Talk:Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church

Who?
I would have thought one of the very first things in this article would be a link to the current holder of this office. Instead, I can't seem to find who the current Coptic Pope is anywhere. LukeSurl 23:16, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

This article is unsourced
This article has no reliable source. To a Wiki reader, an article with no valid sources is basically fiction. Please source this article with reliable sources. There must be some books in English that could be used concerning the Coptic Orthodox Church. Jason3777 (talk) 03:29, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

First Among Equals
Isn't it the case that the Coptic Pope is recognized as the first among equals of the Oriental Orthodox Churches? Deusveritasest (talk) 22:11, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Style cleanup and fact-checking: 18 August 2009
This article is something of a mess. I'm considering adding a POV tag or something as a warning. I will try to address some of the problems I see, though I'm not an expert on the very complicated theological and historical disputes which exist.

Since religious topics, especially, can cause editing problems, I'm describing my recent changes in more detail.

1. The shortened "Pope of Alexandria" in the lead paragraph isn't the actual title for this office, so I removed it.

2. The lead paragraph implied that this church is limited to the boundaries of Egypt, but it has members elsewhere.

3. A link to the generic disambiguation page for a term is not recommended from a more specific topic, as per the editing guidelines. I removed that reference from the lead paragraph.

4. The reference to "expatriates in the Diaspora" when describing the number of church members outside Egypt seemed non-encyclopedic and non-neutral in tone, so I removed it.

5. The description of the current leader as the "Patriarch of All Africa on the Apostolic Throne of St Mark" in the lead paragraph poses difficulties.

As a matter of style, this description is already listed as his official title in the next section of the article, so it seems redundant here.

As a matter of neutrality and tone, the description includes assertions of primacy and historical continuity which are disputed with other Christian churches. I think the head of the Greek (or Eastern) Orthodox church of Alexandria would make similar claims.

I think removing it from this paragraph and just leaving the description as the official title is preferable.

5. The first sentence in the "Role in the church" section contained the same issue ("He is the successor...").

The historical continuity of this Church and the succession of its bishops is a matter of dispute with other Christian churches, so I tried to make it more neutral, imitating the style in the similar article for the Roman Catholic pope.

6. The article incorrectly identifies Mark the Evangelist, traditionally the first bishop of Alexandria, as an apostle. He was a disciple, but not one of those twelve.

StephenMacmanus (talk) 06:03, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

New "History" section and reference to 'Pentarchy'
The previous version of this article identified this church as part of the Pentarchy, but it did not participate in this system. As the "Pentarchy (Christianity)" article already makes clear, this system of government deliberately excluded the non-Chalcedonian churches like the Coptic Orthodox Church and included their Chalcedonian counterparts. I added this information in a new section, and removed the contradictory reference from the existing "Role in the Church" section.

StephenMacmanus (talk) 01:39, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Changes to "Official Posts" section
I removed the listing as Dean of the Catechetical School, since the links from this article to the biography indicate that the current holder is the first to occupy this position since the 5th century. Unlike the other listed positions, it is not automatically associated with the office. —Preceding unsigned comment added by StephenMacmanus (talk • contribs) 04:46, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Incorrect dates or Councils
The Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople was in 381. The Third Council at Ephesus was in 431. The article says Ephesus was in 381. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.7.2.190 (talk) 05:07, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

I received this rule and ordinance
What does "I received this rule and ordinance" mean in the quote by the Roman Pope? I think it needs some context-it could be interpereted to mean he was ordained by the Patriarch of Alexandria. 24.191.87.42 (talk) 18:15, 15 April 2012 (UTC)

First sentence
"The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, which has about 16 million members worldwide, including about 18 million in Egypt. "

Could someone clear up for me wtf that means? Mwheatley1990 (talk) 00:21, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

To Mwheatley1990: It basically means that the Coptic Pope is the leader of the Coptic Church, which is compromised of 18,000,000 in Egypt and 16,000,000 worldwide. Overall,

the Coptic Church has 34 million+ members in both Egypt, and the entire world. Simple. Jchrist11 (talk) 04:57, 22 November 2012 (UTC)Jchrist11

Recent Edit: November 21, 2012
Sorry for the accidental deletion of this page. This is not vandalism. I fixed right away. When I made an edit to the first paragraph, it accidentily deleted 90% of the page, but I fixed it. Again, I apologize. Jchrist11 (talk) 04:57, 22 November 2012 (UTC)Jchrist11

Pentarchy: language cannot be understood.
The article now reads:

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.

The last sentences is enigmatic at best. Because of what split? The Chalcedonic Council "separation"? The leadership of "this" church (presumably the Alexandrian Orthodox?) is not part of "this" system? What system? Secular recognition? Pentarchy?

Could be clarified, is all I'm saying. IAmNitpicking (talk) 15:12, 12 December 2016 (UTC)

Virginia USA ??
this article is new to me today -- as a US Citizen I was surprised to see in the official diocese list "The Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of North America, which includes: The Suffragan Holy Diocese of Alexandria and all Virginia, United States" .. Is this true ? I will read more now, but I am not familiar with the formal Orthodox Church at all .. 75.101.48.113 (talk) 16:21, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

External links modified
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