddioceseukmidcopts.co.uk org Official Website of Coptic Orthodox Diocese in the Midlands & Affiliated Regions U.K.]

[[Category:Jurisdictions|Orthodoxy in Africa]] [[ar:كنيسة قبطية أرثوذكسية]][[fr:Église d'Alexandrie (copte)]][[ro:Biserica din Alexandria (Copticcoptă)]]