Christianity in Egypt

• The majority religion in Egypt is Islam, of which Sunnis are the largest sect. The Constitution declares Islam to be the state religion but guarantees religious tolerance to the two other Abrahamic faiths and allows them public worship.                              
• According to tradition Christianity was introduced into Egypt in the 1st Century by St Mark. From that time on, it was the dominant religion until the advent of Islam in the 7th Century.                              
• According to official estimates, approximately 90% of the population is Muslim and 10% is Christian, with the Coptic Orthodox Church being the largest Christian denomination. Other denominations represented include Armenian Apostolic, Greek and Syrian Orthodox, Catholic (including Armenian, Chaldean, Greek, Maronite, Melkite, Latin and Syrian), and a variety of Protestant denominations. The Baha’i faith, though not officially recognized, is present. The Jewish community is extremely small.                                  
• There is no state persecution of Christians in Egypt, but non-governmental discrimination against Christians does occur. In recent years attacks against Coptic places of worship have increased, but the Government has officially regularized the situation of a large number of church buildings. The Imam of al-Azhar has created an interreligious institution, Bayt al-‘A’ila (the House of the Family) to combat sectarian violence.

• His Holiness Pope Tawadros II is patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria       
• His Beatitude Theodore II is the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria                     
• His Beatitude Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak is the patriarch of the Catholic Coptic Church.