Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is the traditional Church of the followers of the Council of Chalcedon on the territory of the ancient Church Patriarchate of Alexandria. Her current leader is Patriarch Theodoros II

The approximately 250,000 members (mostly diaspora Greeks, 10,000 Christian Arabs, and 80,000 black Africans ) are organized into 18 metropolitan dioceses and six dioceses, especially in Egypt and Black Africa.

Mark the Evangelist is considered among the members of this church as its founder and first patriarch. Until the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, there was a generally accepted Patriarchate of Alexandria. This was followed in its importance to the Patriarchate of Rome and of Constantinople Opel in third place. Subsequently, the separate church organization of today's Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Alexandria of the Copts in Egypt and in the 19th century, the Catholic Coptic Church emerged. All attempts by the rulers of Constantinople Opel to end the schism failed.

From the 7th century, the position of the Patriarchate of Alexandria difficult Chalcedonenser - on. His few communities had to equal the much more numerous Copts with the new Islamic rulers arrange.

From 1874 to 1899, the number of Greek Orthodox in Egypt rose by immigrants from the Greek islands and the mainland from 8,000 to almost 40,000. As a result, formed the Greek Orthodox Church in Egypt twice, religiously and ethnically, a minority. After the great exodus of Greeks recent decades remained from earlier about 250,000 Hellenes less than 5,000 in the country.