The Copts are led by the teachings of St. Mark, who was credited with bringing Christianity to the Egyptians. The term "Copt" may sound foreign or unfamiliar, but they are, at their root, simply Egyptian Christians. Their pope is Pope Theodoros II, who was elected on November 4, 2012, who is pictured below.
The prayer book used regularly among the Copts is called the Agpeya, which is commonly referred to as the "Coptic manual of the Hours". Certain prayers are supposed to be said at different times.
Here are some interesting facts about the Copts:
- Origen, a well-known figure in the early days of Christianity, was Coptic. He wrote somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000 commentaries of the Bible. He is also known as the Father of Theology. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 182 AD and died in Tyre, Lebanon in 254 AD.
- Relics of St. Mark that had been in Venice, Italy with the Roman Catholic Church were given to St. Mark's Coptic Cathedral in 1968.
- St. Anthony the Great was known as the first Christian Monk. There is a monastery named in his honor approximately 100 miles from Cairo.
- In 1981, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, was sent into exile, where he remained untl 1985.
- There is a church in Cairo called "The Hanging Church", which gets its named because it is positioned right over the gate of a Roman fortress. It is also referred to as the "Staircase Church", due to the 29 steps one must climb to enter. The official name of this church is St. Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church, which is pictured below.
