Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Christianity entered Egypt in the middle of the first century A.D. When Saint Mark entered Alexandria in 65 A.D., the first Coptic Church was established in Egypt.

At the end of the third century A.D., the Roman emperor Diocletian suppressed the Copts and many of them fell as martyrs, hence the period was called the Era of Martyrs. The year in which Diocletian assumed power (284 A.D.) was taken by Copts as the beginning of the Coptic calendar.

 

Emperor Constantine was the first emperor to declare Christianity not only a legitimate religion, but the state religion.

 

The Catholic Church since its beginning has a global character, which made several international experts recognize the international character of the Catholic Church, because of the activity it makes in every state, despite its internal legal system.

 

The Catholic Church practices only religious activities and can ink only agreements with Christian countries regarding the organization of the religious affairs.

 

On February 11, 1929, a pact of mutual recognition between Italy and the Vatican was signed in the Lateran Palace in Rome. The Vatican agreed to recognize the state of Italy, with Rome as its capital, in exchange for formal establishment of Roman Catholicism as the state religion of Italy, institution of religious instruction in the public schools, the banning of divorce, and recognition of papal sovereignty over Vatican City and the complete independence of the Pope.

 

The pact gave Vatican financial and judicial privileges and turned the Holy See into an independent legal and international character.

 

Since Christianity’s entrance into Egypt, there was a tradition to remain independent from the throne. It played its role against the Roman tyrannical rule in the third century.

 

There are around of 117 patriarchs led the Orthodox Church since St. Mark.

The Pope in Rome is a head of a state and has diplomatic relations with other countries, while the pontiff in Egypt is an archbishop and plays only a religious and spiritual role.