In Egypt, one cannot but meet happy and proud Christians despite all the persecutions suffered. The primary reason for these: pride and happiness, in the understanding of Egyptians, is that Christianity in Egypt was seeded by Christ himself.

Indeed, Christ, according to tradition, lived three and half years in there while infant. Saint Matthew narrates the fleeing of the Holy Family in his Gospel: An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt … So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’

(Mt 2, 13-23)

In addition to Christ’s sojourn in Egypt, the second reason for Egyptian Church’s pride and happiness lies in the fact that the country was evangelised by Saint Marc the Evangelist in the wee hours of Christianity during the apostolic era. Lastly, the Egyptian Church boasts of its land being one of refuge for the elected people starting from Abraham, the father of believers, passing through Jacob and his son Joseph to Christ himself. This actually shows how the Church of Egypt is one of the oldest oriental churches with a rich salvation history and Christian tradition. This same Church witnessed the advent of the third century monasticism with Saint Anthony the Great, Paul of Thebes and Pacome the Great.

The Egyptian Church, rich in history, is multifaceted, though all Christians are Copts. Three main denominations are present on the ground: the Orthodox, bigger in number, the Catholics and the Protestants. The Coptic Orthodox Church is member of both the Oecumenical Council of Churches and the Council of Middle East Churches. It is led by the successor of Saint Mark, Baba Tawadros II, who equally bears the title of pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the preaching of Saint Mark. The headquarters in Alexandria is one of the five papal seats including Rome, Constantinople, Antiochus and Jerusalem.

The protestant Coptic Church is fast growing of late as new missionary movements come from Asia and other parts of Africa. As for the Coptic Catholic Church, it is in communion with the roman pope though with its own oriental liturgical rites such as Coptic, Maronite, Armenian and Byzantine rites. These various rites make the different faces of the Coptic Catholic Church. In a legal sense, the Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous in their own right. In Egypt, the Coptic Catholic Church is dominated by the Coptic rite, it is mainly found in Upper Egypt and organized into dioceses known as eparchies. The head of all the dioceses in Africa is the Patriarch of Alexandria, Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak.

It is in the diversity of the Coptic Catholic Church that survives the Latin Roman Catholic Church. Today, Latins are mainly confined to Cairo and Alexandria. It is a vibrant Church cheered by missionaries and mainly attended by non-nationals among whom people from Sudan and many other nationalities; as a consequence, some nationals qualify it as foreign Church. There are also locals who worship in the Latin Roman Catholic Church. Though small in number, they are fervent. Natives from other rites come as sympathisers, considering themselves as members of the Latin Roman Catholic Church through their grandparents.

It is clear today that the Coptic Catholic Church has built its reputation in Upper Egypt where some dioceses lack missionary presence.

This is the case of the Eparchy of Suhag where the bishop has pressingly invited the Society of African Missions, SMA to join in the missionary activities. Could this call be an opportunity for the SMA to open up to new missionary horizons? 

Could it be an opportunity to serve the Gospel among the poor and the most abandoned, especially in a context where ecumenical dialogue and dialogue between religions now requires workers and witnesses who understand another rite such as the Coptic?

Jean Paul Silué, SMA