Coptic Rite

In Brief

The Coptic rite is the liturgy of Egypt's Coptic Christians. It belongs to the Alexandrian tradition, one of the five Eastern traditions the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches names.¹ It is prayed in Coptic and, increasingly, in Arabic, with short parts in Greek, and on most days with the anaphora of St Basil, which scholars hold Syrian in origin, set in an order that is Egypt's own.² Four readings from the New Testament, absolutions before the readings and after the Lord's Prayer, and a confession of faith over the gifts before Communion mark it out.² Two Churches celebrate it, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the far smaller Coptic Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome.^3,4,5

Where to Experience It

Its home is Egypt. Every Coptic Catholic eparchy is there, seven in the count of 2017, and CNEWA notes that Coptic Catholics have always been most numerous in Upper Egypt.^3,18 The patriarch has since erected two more, Abu Qurqas in 2020 and Al Qusia in 2022.^6,19

Emigrants have carried the rite abroad. The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate lists 39 dioceses and other jurisdictions outside Egypt, from the Gulf and Sudan to the Americas and Australia.⁸ CNEWA counts eleven Coptic Catholic communities abroad, each with a priest.¹⁸

Find a parish

• Coptic Orthodox dioceses abroad (the Patriarchate's list)
• Coptic Catholic Church in Egypt (coptcatholic.net)

Your First Visit

What follows is for a Catholic of the Roman Rite at a first Coptic Liturgy. The rules for Communion and for the Sunday obligation differ between the two Churches, and each line says which it concerns.

The Shape of the Liturgy

The Liturgy moves from the preparation of the gifts through the readings to the anaphora and Communion, but its parts fall in their own places. The Lamb is chosen at the door of the sanctuary. The Creed comes before the kiss of peace, and both come before the anaphora. The fraction comes before the Lord's Prayer.^2,15,27 Aelred Cody counts as "specifically Egyptian" the four readings from the New Testament, "the absolutions before the prayer of incense preparing the readings and after the prayer of inclination following the Lord's Prayer", and the homologia, the confession of faith over Christ's body on the altar.²

The people have a large part. They answer the account of the institution clause by clause, and the texts are "all meant to be sung, excepting the Creed and the Dismissal".^9,15

The order below is the Liturgy of St Basil as Burmester's synopsis of 1949 sets it out.¹⁵ Its Coptic and Arabic are printed as they stand in the Euchologion of Hegumen ʿAbd al-Masīḥ Ṣalīb, first published in 1902. That book heads each of its three Liturgies Ϯⲁ̀ⲛⲁⲫⲟⲣⲁ, the Anaphora, which its Arabic renders quddās.¹⁷ The transliterations in the order come from an English service book of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands, which spells the words as they are sung.²⁸

The order of the Liturgy of St Basil

1. Choosing the Lamb
   Before the Liturgy the priest, fasting, vests and prepares the altar. From an odd number of loaves set before him, three, five, seven or more, he chooses the best, blesses it and the wine, and carries the Lamb once round the altar.^15,29
2. Prayer of Thanksgiving
   Ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛϣⲉⲡϩ̀ⲙⲟⲧ ⲛ̀ⲧⲟⲧϥ ⲙ̀ⲡⲓⲣⲉϥⲉⲣⲡⲉⲑⲛⲁⲛⲉϥ Maren shep-ehmot ent-f em piref er pethna-nef / صلاة الشكر
   With the Lamb on the paten and wine and water in the chalice, the priest gives thanks to "the beneficent and merciful God", who has "brought us to this hour". The same prayer opens the Offerings of Incense.^15,17,28
3. Prayer of the Offering
   Over the bread and the cup the priest asks God to bless, sanctify and purify them, signing them three times, and covers them with a veil.^15,29
4. The absolutions
   Ⲛⲉⲕⲉ̀ⲃⲓⲁⲓⲕ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉϥϣⲉⲙϣⲓ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲉ̀ϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲫⲁⲓ / تحليل الخدام
   The priest prays the Absolution of the Son, or of the Father at St Gregory's Liturgy, and then the Absolution of the Ministers, that "your servants, ministers of this day", clergy and people, be absolved. The Euchologion has it said secretly and notes that it is now said aloud. In 1948 Burmester found the first absolution left out in practice.^15,17,28
5. Incense and the first three readings
   The priest censes the altar and the church, and then "This is the censer of pure gold" is sung. An Epistle of St Paul, a Catholic Epistle and the Acts of the Apostles follow, each with its own prayer, and the incense goes round again before the Acts.^15,29
6. Synaxarium and Trisagion
   The lives of the day's saints are read from the Synaxarium. The choir sings the Trisagion in Greek, adding "Who wast born of a Virgin" to its first strophe, and in the next two the Passion and the Resurrection.^15,30
7. Gospel
   After its prayer and a procession round the altar, the deacon calls "Stand with the fear of God. Let us hear the Holy Gospel". In 1948 the priest read it in Coptic, and it was then read in Arabic.¹⁵
8. Prayer of the Veil and the three great prayers
   After the prayer that follows the Gospel comes the Prayer of the Veil, taken from the Syrian Liturgy of St James, and then the sermon, if there is one. Then the priest prays the three long prayers, for the peace of the Church, for the patriarch and bishops, and for the congregations.^2,15
9. Creed
   The deacon calls "In the wisdom of God let us attend", and the people recite the Creed in the plural while the priest washes his hands. The Coptic Orthodox text says that the Spirit "proceedeth from the Father".^15,28,29,30
10. Prayer of Reconciliation and the kiss of peace
    The priest prays to the "God, great and eternal, Who didst create man unto incorruption". The people greet one another, and then the choir sings the hymn of the kiss to the cymbals. In 1948 each touched a neighbour's hand and kissed his own; by 1991 "four hands enfold in a mutual greeting with two palms touching".^15,31
11. Anaphora: dialogue and Sanctus
    Ⲁ̀ⲛⲱ ⲩ̀ⲙⲱⲛ ⲧⲁⲥ ⲕⲁⲣⲇⲓⲁⲥ Aa-no emon tass Kartheyas
    The veil is lifted from the gifts, and the dialogue is sung in Greek, "Lift up your hearts". The deacon bids those seated to rise and to "look to the east", and all sing the Sanctus.^15,17,28
12. Institution narrative
    Ⲁϥⲭⲱ ⲇⲉ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲉ̀ϧⲣⲏⲓ ⲙ̀ⲡⲁⲓⲛⲓϣϯ ⲙ̀ⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ Afcothi nan ekhre empai neshte em-mestiryon
    "He instituted for us this great mystery of godliness." The people answer the account clause by clause, "We believe that this is so indeed. Amen", and at "He broke it" the priest breaks the Lamb slightly, without separating the parts.^15,17,28
13. Anamnesis and epiclesis
    The people proclaim the Lord's death. The priest calls on the Holy Spirit inaudibly, then aloud over the bread and the cup, bowing his head. A rubric of the Cairo Euchologion of 1932 follows, "Now indeed the Oblation has become the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ".¹⁵
14. Intercessions and commemorations
    Short prayers follow the epiclesis, for peace, the patriarch and bishops, the clergy, the place and the offerings, with a petition that changes with the Coptic season, for the river's waters, the seeds or the fruits. The saints are remembered, "especially the Saints of Egypt", and then the departed.^2,15
15. Fraction and Lord's Prayer
    The priest breaks the Lamb in eight set movements during one of several appointed Prayers of the Fraction; the Cairo Euchologion of 1932 has eighteen. The people then say the Lord's Prayer, which in Coptic asks for "our bread of tomorrow".^15,30
16. Absolution and elevation
    القدسات للقديسين
    After a prayer of inclination the priest prays the Absolution to the Father. He lifts the Despotikon, the centre of the Lamb, "The holy things to the holy", and all the people bow down to the ground. With it he signs the Blood and places it in the chalice.^15,17
17. The Confession
    Ⲡⲓⲥⲱⲙⲁ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓⲥ̀ⲛⲟϥ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ Ⲉⲙⲙⲁⲛⲟⲩⲏⲗ Ⲡⲉⲛⲛⲟⲩϯ Pi sooma nem pi esnof ente Emmanuel Pennoti / الاعتراف
    Over the gifts the priest confesses "The body and the blood of Emmanuel our God this is in truth", and at length that the Son made the flesh he took of the Theotokos "one with his godhead without confusion and without mixture and without alteration".^17,28,29
18. Communion
    The priest and clergy receive, then the people, the Body from the priest's hand and the Blood by spoon, each answering "Amen", while Psalm 150 is sung.^12,15
19. Dismissal and blessed bread
    After the thanksgiving the priest blesses the people, laying his hands on their heads, and dismisses them. Then, unvested, he gives out the eulogia, the blessed bread.¹⁵

The shape of its anaphoras

• Opening dialogue
• Preface / thanksgiving
• Pre-Sanctus
• Sanctus
• Post-Sanctus
• Institution narrative
• Anamnesis
• Offering
• Epiclesis (after anamnesis)
• Intercessions
• Commemorations / diptychs
• Doxology
• Epiclesis (before institution)

Each colour is one part of the eucharistic prayer, in the order the prayer says it. Compare every anaphora.

What makes it distinctive

• Four readings from the New Testament, from St Paul, the Catholic Epistles, the Acts and the Gospel, with the lives of the day's saints read before the Gospel.^2,15
• Absolutions before the readings and after the Lord's Prayer, which Cody counts among the Egyptian features of the order.²
• The people's part in the anaphora: to each clause of the institution they answer that they believe.¹⁵
• The fraction before the Lord's Prayer, as in the East and West Syrian rites.²
• The Confession of faith over the Body and Blood before Communion, the homologia.^2,29
• Cymbals and the triangle, played with set chants; in the Coptic Orthodox Church they are the only instruments.^9,23

History

Origins

Eusebius records the tradition that St Mark "was the first that was sent to Egypt" and founded the churches of Alexandria, and that Annianus succeeded him there.³² The Coptic books keep his name on their own anaphora, which they head as St Mark's, established by St Cyril.¹¹ An article by Fr Moses Samaan on the website of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles tells the tradition in full. St Mark first prayed the liturgy in Alexandria, St Cyril I wrote it down, and the other two Liturgies derive from it.¹² Aelred Cody, writing in the Coptic Encyclopedia, reads the evidence otherwise. In his account only the anaphora of St Cyril is Egyptian at root, the Coptic form of the Greek Liturgy of St Mark. St Basil's came from Syria and St Gregory's probably did, while the order that joins them is Egypt's.^2,10,11,27

The Greek did not last. Among the Copts the Greek text of St Basil "has not been used for centuries", and Coptic and Arabic are the only liturgical languages kept, with short Greek parts.² Among the Melkites, the Greeks of Alexandria who had accepted Chalcedon, the Greek Liturgy of St Mark was still in use about 1203, when Theodore Balsamon judged it contrary to the usage of Constantinople. In time the Melkites took up the Byzantine rite.^2,27

The Church of the Copts

The Church divided after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Paul VI and Shenouda III wrote in 1973 that since that year "theological differences, nourished and widened by non-theological factors, have sprung up".³³ Nearly two centuries later the Arabs took Egypt, in 642 by CNEWA's date.⁴ In Burmester's account Arabic then slowly displaced Coptic as the people's tongue. Bohairic became the Church's official language in the eleventh century, and the service books came to print Coptic and Arabic side by side.³⁰

On Sunday 3 May 1411 Patriarch Gabriel V laid his Ordo before the priests, deacons and notables at the church of Abu Sayfayn in Old Cairo, and they approved it. In Khalil Samir's account the Ordo gave the Liturgy "the definitive form that it currently retains", although Gabriel created or changed nothing in its body.³⁴

In 1736 Raphael Tuki printed a Coptic and Arabic Euchologion at Rome for the Catholic Copts.²⁹ The Coptic Orthodox text is the Euchologion of ʿAbd al-Masīḥ Ṣalīb, first printed in 1902. On 14 June 1997 the Holy Synod bound the clergy of Egypt to keep its text, save for amendments the Synod itself approves, and bound the churches abroad to Egypt's Coptic and Arabic.¹⁷

The Coptic Catholic Church

The Catholic Copts were first given a bishop of their own in 1741. Benedict XIV's brief Quemadmodum ingenti of 4 August gave Athanasius, the Coptic bishop of Jerusalem, jurisdiction over the Coptic-rite faithful who had entered communion with Rome, in Upper and Lower Egypt and elsewhere.³⁵ Athanasius, Petro Bilaniuk writes, "hardly used these faculties, and then returned to the Coptic church".³⁶ In 1824 Leo XII created a Catholic patriarchate and named the vicar apostolic Maximus Givaid to it. The act never took effect.^37,38

Leo XIII restored the patriarchate in 1895 with Christi Domini. The letter gave it two suffragan sees, at Minya and Luxor, and reserved to the Holy See the choice of the patriarch. It also held that only the Catholic hierarchy could lawfully represent the church St Mark founded.³⁹ In 1898 a synod met at Cairo under the apostolic delegate and gave the Catholic Copts their liturgical law, keeping Greek and Coptic as the liturgical languages and forbidding the clergy to use the vernacular at will.⁴⁰ In the consistory of 19 June 1899 Leo raised Cyril Makarios, who had convened it, to the patriarchate, and Cyril II became the first patriarch to take office.^40,41 He left office in 1908. Hyvernat says he resigned, and Bilaniuk that he was suspended.^38,42 Stephanos I Sidarouss became the first Coptic cardinal in 1965.⁴²

Toward unity

Paul VI and Shenouda III met in Rome in May 1973 and signed a Common Declaration on the faith in Christ.³³ The joint commission they set up prepared Principles for the search for unity in 1979, which John Paul II and Shenouda III approved and signed. In them the two Churches call themselves "two Apostolic Churches" which possess "the full sacramental life, particularly the Eucharist, even if Eucharistic communion has not yet been achieved".²⁰ John Paul II visited Shenouda III in Cairo on 24 February 2000.²⁰ In Cairo on 28 April 2017 Francis and Tawadros II declared that they "will seek sincerely not to repeat the baptism that has been administered in either of our Churches for any person who wishes to join the other".²⁰

Milestones

1. 451The Council of Chalcedon; since then, in the words of the 1973 Common Declaration, "theological differences, nourished and widened by non-theological factors, have sprung up"³³
2. 1411Gabriel V's Ordo is approved at the church of Abu Sayfayn in Old Cairo (3 May)³⁴
3. 1736Raphael Tuki's Coptic and Arabic Euchologion is printed at Rome, for the Catholic Copts²⁹
4. 1741Benedict XIV's brief Quemadmodum ingenti gives Athanasius, Coptic bishop of Jerusalem, jurisdiction over the Catholic Copts (4 August)³⁵
5. 1824Leo XII names Maximus Givaid Catholic patriarch; the act never takes effect (15 August)^37,38
6. 1895Leo XIII's Christi Domini restores the Catholic patriarchate for the Copts and reserves the choice of its patriarch (26 November)³⁹
7. 1899Cyril II Makarios, raised to the restored see, is the first patriarch to take office (19 June)⁴¹
8. 1973Paul VI and Shenouda III sign a Common Declaration on the faith in Christ (10 May)³³
9. 1997In its session of 14 June the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod binds the clergy of Egypt to the text of ʿAbd al-Masīḥ Ṣalīb's Euchologion, first printed in 1902¹⁷
10. 2015Twenty-one martyrs, twenty of them Egyptian Copts, are killed on the Libyan coast (15 February)²⁰
11. 2017Francis and Tawadros II agree at Cairo to seek not to repeat baptism (28 April)²⁰
12. 2023Francis announces that the twenty-one martyrs will enter the Roman Martyrology (11 May)⁴³

Texts & Books

The Euchologion sets all three Liturgies in one common order. Each has its own anaphora.^2,17 St Basil's is prayed on most days, and St Gregory's at the great feasts. St Cyril's is rarely prayed whole.^2,10,11,12 The Coptic Catholic synod of 1898 found the same custom among its priests and did not condemn it, but asked that St Mark's be prayed at least on the Evangelist's feast and on fast days.⁴⁰ Cody reports efforts to restore St Cyril's in full, but the music article of the Coptic Encyclopedia holds that most of its melodies are lost and it can no longer be sung entire.^9,11

Brightman's English of 1896 gives the common order with St Cyril's anaphora, not St Basil's, from a thirteenth-century manuscript at Oxford.²⁹ For St Basil, Burmester's synopsis of 1949 follows the Liturgy in English from the choice of the Lamb to the blessed bread.¹⁵

Theology & Spirit

St Basil's and St Cyril's anaphoras are addressed to the Father, St Gregory's to the Son, and Cody gives that as the reason it is prayed on Palm Sunday.^10,12

The rite asks the people, again and again, to say what they believe. At the institution they answer each clause, "We believe that this is so indeed. Amen."¹⁵ Before Communion the priest takes the Body and says, in Brightman's translation, "The body and the blood of Emmanuel our God this is in truth". He goes on to confess that the Son took flesh of "the holy theotokos" and "made it one with his godhead without confusion and without mixture and without alteration", and that "his godhead was not severed from his manhood for one moment nor for the twinkling of an eye".²⁹

The two Churches later signed similar words. In 1973 Paul VI and Shenouda III confessed a union of divinity and humanity "without mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation", and added that "His divinity did not separate from His humanity for an instant, not for the twinkling of an eye".³³ In 1988 the joint commission signed a brief formula at the monastery of St Bishoy, which the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod had approved in 1986 and which bishops delegated by the Coptic Catholic patriarch also signed. It says that Christ "made His Humanity one with His Divinity without mixture nor mingling, nor confusion", and it anathematizes "the Doctrines of both Nestorius and Eutyches".⁴⁵

After the epiclesis the Cairo Euchologion of 1932 prints a rubric, "Now indeed the Oblation has become the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ".¹⁵ On the Catholic side, the Council of Florence, in its decree for the Armenians, named the words of Christ, spoken by the priest in his person, as the form of the sacrament, and Pius X rejected as an error the opinion that among the Greeks those words take effect only once the epiclesis has been said.^46,47 The Catechism joins word and Spirit, teaching that "in the institution narrative, the power of the words and the action of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, make sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine Christ's body and blood".⁴⁸ The Byzantine entry sets the question out at length.

Sacred Arts

In the Coptic Orthodox Church the chant is "monodic, vocal, and sung a cappella solely by men, with the exception of some responses assigned to the whole congregation". Hand cymbals and the triangle, played by deacons or the cantor, join set pieces in many churches to keep the singing together.⁹ No other instrument is played.²³ St Gregory's music is "somewhat more ornate" than St Basil's.⁹

Family & Relations

The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches counts the Alexandrian among the five Eastern traditions, and the Coptic rite shares it with the Ge'ez rite of Ethiopia and Eritrea.¹ Brightman put the Greek liturgies of Alexandria, the Coptic and the Ethiopic together as the Egyptian rite.²⁹ St Basil's anaphora ties it to the Byzantine rite. The Egyptian Basil has a longer Byzantine counterpart, and Cody reports that scholars differ on which came first, many of them following Engberding in holding the Egyptian text closer to the original.²

Compare with

• Byzantine Rite: both pray an anaphora of St Basil, and Cody finds the Egyptian eucharistic prayer similar to the longer Byzantine one²
• Ge'ez Rite: the other rite of the Alexandrian tradition, which Brightman grouped with the Coptic as the Egyptian rite^1,29
• Roman Rite: the rite most visitors know; here the kiss of peace comes before the anaphora, after the Creed, and the fraction comes before the Lord's Prayer^2,15,27

The Rite Today

The Coptic Catholic Church had 187,320 faithful in 2017, in seven eparchies, by CNEWA's table from the Annuario Pontificio. The same series gives 152,584 for 1990.³ Since then the patriarch has erected Abu Qurqas from Minya, and Al Qusia from Assiut with thirteen parishes and 29,000 faithful.^6,19 Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak has been patriarch since 2013. Benedict XVI granted him ecclesiastical communion on 18 January that year.⁵

No census counts the Coptic Orthodox. In 2011 the Pew Research Center reported that the census of 1996 was the last to publish religion, with Christians of all Churches at 5.7 per cent, and, on the best census and survey data it could find, put them at "roughly 5%" of the population, about four million people. It added that media reports, "sometimes citing officials of the Coptic Orthodox Church", give 10 per cent or more.⁴⁹ CNEWA gives the Church 9 million members (2021), and the World Council of Churches, on an undated page, 12 million, 11 million of them in Egypt.^4,7 Pope Tawadros II has led it since 2012, when, CNEWA reports, a blindfolded child drew his name from among three candidates.⁴

Recent developments

• In May 2013 Tawadros II, visiting Rome, proposed that 10 May be kept every year as a Day of Friendship between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church.²⁰
• On 15 February 2015 twenty-one men, twenty Egyptian Copts and a man from Ghana, were killed for their faith on the Libyan coast. Tawadros II declared them saints on 21 February.²⁰
• On 11 May 2023 Francis announced that the twenty-one martyrs "will be included in the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches".⁴³
• On 7 March 2024 the Coptic Orthodox Holy Synod suspended its theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, to re-evaluate "the results achieved by the dialogue from its beginning twenty years ago" and to "establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed in the future". At the same session it rejected any blessing of same-sex relationships as "a blessing for sin".⁵⁰
• On 4 May 2026, writing to Tawadros II for the Day of Friendship, Leo XIV recalled that the dialogue had gone on since 2003 in the joint international commission of the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and hoped that the commission "may resume its work as soon as possible with all Churches of the Oriental Orthodox family".⁵¹
• On 22 May 2026 the Synod resumed the dialogue "following the assurances regarding the non-blessing of same-sex couples, which were expressed during the telephone conversation" between Tawadros II and Leo XIV on 15 May.⁵²

As of 18 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

Burmester's synopsis of the Liturgy of St Basil and Brightman's text of the common order are free to read, and the Dicastery's volume of 2023 gathers the documents of 1973, 1979 and 2017.^15,20,29 Translations from Coptic, Arabic and Latin are the Index's own.

On Domus Dei

• The Byzantine RiteThe reference entry for the Eastern rites, with the other Liturgy of St Basil
• The Eastern Liturgies: Byzantine, Maronite, Coptic, and BeyondOur essay on the Eastern rites
• The 24 Catholic ChurchesEvery Church sui iuris on one board

Official resources

• Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate
• The 1973 Common Declaration of Paul VI and Shenouda III
• Leo XIII, Christi Domini (Latin)

Recommended reading

• Hadji-Burmester, O. H. E., “Rites and Ceremonies of the Coptic Church, Part II: The Service of the Hallowing (Synopsis)”, Eastern Churches Quarterly 8, no. 1 (January-March 1949), 1949, pp. 1-39.The Liturgy of St Basil step by step, with its rubrics in English, free on archive.org Read online
• Brightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896.The Coptic common order in English with St Cyril's anaphora, and a short account of the printed books Read online
• Cody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Basil”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 121b-123b.The best short guide to where the Coptic anaphoras and their order come from Read online
• Hyvernat, Henri, “Egypt”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1909), 1909.The older Catholic account of the Catholic Copts from 1741 to 1908 (it uses the older terms) Read online
• Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, The Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church: 50th Anniversary of the Meeting between Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III (1973-2023), Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2023, Collana Ut unum sint 3; ISBN 978-88-266-0812-9.The Catholic and Coptic Orthodox documents of 1973, 1979 and 2017 in one official volume

Sources

1. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990, can. 28 §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · URL repointed 18 Sep 2026 to the Latin text on vatican.va (part 1; cann. 656–657 are in part 2, codex-can-eccl-orient-2), because the caedm.ca English extract (616A) carries cc. 27–38 only; cann. 28, 40 §1, 656, 657 read there in the Latin, 18 Sep 2026. English translation: cann. 27–28 read in the caedm.ca PDF; cann. 671, 697, 707, 710, 713 read in the IntraText English edition; can. 881 §1 in IntraText, 2026-09-14
2. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Basil”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 121b-123b, 121b–123b; 121b; 123b; 121b–122a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · the Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia text read in full (item 125): Basil is the 'anaphora normally used in the Coptic church'; like Gregory's, and unlike that of St Mark/St Cyril, it is 'not of Egyptian but of Syrian origin'; 'fundamentally Syrian in both composition and structure, with some Egyptian retouching'; the prayer of the veil 'taken from the Syrian Liturgy of Saint James'; scholars differ on its relation to the Byzantine Basil, Engberding holding the Egyptian text 'closer to the original', and 'the verbal similarities between the two have not been explained to everyone's satisfaction'; the common order is Egyptian, with 'specifically Egyptian' features: four readings from the New Testament, 'the absolutions before the prayer of incense preparing the readings and after the prayer of inclination following the Lord's Prayer', and the homologia; 'The fraction of the consecrated bread takes place before the Lord's Prayer'; the Greek text 'has not been used for centuries, with Coptic and, increasingly Arabic, being the only liturgical languages retained', with short Greek elements; at 123b, there is 'some reason to think' that a recension of the Greek text was also used in the Melchite church of Alexandria 'until its local usages gave way to the integral observance of the Byzantine rite'
3. ReferenceRoberson, Ronald G. (comp.), Catholic Near East Welfare Association, The Eastern Catholic Churches 2017 (from the Annuario Pontificio), 2017, Coptic Catholic Church; Coptic Catholic Church, total. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · PDF table read in a browser (automated requests are blocked), headed 'The Eastern Catholic Churches 2017. Source: Annuario Pontificio': the Coptic Catholic Church (Patriarchate), seven eparchies (Alexandria, Assiut, Guizeh, Ismayliah, Luqsor and Thebes, Minya, Sohag), total faithful 152,584 (1990), 197,878 (2000), 163,630 (2010), 174,902 (2016) and 187,320 (2017), with 7 bishops and 169 parishes. The same table: Ethiopian Catholic Church (Metropolitanate), four eparchies, total faithful 70,832 (2017); Eritrean Catholic Church (Metropolitanate), four eparchies, total faithful 167,722 (2017)
4. ReferenceRoberson, Ronald G.; Catholic Near East Welfare Association, The Coptic Orthodox Church, 2021, Membership. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read in a browser, 'Last Modified: 26 October 2021': 'Head: Pope Tawadros II (born 1952, selected 2012)', 'Residence: Cairo, Egypt', 'Membership: 9,000,000'; on 4 November 2012 a blindfolded child drew Bishop Tawadros's name from the three candidates; CNEWA dates the Arab conquest to 642
5. Magisterial / canonicalBenedict XVI, Letter granting ecclesiastical communion to Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, Patriarch of Alexandria for Copts (18 January 2013), 2013. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read on vatican.va: addressed to the 'Patriarch of Alexandria for Copts'; the Pope grants the 'ecclesiastical communion' requested
6. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, From the Oriental Churches: erection of the eparchy of Abu Qurqas, Egypt (7 January 2020), 2020. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read: Patriarch Ibrahim Sedrak, 'with the consent of the bishops of the Synod of the Patriarchal Church of Alexandria of the Copts, and after consulting the Apostolic See, has erected the eparchy of Abu Qurqas, with territory taken from the eparchy of Minya, in accordance with canon 85 CCEO'
7. ReferenceWorld Council of Churches, Coptic Orthodox Church (member church page). LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read (undated page): membership 'Egypt: 11,000,000', 'Outside Egypt: 1,000,000', 12,000,000 in all; a member since 1948
8. ReferenceCoptic Orthodox Patriarchate, “Dioceses abroad”, copticorthodox.church, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read 18 Sep 2026: 39 jurisdictions outside Egypt, 31 dioceses, 4 archdioceses and 4 groups of churches (the Gulf, Nairobi, East Asia, Cyprus), counted entry by entry
9. ReferenceMoftah, Ragheb; Robertson, Marian; Roy, Martha; Tóth, Margit, “Music, Coptic”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), revised online text, 1991, 1715a-1747b, 1715a–1747b. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: its remarks 'pertain only to the music of the Coptic Orthodox Church'; the music is 'monodic, vocal, and sung a cappella solely by men, with the exception of some responses assigned to the whole congregation', and 'hand cymbals and the triangle are employed with specified pieces'; the texts 'are all meant to be sung, excepting the Creed and the Dismissal'; the service 'may require some three hours of singing'; Basil 'is celebrated throughout the year except for the four MAJOR FEASTS of Nativity, Epiphany, Resurrection, and Pentecost', Gregory 'is used today in the celebration of the four major feasts', and of Cyril 'most of the melodies… have been lost, and it can no longer be performed in its entirety'; 'the Morning Offering of Incense is often incorporated into the liturgy itself'; the hymns 'Today… are sung in Greco-Coptic, Coptic, and Arabic'; Robertson: Copts abroad 'have begun to perform their liturgies in French, English, and German'
10. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Gregory”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 124a-125a, 124a–125a; 124a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read in full: the anaphora 'shows the structure of an Antiochene or Syrian anaphora' and 'is presumably of Syrian origin'; it is addressed to the Son; 'Traditionally, the Anaphora of Saint Gregory is used on major feasts such as Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter, and on PALM SUNDAY, because it is addressed to Christ'; in modern times some celebrants do not use it at all, and some use parts of it in Basil
11. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Anaphora of Saint Cyril”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 123b-124a, 123b–124a; 123b. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read in full: 'the most typically Egyptian of the three anaphoras retained in the euchologion of the Coptic church'; 'In modern times the Anaphora of Saint Cyril is rarely used', some use its prayers in Basil, and 'some efforts are made to restore its' integral use; traditionally 'especially apt for use in Lent and in the Coptic month of Kiyahk'
12. ReferenceSamaan, Moses (Fr); Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Liturgies of the Coptic Orthodox Church, 2012. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · an article posted on the diocese's website, read: 'The Liturgy according to St. Basil is the one used most of the year; St. Gregory's Liturgy is used during the feasts and on certain occasions; only parts of St. Cyril's Liturgy are used nowadays'; 'the Liturgy was first used (orally) in Alexandria by St. Mark and that it was recorded in writing by St. Cyril I', and from it 'the other two liturgies… are derived'; the Basilian liturgy 'drew heavily on the Liturgy of St. Mark the Evangelist'; St Gregory's 'is addressed to the Son'; 'Vespers and Matins prayers always preceede the service'
13. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Calendar, Coptic”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 433a-436a, 433a–436a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: the Era of Diocletian, counted from his election as emperor in November 284, 'is usually called the ERA OF THE MARTYRS'; the Alexandrian year begins on the Julian 29 August, and on the Julian 30 August in a year A.M. divisible by 4; the conversion table and rules
14. ReferenceBasilios, Archbishop, “Nawruz”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 1784a-1784b, 1784a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: the Coptic New Year 'falls on 1 Tut (11 September), which is the first month of the Coptic year'
15. ScholarshipHadji-Burmester, O. H. E., “Rites and Ceremonies of the Coptic Church, Part II: The Service of the Hallowing (Synopsis)”, Eastern Churches Quarterly 8, no. 1 (January-March 1949), 1949, pp. 1-39, pp. 24–25, 31–32; pp. 7, 32; pp. 29, 33–37; p. 30; pp. 5, 10–13, 18–19, 27–28; pp. 5, 16, 23–26; pp. 18–19; pp. 1–37; pp. 4–6 and p. 5 n. 8; p. 7 and n. 4; p. 8; p. 9; pp. 9–12; p. 12; pp. 12–13; pp. 14–16; p. 16; p. 16 and n. 4; pp. 16–18; pp. 20–21 and p. 20 n. 2; pp. 21–23; pp. 23–26 and p. 24 n. 1; pp. 26–27; pp. 28–29, 33–37; pp. 29–30; pp. 10–13; pp. 4–30; p. 1; p. 20 n. 2; pp. 16–26. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · archive.org full text read, pp. 1-39 (the synopsis runs to p. 37; pp. 37-39 are bibliography), signed 'Alexandria. Feast of St. Stylianos, 26th November 1948'; p. 14 checked on the page image. A synopsis of the Liturgy of St Basil with its Arabic rubrics translated. p. 1: 'The Liturgy of Saint Basil is that in general use in the Coptic Church throughout the year', Gregory 'reserved for the Feasts of Christmas, the Epiphany and Easter, when the Liturgy is celebrated at night'; p. 2: Cyril 'now very rarely used', 'sometimes used in Lent'; p. 4: the priest 'careful not to taste anything at all before the Liturgy'; p. 5 and n. 8: 'three or five or seven or more loaves', 'always presented in uneven numbers'; p. 6: the procession of the Lamb; p. 7: the water 'not less than a quarter or not more than a third', and the Prayer of Thanksgiving, n. 4 also said at the Offering of Incense; p. 8: the Prayer of the Prothesis with three signs, 'bless them… sanctify them… purify them'; p. 9: 'In actual practice this Prayer of Absolution is omitted and in its place shall be read May Thy servants ministering this day'; pp. 9-13: the incense and the four readings, one verse 'in Coptic' then the reading 'in Arabic'; p. 12: the Synaxarium 'generally by the priest'; p. 13: 'Stand with the fear of God. Let us hear the Holy Gospel'; p. 14: the prayer of the veil; p. 16: 'In the wisdom of God let us attend', 'the people recite the Creed'; the kiss, n. 4, 'to touch the hand of one's neighbour and then kiss one's own hand'; 'the choir sings, to the accompaniment of cymbals, the Aspasmos Hymn'; p. 17: 'Look to the east'; pp. 18-19: the people answer the institution 'We believe that this is so indeed. Amen', and the priest 'breaks the Oblation into two thirds and into one third, slightly and without separating'; p. 20 n. 2: a rubric of the Cairo Euchologion of 1932, 'Now indeed the Oblation has become the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ'; pp. 21-22: the seasonal petitions for the waters of the river, the seeds and the fruits, by Coptic month; p. 22: the commemoration of 'the principal Saints, and especially the Saints of Egypt'; p. 24 n. 1: the 1932 Euchologion 'contains eighteen Prayers of the Fraction'; pp. 24-27: the fraction, the Lord's Prayer, the absolution and the elevation; pp. 27-28: the Confession, 'The Body and the Blood of Emmanuel Our God, this is it in truth'; p. 29: Communion with 'The Body of Emmanuel Our God, this is It in truth. Amen'; p. 30: the dismissal and the eulogia; pp. 31-32: the loaf, leavened, made by a man, with five holes that 'represent the five nails', not fit 'after the expiration of three hours from the time of baking', and wine 'from dried raisins'; pp. 33-37: Communion, the Blood given 'with the spoon'
16. ScholarshipMalaty, Tadros Y. (Fr), “The Church, House of God, ch. 7: The Sanctuary and the Altar”, Coptic Treasures (web text). LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read: 'Till this present day, we can only step into the Sanctuary bare-footed'
17. Primary textʿAbd al-Masīḥ Ṣalīb al-Baramūsī al-Masʿūdī (comp.), al-Khulājī al-muqaddas (Ⲡⲓϫⲱⲙ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲓⲉⲩⲭⲟⲗⲟⲅⲓⲟⲛ ⲉ̀ⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ): the book of the three liturgies with other holy prayers, Coptic and Arabic, [Wadi al-Natrun]: Dayr al-Sayyida al-ʿAdhrāʾ Baramūs, 2015, 5th ed. (1st ed. 1902); ISBN 978-977-6408-51-7, imprint and inside front cover; p. 450; imprint and p. 205 (unnumbered); p. 232; pp. 248, 253 and n. 59; p. 346; p. 363; pp. 447, 450; p. 452; inside front cover; title page.Verified 2026-09-18 · read on the page images of the fifth edition (August 2015); Coptic re-keyed from the images, Arabic read on them. Imprint page: first edition 1902, fifth August 2015. Inside front cover: the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, in its session of 14 June 1997, accepted the recommendation that all clergy in Egypt keep in their liturgical prayers the text of the Great Euchologion in the edition of Hegumen ʿAbd al-Masīḥ al-Masʿūdī (Coptic-Arabic), save for amendments the Synod approves; abroad the clergy follow the mother Church's direction on translations, and keep Egypt's text for the Arabic and the Coptic. Title page of the Liturgy of St Basil (p. [205]): 'Ϯⲁ̀ⲛⲁⲫⲟⲣⲁ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲓⲁ̀ⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲙⲉⲅⲁⲗⲟⲩ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲉ̀ⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ Ⲕⲉⲥⲁⲣⲓⲁ̀', in Arabic 'قداس القديس باسيليوس الكبير أسقف قيسارية'. p. 232, the Prayer of Thanksgiving (running head 'صلاة الشكر'): 'Ⲙⲁⲣⲉⲛϣⲉⲡϩ̀ⲙⲟⲧ ⲛ̀ⲧⲟⲧϥ ⲙ̀ⲡⲓⲣⲉϥⲉⲣⲡⲉⲑⲛⲁⲛⲉϥ ⲟⲩⲟϩ ⲛ̀ⲛⲁⲏⲧ'. p. 248: at the Liturgy of Gregory the priest says the Absolution of the Father secretly in place of the Absolution of the Son. p. 253 (running head 'تحليل الخدام'): after either absolution he says the Absolution of the Ministers secretly, 'Ⲛⲉⲕⲉ̀ⲃⲓⲁⲓⲕ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉϥϣⲉⲙϣⲓ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ⲡⲁⲓⲉ̀ϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲫⲁⲓ', with the publisher's n. 59, 'it is now said aloud'. p. [345], heading of the anaphora, 'قداس القديس باسيليوس للآب'. p. 346, the dialogue in Greek: 'Ⲟ̀ Ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲟⲥ ⲙⲉⲧⲁ ⲡⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛ ⲩ̀ⲙⲱⲛ', 'Ⲁ̀ⲛⲱ ⲩ̀ⲙⲱⲛ ⲧⲁⲥ ⲕⲁⲣⲇⲓⲁⲥ'. p. 363: 'Ⲁϥⲭⲱ ⲇⲉ ⲛⲁⲛ ⲉ̀ϧⲣⲏⲓ ⲙ̀ⲡⲁⲓⲛⲓϣϯ ⲙ̀ⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲙⲉⲧⲉⲩⲥⲉⲃⲏⲥ'. p. 447 (running head 'تحليل الآب'): the Absolution to the Father. p. 450: 'القدسات للقديسين', the Holy Things to the holy, with the people bowing to the ground. p. 452 (running head 'الاعتراف'): the Confession, in Greek, then in Coptic 'Ⲡⲓⲥⲱⲙⲁ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓⲥ̀ⲛⲟϥ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ Ⲉⲙⲙⲁⲛⲟⲩⲏⲗ Ⲡⲉⲛⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲫⲁⲓ ⲡⲉ ϧⲉⲛ ⲟⲩⲙⲉⲑⲙⲏⲓ: ⲁ̀ⲙⲏⲛ'. The printed spelling differs in places from Coptic texts on the web (for example ⲡⲉⲑⲛⲁⲛⲉϥ, ⲉ̀ϧⲣⲏⲓ), so only the printed page is quoted. Cover: 'ʿAbd al-Masīḥ Ṣalīb al-Baramūsī al-Masʿūdī' (author order as on the cover); imprint: publisher Dayr al-Sayyida al-ʿAdhrāʾ Baramūs, printer Delta Press, Alexandria, no place of publication (the place is supplied); cover and imprint read again on the page images, 18 Sep 2026
18. ReferenceRoberson, Ronald G.; Catholic Near East Welfare Association, The Coptic Catholic Church, 2021. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read in the Wayback Machine capture of 4 November 2025 (the live site refuses automated requests); page 'Last Modified: 26 October 2021': 'the largest concentration of Coptic Catholics has always been in upper Egypt'; eleven communities abroad, each served by a priest; head Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, 'Residence: Cairo, Egypt'. Its membership line gives no year and is not used
19. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, Erezione dell'Eparchia di Al Qusia (Egitto), bulletin n. 01445 (23 September 2022), 2022.Verified 2026-09-18 · read: Patriarch Ibrahim Sedrak, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops and after consulting the Apostolic See, 'ha eretto a norma del can. 85 CCEO l'Eparchia di Al Qusia, con territorio dismembrato dall'Eparchia di Assiut', with '13 parrocchie, con 29.000 fedeli'
20. Magisterial / canonicalDicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, The Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church: 50th Anniversary of the Meeting between Pope Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III (1973-2023), Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2023, Collana Ut unum sint 3; ISBN 978-88-266-0812-9, Principles of 1979, n. 2; pp. 5–6 and Principles of 1979, n. 2; p. 8; Common Declaration of 28 April 2017; headnote to the message of 15 February 2021.Verified 2026-09-18 · PDF read: pp. 5-6, the joint commission 'prepared, on 23 June 1979, two complementary documents'; p. 8, John Paul II visited Shenouda III in Cairo on 24 February 2000, and in Rome in May 2013 Tawadros II 'suggested to celebrate every 10th May a Day of Friendship between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church'; the Principles and a Protocol were 'submitted to Pope John Paul II and Pope Shenouda III, who approved and signed both of them'; the Principles (1979), n. 2: 'We are two Apostolic Churches in which, by virtue of the Apostolic succession we possess the full sacramental life, particularly the Eucharist, even if Eucharistic communion has not yet been achieved'; the Common Declaration of Cairo, 28 April 2017: they 'will seek sincerely not to repeat the baptism that has been administered in either of our Churches for any person who wishes to join the other'; the headnote to the message of 15 February 2021: on 15 February 2015, 21 young men, '20 Egyptian Copts and a man from Ghana', were martyred on the Libyan coast; Tawadros II declared them saints on 21 February 2015
21. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 916, 919 §1, 923; can. 1248 §1; can. 844 §2; can. 919 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
22. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 1993, §115; §§122, 124. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§122–125 read verbatim on christianunity.va; §115 read 2026-09-14
23. ReferenceSamaan, Moses (Fr); Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Visiting an Orthodox Church, 2012. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · an article posted on the diocese's website, read in full: 'Are non-Orthodox visitors welcome? Yes, absolutely'; books of the Liturgy 'in English, Coptic, and Arabic'; the Divine Liturgy 'approximately 3 hours in length'; 'dress appropriately, modestly and respectfully'; 'In many churches in Egypt, there are typically no pews'; 'it is appropriate to stand during the Gospel reading, the Anaphora through the Institution Narrative, the distribution of the Holy Mystery, when the priest gives a blessing, and at the Dismissal'; 'Orthodox priests may only serve the Holy Eucharist to baptized members in good standing of the canonical Orthodox Church, who have recently confessed, and fasted before partaking of the Holy Eucharist'; visitors are asked to 'join us in receiving the Eulogia (blessed bread), at the end of the Divine Liturgy'; cymbals and triangle 'used simply to keep musical time'
24. ReferenceAtiya, Aziz S., “Eucharistic Fast”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 1063a, 1063a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: 'The Copts rigorously observe complete abstinence from food or drink from the previous evening until Holy Communion'
25. ReferenceGergis, Estefanos Daniel (Fr), “Dalāl al-aʿyād wa-l-aṣwām (the feasts and fasts of the year 1731 A.M. by the Coptic Catholic rite)”, coptcatholic.net (Coptic Catholic; ed. Fr Yoannis Lahzi Gaid), 2014. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · a signed article by a parish priest, read in Arabic: the liturgical year begins on Thursday 1 Tut 1731, 11 September 2014; the table gives Easter ('عيد القيامة المجيد') on 4 Baramouda, Sunday 12 April 2015, and the Nativity on 29 Kiahk, 7 January 2015. The table's weekday labels slip in February 2015, so no February date is taken from it
26. ReferenceYoum7, The patriarch of the Coptic Catholics presides at the Palm Sunday liturgy in Alexandria (5 April 2026), 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read in Arabic: the Coptic Catholic patriarch presided 'صباح اليوم الأحد 5 أبريل 2026' (this Sunday morning, 5 April 2026) over the prayers of the Palm Sunday liturgy in Alexandria
27. ReferenceCody, Aelred, “Mark, Liturgy of Saint”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 1539a-1540b, 1539a–1540b; 1539a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: a Greek liturgy once used in the Church of Alexandria, a recension of whose anaphora is the Coptic Anaphora of St Cyril; in the Byzantinized Greek text 'the creed follows the KISS OF PEACE instead of preceding it in Egyptian fashion'; 'The first clear allusion to its use is also the last': about 1203 Theodore Balsamon, answering Mark, Melkite patriarch of Alexandria, declared the use of the Liturgies of Mark and James contrary to the canonical traditions of Constantinople (the Melkites' move to the Byzantine rite is in CodyBasilCE, 123b)
28. Primary textCoptic Orthodox Patriarchate, Diocese of the Midlands (St Mary and St Mark Coptic Centre), The Holy Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, 2007, pp. 4, 57, 59, 73; p. 4; p. 47; p. 55; p. 57; p. 59; p. 73. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · PDF read (131 pp.): a diocesan service book in English, with the Coptic and Greek parts of the priest, deacon and people in Latin transliteration as sung. p. 4: 'Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God', 'Maren shep-ehmot ent-f em piref er pethna-nef ow-oh en naeet'; p. 47: 'May your servants, ministers of this day'; p. 52: the Trisagion, 'Agios o-theos, Agios isshiros, Agios athanatos'; p. 57: 'Lift up your hearts', 'Aa-no emon tass Kartheyas'; p. 59: 'He has instituted for us this great Sacrament unto godliness', 'Afcothi nan ekhre empai neshte em-mestiryon ente temet evespes'; p. 73: 'The Body and the Blood of Emmanuel our God, this is in very truth, Amen', 'Pi sooma nem pi esnof ente Emmanuel Pennoti fay pe khen omethmi, Amen'
29. Primary textBrightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896, pp. 144–146; p. 148; pp. 150–155; p. 162; p. 185; 144–188; p. lxvii; pp. 144–188; p. lxx; p. lxiii. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. lxxxiii, lxxxv, lxxxviii–lxxxix checked; order locators spot-checked 13 Sep 2026 (pp. 362, 377–378, 393, 394; glossary s.v. Zeon, Cancelli, Ektene). Checked 19 Sep 2026 for the Ge'ez entry: Preface p. xiii, the Ethiopic translations are the Rev. C. J. Ball's ('the Rev. C. J. Ball for the Ethiopic (including the collation of the British Museum manuscripts)'); p. lxiii, the Egyptian rite; pp. lxxii-lxxiii, the Rome printing of 1548 ('Testamentum novum.. Missale') and the Lord's anaphora there; pp. 194-244, the Ethiopic Liturgy of the Apostles from BM Or. 545 (1670-75); p. 232, 'THIS bread… IS MY BODY' (a rubric between) and 'DRINK… THIS CUP'
30. ScholarshipHadji-Burmester, O. H. E., “Rites and Ceremonies of the Coptic Church [Part I]”, Eastern Churches Quarterly 7, no. 6 (April-June 1948), 1948, pp. 373-403, pp. 395 n. 1, 397–398; p. 399; p. 396; p. 377; p. 395 n. 1. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · archive.org full text read, pp. 373-403, signed 'Castle of Babylon… 4th May 1946'. p. 377: the liturgical books 'are practically all bilingual', Coptic and Arabic; p. 387: 'Triangle and Cymbals are used solely as part of the musical accompaniment of certain chants'; p. 395 n. 1: the Synaxarium, 'written in Arabic, may be compared to the Latin Martyrology'; p. 396: the Coptic Lord's Prayer asks 'our bread of tomorrow give it to us today'; pp. 397-398: the Trisagion, 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Who wast born of a Virgin', with the Christological clauses; p. 399: in the Creed 'the 1st person plural is used wherever the Greek text has the 1st person singular'
31. ReferenceBasilios, Archbishop, “Kiss of Peace”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 1416a-1416b, 1416a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: 'four hands enfold in a mutual greeting with two palms touching, as is practiced now'
32. Primary textEusebius of Caesarea, Church History, book II (tr. A. C. McGiffert, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, vol. 1), 1890, II.16.1, II.24. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read on newadvent: II.16.1, 'they say that this Mark was the first that was sent to Egypt, and that he proclaimed the Gospel which he had written, and first established churches in Alexandria'; II.24, Annianus the first bishop of Alexandria after Mark
33. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI and Shenouda III, “Common Declaration (10 May 1973)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 65 (1973), 1973, pp. 299-301, p. 300; pp. 299–301. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read in AAS 65 (the Latin heading 'Declaratio communis', p. 299) and in English on vatican.va and in the 2023 Dicastery volume: Christ's divinity is united with his humanity 'in a real, perfect union without mingling, without commixtion, without confusion, without alteration, without division, without separation'; 'since the year 451 A.D., theological differences, nourished and widened by non-theological factors, have sprung up'
34. ReferenceSamir, Khalil, “Gabriel V”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 1130a-1133a, 1130a–1133a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: Gabriel V (patriarch 1409-1427) left one written work, the Ordo (Kitab al-tartib), 'giving it the definitive form that it currently retains', 'Without creating or modifying anything in the body of the liturgy'; 'On Sunday, 3 May 1411, at the Church of ABU SAYFAYN in Old Cairo', the assembly approved it unanimously
35. Magisterial / canonicalBenedict XIV, “Quemadmodum ingenti (brief to Athanasius, Coptic bishop of Jerusalem, 4 August 1741)”, Bullarium of Benedict XIV, tom. I (Rome: Propaganda Fide, 1746), Const. XXV, 1741, pp. 62-63, pp. 62–63. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · page images read, pp. 62-63: heading 'Jurisdictio in Aegyptios aliosque Ritus Cophtici ad Ecclesiam Catholicam conversos… tribuitur Episcopo Hierosolymitano ejusdem Ritus'; §2 makes Athanasius 'Praesulem' over the Coptic-rite faithful 'tam in superiori inferiorique Aegypto, quam alibi', 'ad nostrum, et Sedis Apostolicae beneplacitum'; §3 gives him jurisdiction with faculties; dated 'sub Annulo Piscatoris die IV. Augusti MDCCXLI'. The words 'vicarius apostolicus' do not occur
36. ReferenceBilaniuk, Petro B. T., “Coptic Relations with Rome”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 609a-611b, 609a–611b. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: on 4 August 1741 Benedict XIV 'granted Athanasius jurisdiction over all the Catholic Copts (about 2,300). Athanasius hardly used these faculties, and then returned to the Coptic church'
37. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XII, “Petrus apostolorum princeps: Reintegratio patriarchatus Coptorum Alexandriae in Aegypto (15 August 1824)”, Bullarii Romani continuatio, tom. VIII (Leo XII) (Prato: Typographia Aldina), Const. LII, 1824, pp. 91-94, pp. 91–94; pp. 93–94. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · page images read: p. 91, the heading; p. 93, §7, 'eligimus et creamus patriarcham catholicum Coptorum memoratum Maximum Givaid', the vicar apostolic named titular bishop of Uthina but not yet consecrated; p. 94, dated 'decimo octavo kalendas septembris', the first year of the pontificate (15 August 1824)
38. ReferenceHyvernat, Henri, “Egypt”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 5 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1909), 1909. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · section 'Catholic Copts' read on newadvent: the Catholic Copts date 'from 1741, when Benedict XIV… granted to Amba Athanasius, Coptic Bishop of Jerusalem, jurisdiction'; Leo XII's decree of 1824 'never went into effect'; Cyril II 'resigned in 1908'. The article uses older names for the two Churches, which this Index does not use
39. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XIII, “Christi Domini (apostolic letter, 26 November 1895)”, Acta Sanctae Sedis 28 (1895-96) 257-260, 1895. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Latin text read on vatican.va: 'Patriarchatum Alexandrinum catholicum restituimus et pro Coptis constituimus'; two suffragan sees, 'in urbe Hermopoli maiore, vulgo Minieh' and at 'Luksor'; 'Designationis primae tum Patriarchae tum suffraganeorum Episcoporum Apostolicae huic Sedi ius reservamus', the administration meanwhile left with Cyril, vicar apostolic; the Catholic hierarchy 'sola potest ecclesiam a Marco conditam legitime referre'; dated 'sexto Calendas Decembres' 1895
40. Magisterial / canonicalSynodus Alexandrina Coptorum, Synodus Alexandrina Coptorum habita Cairi in Aegypto anno MDCCCXCVIII, Rome: Typographia Polyglotta S. C. de Propaganda Fide, 1899, pp. iii, xvii–xx, 51–52; p. iii; pp. 105–106; p. 52; p. 105; p. 106; p. 51; pp. xxxi, 51, 104; pp. xvii–xx, 51, 104; pp. 51, 104.Verified 2026-09-18 · HathiTrust full view, text pages read: p. iii, opened on 18 January 1898 (11 Tubah 1614); pp. xvii-xx, presided by the apostolic delegate Gaudenzio Bonfigli; p. xxxi, the profession of faith read by the Fathers, 'qui ex Patre Filioque procedit'; p. 51, Art. I nn. 7-8, what was brought in 'a monophysitis' is excluded, 'sed retinendus est ritus Alexandrinus in ea puritate in qua a Sanctis Patribus conditus est'; pp. 51-53, Art. II, Greek and Coptic both kept, and the clergy not free to use 'lingua vulgari ad lubitum'; the books named, 'Euchologium seu Missale, continens tres ecclesiae Alexandrinae anaphoras', with the Katameros and the Synaxarium; p. 104, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, 'Sanctus et laudabilis est ritus qui in Ecclesia Romana ortum habuit'; pp. 105-106, the three anaphoras alone retained, priests 'in missis quotidianis et festis minoribus liturgiam S. Basilii, atque in festis solemnioribus Domini Liturgiam S. Gregorii celebrare; quod quidem minime condemnamus', and the wish that St Mark's be celebrated at least on the Evangelist's feast and on fast days. The acts use an older name for the non-Chalcedonian Copts, which this Index does not use
41. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XIII, “Allocution in the secret consistory of 19 June 1899, and the provision of the Coptic patriarchate”, Acta Sanctae Sedis 31 (1898-99), 1899, pp. 705-708, pp. 705–707. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · PDF read: p. 705, 'De consistorio habito die 19 Iunii 1899'; p. 706, Christi Domini had reserved the first appointment to the Holy See; p. 707, 'venerabilem fratrem Cyrillum Macaire ab episcopatu titulari Ecclesiae Caesariensis Paneadis ad Patriarchatum Alexandrinum Coptorum… cum usu sacri Pallii, evehimus et promovemus'; p. 708, the list dating Christi Domini 'VI. Kal. Decembris 1895'
42. ReferenceBilaniuk, Petro B. T., “Coptic Catholic Church”, The Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz S. Atiya (New York: Macmillan, 1991), 1991, 601a-602b, 601b; 602a. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · Claremont text read: Benedict XIV 'had granted faculties to Bishop Athanasius on 4 August 1741'; the patriarchate of 1824 'remained on paper only'; of the synod of 1898, 'It was a Latinizing event': it introduced Latin feasts and the Filioque into the creed; 'in 1908 the patriarch was suspended'; in 1965 Stephanos I Sidarouss 'was created the first Coptic cardinal'. It dates Christi Domini 27 November 1895, where the letter's own dating gives 26 November
43. Magisterial / canonicalFrancis, Address to His Holiness Tawadros II (11 May 2023), 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read on vatican.va: 'I am pleased to announce today that, with Your Holiness' consent, these 21 martyrs will be included in the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches'
44. ReferenceFortescue, Adrian, “The Alexandrine Liturgy”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (New York: Robert Appleton, 1907), 1907. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read on newadvent: 'The Vatican Library contains a manuscript of the Anaphoras of St. Basil, St. Gregory, and St. Cyril of the year 1288 (Vat. Copt. XVII)'; Tuki's Missal dated 1736
45. Primary textMixed Commission for the Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, Common formula on Christology (Monastery of St Bishoy, 12 February 1988), 1988. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · PDF read (a copy published by the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne): the report, the formula and the signatures. The formula had been 'approved by the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 21st June, 1986'; Christ 'made His Humanity one with His Divinity without mixture nor mingling, nor confusion'; 'we Anathematize the Doctrines of both Nestorius and Eutyches'; bishops delegated by Stephanos II Ghattas, 'Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church', were 'delegated to sign', and he signs. URL found by web search on 18 Sep 2026; the host did not answer a download that day, so the copy read was not compared with it
46. Magisterial / canonicalCouncil of Florence, “Decrees (Laetentur caeli, 1439; Exsultate Deo, 1439)”, Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman Tanner, 1990, DS 1321. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · Exsultate Deo (DS 1321) and Laetentur caeli (DS 1303) read in Tanner's translation; DS numbers and Latin checked in Denzinger
47. Magisterial / canonicalPius X, “Ex quo nono (letter to the Apostolic Delegates in the East, 26 December 1910)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 3, 1911, 117–121, p. 119 (DS 3556). LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · Latin text read in the AAS scan at p. 119 (= DS 3556); no official English exists
48. Magisterial / canonicalCatholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed., Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997, §1353; §§246–248. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§460, 1105–1106, 1353, 1375, 1377 read on vatican.va; §1125 read on vatican.va; §1203 (ENG0015 __P3C) and §1367 (__P41) read on vatican.va 2026-09-15
49. ReferenceHackett, Conrad; Pew Research Center, How many Christians are there in Egypt?, 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · read: the census share of Christians shrank, 'ending at 5.7% in 1996'; religion data from the 2006 census were not released; 'Christians now number roughly 5% of the Egyptian population, or about 4 million people'; 'Media reports, sometimes citing officials of the Coptic Orthodox Church, frequently say that Christians make up 10% or more'; undercounting 'is possible'
50. Primary textHoly Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Holy Synod Session, March 2024: Decrees & Recommendations (7 March 2024), 2024, decree 6, recommendation 3. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · the English page read in full on copticorthodox.church: the General Meeting of 7 March 2024 at St Bishoy's Monastery; decree 6: 'After consulting with the sister churches of the Eastern Orthodox family, it was decided to suspend the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church, reevaluate the results achieved by the dialogue from its beginning twenty years ago, and establish new standards and mechanisms for the dialogue to proceed in the future'; recommendation 3: the Church rejects 'all forms of homosexual relationships' and 'considers any blessing of such relations, whatever its type, to be a blessing for sin, and this is unacceptable'. The page does not name Fiducia supplicans
51. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XIV, Letter to His Holiness Tawadros II for the Day of Coptic-Catholic Friendship (4 May 2026), 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · the English text read in full on vatican.va: the dialogue 'initiated over fifty years ago by Saint Paul VI and His Holiness Pope Shenouda III', 'which was initially bilateral, has been taking place since 2003 within the framework of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches'; 'It is my hope that this Commission, whose Coordinating committee is currently meeting in Rome, may resume its work as soon as possible with all Churches of the Oriental Orthodox family'; the Day of Friendship 'whose idea originated with Your Holiness'
52. Primary textHoly Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Statement of the Holy Synod Meeting (22 May 2026), 2026, fifth decision. LinkVerified 2026-09-18 · the English page read in full on copticorthodox.church: the regular annual session of Friday 22 May 2026, 119 members present; 'Fifthly: The members of the Holy Synod decided to resume theological dialogue with the Catholic Church following the assurances regarding the non-blessing of same-sex couples, which were expressed during the telephone conversation between His Holiness Pope Tawadros II and His Holiness Pope Leo XIV on Friday, May 15 of this year.' The statement does not say which of the two gave the assurances
53. Magisterial / canonicalLeo XIII, Orientalium Dignitas, 1894, first provision. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · English translation read (introduction and first provision); Latin text not seen
54. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Eastern Churches, Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1996, §39. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · full text read; §§12, 39, 51, 59, 67, 104, 107, 108 checked