It is the ancient church of Egypt, claiming foundation by Saint Mark and headed by the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark in Cairo.
The Coptic Orthodox Church is a non-Chalcedonian Oriental Orthodox church that separated from the Chalcedonian churches after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Its liturgical life uses Coptic and Arabic, and it serves Egypt and a large worldwide diaspora.
Sources
Primary
- The Anaphora of Saint Basil, the principal liturgy of the Coptic Orthodox Church
Secondary
- Otto Meinardus, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity (1999)