History
The early Christian Church recognized the special significance of several cities as leaders of the worldwide "catholic" (universal) Church. The Church of Alexandria is one of these original patriarchates, but the succession to the role of Patriarch in Alexandria is still disputed after the separation which followed the Council of Chalcedon.
The later development of the Pentarchy also granted secular recognition to these religious leaders. Because of this split, the leadership of this church is not part of this system.
Members of the church recognize its head as a successor of Mark the Evangelist, considered the first Bishop of Alexandria, who founded the Church in the 1st century, and therefore marked the beginning of Christianity in Africa.
Read more about this topic: Pope Of The Coptic Orthodox Church Of Alexandria
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Free from public debt, at peace with all the world, and with no complicated interests to consult in our intercourse with foreign powers, the present may be hailed as the epoch in our history the most favorable for the settlement of those principles in our domestic policy which shall be best calculated to give stability to our Republic and secure the blessings of freedom to our citizens.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)