The Coptic church was founded, according to tradition, by St. Mark in the first century of the Christian era and has continued to be active since then. Its present head is His Holiness Pope Shanuda III, Patriarch of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark, the 117th patriarch in the line of succession.
The Coptic language is a form of ancient Pharaonic and Greek, seldom heard outside the liturgical rites of the church. Historically, the early church is said to have...