Egypt
Other Religious Minorities
Egypt's other religious minorities in 1990 included approximately 350,000 adherents of
the Greek Orthodox Church, 175,000 Eastern and Latin Rite Catholics, 200,000
Protestants, and fewer than 1,000 Jews. The Greek Orthodox Church was headquartered in
Alexandria, where most of its members lived. Most members of the Greek Orthodox were
of Greek origin, but followers also included Arabs, Armenians, and the affiliated
Coptic Orthodox Church.
The Catholics embraced seven distinct rites that Rome historically authorized to use
languages other than Latin as integral parts of their liturgies. Approximately 85
percent of all Catholics in Egypt belonged to the Coptic Catholic Church. Other
Catholics included followers of the Armenian, Chaldean, Greek, Latin, Maronite, and
Syrian rites. There were also numerous Protestant churches. The government suspended
the Anglican Church in 1958 after the Anglo-French occupation of the Suez Canal but
permitted it to resume functioning in 1974. The Anglican Church in Egypt was part of
the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. Other Protestant churches
included the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in
the Near East, and the Coptic Evangelical Church.
Library of Congress Country Studies
-->
