page_title: Religion in Egypt
section_title: Christianity
hierarchical_section_title: Religion in Egypt / Religions in Egypt / Recognized religions / Christianity
caption_attribution_description: Cathédrale copte d'Assouan vue du Nil (Egypte)
context_page_description: Religion in Egypt controls many aspects of social life and is endorsed by law. The state religion of Egypt is Islam. Although estimates vary greatly in the absence of official statistics. Since the 2006 census religion has been excluded, and thus available statistics are estimates made by religious and non-governmental agencies. The country is majority Sunni Muslim, with the next largest religious group being Coptic Christians. The exact numbers are subject to controversy, with Christians alleging that they have been systemically under-counted in existing censuses.
  Egypt hosts two major religious institutions. Al-Azhar Mosque, founded in AD 970 by the Fatimids as the first Islamic university in Egypt and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria established in the middle of the 1st century by Saint Mark.
  In Egypt, Muslims and Christians share a common history, national identity, ethnicity, race, culture, and language.
context_section_description: The Coptic Christian population in Egypt is the largest Christian community in the Middle East and North Africa standing at between 10% – 15% of Egypt's population according to different statistics. About 95% of Egypt's Christians are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. an Oriental Orthodox Church, Traditionally believed to be established in the 1st century A.D. by Saint Mark. The Church is headed by the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, attests to Egypt's strong Christian heritage. It has a followers of approximately 10 million Christians worldwide.
  Other native Egyptian Christians are adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church, the Coptic Evangelical Church and various Coptic Protestant denominations. Non-native Christian communities are largely found in the urban regions of Alexandria and Cairo, and are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Latin Catholic Church, the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria, the Maronite Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church.
  Significant minorities within Egypt's Christian community include the following denominations:
  Apostolic Catholic and Orthodox Churches:
  The Coptic Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 210,000 members in Egypt and roughly 50,000 adherents abroad. It is in union with the Pope in Rome. It is headed by the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, currently Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak.
  The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria (an Eastern Orthodox Church) has around 50,000 adherents in Egypt, out of whom approximately 5,000 are of Greek (Hellenic) descent. The Church has another 1.5 million adherents in Africa and between 10,000 and 15,000 ex-patriates in Europe, North and South America. The current Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is Pope Theodoros II.
  The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has about 7,000 members in Egypt. The eparchy of Egypt is looked after by a Protosyncellus, and has between 35,000 and 50,000 ex-patriates in Europe, North and South America, and Australia.
  The Armenian Apostolic Church (an Oriental Orthodox Church) has around 7,000 adherents in Egypt. Most of them follow the Holy See of Echmiadzin in Armenia, rather than the Holy See of Cilicia in Lebanon.
  The Latin Catholic Church has around 7,000 adherents in Egypt. Most are citizens born in Egypt but of foreign descent, like Italians, Maltese and French, or members of the foreign diplomatic corps in Egypt. There are very few native Christian Egyptians who adhere to the Latin Church, and those who do (several hundreds) do so mainly through marriage.
  The Maronite Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 5,000 adherents in Egypt.
  The Armenian Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 1,200 adherents in Egypt.
  The Chaldean Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has about 500 members in Egypt.
  The Syriac Catholic Church (an Eastern Catholic Church) has around 2,000 adherents in Egypt.
  The Syriac Orthodox Church (an Oriental Orthodox Church) has a very small population in Egypt, numbering between 450 and 500. Most are students of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, or foreign students studying in Egyptian universities.
  The Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria (a Province of the Anglican Communion) has between 10,000 and 15,000 members in Egypt.
  Protestant churches also exist in Egypt. The total number of Protestants in Egypt is around 200,000. they are:
  The Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) (a Protestant Church) has around 140,000 members in Egypt.
  The Assemblies of God Church, which has around 40,000 adherents in Egypt.
  The Free Methodist Church, which has 120 churches and has around 10,000 adherents in Egypt.
  The Christian Brethren Church, which has around 5,000 adherents in Egypt.
  The Pentecostal Church of God, which has Church around 3,500 adherents in Egypt.
  The Pentecostal Holiness Church, which has 1,400 a
caption: Archangel Michael's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Aswan. A noticeable large proportion of Egyptians in Upper Egypt are of Coptic Orthodox heritage.
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