The schism between the Coptic Church and the Church of Rome took
place in AD 451 at the Council of Chalcedon under the pretext of differ-
ences in perception of the human and divine nature of Jesus. In truth the
matter was purely political and resulted from the hostile relationship between
Byzantium and its Egyptian colony. The Coptic Orthodox Church, which has
many common traits with the Roman Catholic Church as well as with the
other orthodox churches, has preserved many early Christian elements, such
as priests who are committed to matrimony, and a flourishing monasticism.
Early Christianity owed much to the Coptic Church, whose theologians and
philosophers at Alexandria often clarified difficult theological questions. The
creed of St Athanasius the Apostolic, Pope of Alexandria in the fourth century,
is still used worldwide. Egypt is considered the cradle of Christian monasti-
cism since between the third and the fifth centuries St Paul of Thebes (Anba
Pola; see Illustration 3), St Antony the Great, St Pachomius, St Shenute and
others, who became known as the ‘desert fathers’, led their ascetic lives in
Egypt and attracted many followers. During the second half of the twen-
tieth century the Coptic Church experienced a spiritual revival which was
brought about especially by the efforts of three Church leaders of that time:
Pope Kyrillos VI (1959–71), an ascetic to whom many miracles are ascribed,
his successor Pope Shenute III (from 1971), who improved the organization
of the Church, and Metropolitan Athanasius of Beni Suef (1962–2000),