About Us
The Coptic Orthodox Church
Founded by the Apostle Mark
The Coptic Orthodox Church — the word "Coptic" simply means "Egyptian" — is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, founded by the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Mark in Alexandria, Egypt, around 42 AD — just a decade after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Mark, one of the four Evangelists and a disciple of the Apostle Peter, brought the Gospel of Christ to Africa, organizing its worship and ordaining its first clergy, and establishing the Church of Alexandria as one of the five ancient apostolic sees of Christendom — alongside Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, and Constantinople — before his own martyrdom in Alexandria in 68 AD.
From its very foundation, the Coptic Church of Alexandria has stood at the heart of Christian theology and tradition. It was from Alexandria that the Nicene Creed was defended by Saint Athanasius the Apostolic, earning him the title "Athanasius Contra Mundum" — Athanasius against the world. It was in the Egyptian desert that the monastic movement was born through Saint Anthony the Great, a tradition that shaped all of Christian spirituality. The Catechetical School of Alexandria — the world's first Christian theological institution — produced saints and theologians whose writings remain foundational to Christian thought to this day.
Saint Mark the Evangelist arrived in Alexandria around 42 AD, healing a cobbler named Ananias whose hand had been pierced by an awl. This miraculous healing opened the door to the proclamation of the Gospel, and Ananias became one of the first Egyptian converts, later becoming a bishop of the Church. From this humble beginning, the Coptic Church grew to become one of the most influential Christian communities in all of history.
The Alexandrian Patriarchate became the center of Christian learning and theology, producing luminaries such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Pope Cyril I presided over the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, where the Church affirmed the title of Theotokos — God-Bearer — for the Virgin Mary, a title that remains central to all of Christian tradition. The Coptic Church's theological contributions shaped the councils, creeds, and confessions of the entire Christian world.
Today, the Coptic Orthodox Church is led by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, the 118th successor of Saint Mark on the Throne of Alexandria. With millions of faithful across Egypt, Africa, and the diaspora, the Coptic Church continues her ancient mission — proclaiming the Gospel of Christ with the same faith, the same prayers, and the same life that Saint Mark first brought to the shores of Alexandria nearly two thousand years ago.
The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints
What makes the Coptic Orthodox Church distinct is not merely her antiquity, but her fidelity. For nearly two thousand years — through Roman persecution, Islamic conquest, and centuries of pressure — the Coptic Church has maintained the original apostolic faith handed down by the Apostles, unchanged and uncompromised. We hold fast to the apostolic tradition, the Nicene Creed, and the seven sacraments, just as the Apostles delivered them. We did not inherit our faith through reformation or revival. We received it directly from the Apostles, and we have kept it.
This faithfulness is not only doctrinal. It is expressed in the daily rhythm of life — in fasting over 200 days a year as the Apostles fasted, in praying the Hours as the early Church prayed, in venerating the saints as fellow members of the one Body of Christ, in making the Sign of the Cross as Christians have done since the earliest centuries. To be Coptic Orthodox is to live the ancient faith not as a relic of the past, but as a living, breathing encounter with the risen Christ — the same yesterday, today, and forever.
His Holiness Pope Tawadros II
118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark
The Seven Sacraments
Sacraments of the Church
Tap each sacrament to learn more
The Creed
The Orthodox Creed
We believe in one God, God the Father, the Pantocrator, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not created; of one essence with the Father; by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and became man. And He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and on the third day He rose from the dead according to the Scriptures. Ascended into the heavens; He sits at the right hand of His Father, and He is coming again in His glory to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
Yes, we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son, is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
And in one holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic Church. We confess one baptism, for the remission of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.