History of Pharaohs' Descendants
VATICAN CITY (ZENIT) - When he visits Egypt from February 24-26, John Paul II will give public recognition to the fidelity of the Christian community of that country, the majority of whom are of the Coptic rite, which has remained faithful to the Gospel from the very earliest years of Christianity, in spite of living for centuries under Arab domination. The last time Egypt's Coptic Christians were in the news was on January 1 and 2, 2000, when in the village of Kosheh in upper Egypt, there were violent confrontations with Muslims, who killed 20 people and wounded 33.
The village of Kosheh was in the news in 1998 for similar disturbances, which cost the life of two Christians. The police was accused of discriminating against the Copts and torturing several of them during the investigation of crimes. In the wake of that confrontation, Egyptian human rights organizations denounced the Police for alleged torture of Coptic citizens. The denunciation was published in an article in the British "Sunday Telegraph" newspaper, a publication which was severely criticized by the Egyptian government and Muslim religious dignitaries of the country for having written about events in Kosheh as proof of the persecution.
Over 13 centuries of Arab Domination
The Copts are spread out between Egypt and Ethiopia. This is a community that has kept the faith in good times and in bad since the Arab invasion in 640. Precisely because of their fidelity to Christian worship, the members of the Coptic ethnic group can be considered today the most racially pure descendants of the primitive inhabitants of ancient Egypt. It was their language which made possible the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Witin the Catholic Church, the Coptic rite is one of 18 rites, including the Latin, Greek Melkite, Maronite, and Ethiopic rites. Each one of these rites is characterized by having its own hierarchy and liturgical differences, resulting from diverse spiritual legacies, although all are obedient to papal authority. Most of the rites, and the Coptic rite is no exception, have a corresponding Orthodox Church that shares many traditions but is not in union with Rome.
Children of St. Mark
According to tradition, the primitive Coptic Church was founded by the evangelist St. Mark himself, who carried the preaching of the Christian faith to Egypt. The persecutions promoted by Roman emperors struck the Copts in intermittent waves until, under emperor Diocletian, a great number of them were sacrificed. It is from this period that their own calendar dates and is therefore called the "Calendar of the Martyrs." According to this calendar, the year 284 would be considered as "1 Anno Martyri."
Division
In the beginning, Coptic Christians were grouped under the authority of the Patriarch of Alexandria. However, there was a division at the heart of the Coptic Church following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. The primitive Coptic Community split in two after this Council : the Jacobites, including dissident Copts who embraced the Monophysite heresy (with exclusive emphasis on the human nature of Christ, rather than the hypostatic union of the two natures - human and divine, as taught by the Council); and the Melchites, whose members remained faithful to the theological doctrine defended by the Council.
Today the Coptic Church is characterized by its adherence and constant attention to Sacred Scripture, rather than theological disputations on heresies, which seemed to be more related to political problems of the time. Throughout the course of history, especially over the last two centuries, there have been different attempts to re-establish unity among the Christian Churches present in Egypt, in spite of the fact that to date these efforts have yet to bear fruit. At present there are 24 Jacobite dioceses, which boast 3.5 million Orthodox Coptic faithful. The Catholic Coptic communities are far less numerous, barely reaching a total of 85,000 faithful.
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