Is it correct to call the Coptic Christian leader "Pope"?

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Today I read this Christian Science Monitor article by Kristen Chick, which refers to the Coptic ‘pope’ 14 times – only once indicating his name… Is it correct and proper to refer to the leader of the Coptic Christians as ‘pope’? I’m a Roman Catholic, so for me ‘pope’ means the bishop of Rome, e.g. Pope Benedict XVI, and I was taught “there can only be one pope”. Aren’t the Coptic Christians in union with the See of Peter? This only confuses me more, since calling them both ‘pope’ suggests a competition between them.

Patrick Coffin et al. often bemoan the ignorance of the press regarding religion, so I wasn’t sure if this was another blunder. I searched on these forums hoping to find if this matter had already been addressed, but instead I found multiple threads containing no opposition to calling this Coptic leader ‘pope’:

  1. *]Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II enthroned in Cairo
    *][CWN]
    *]Election of Coptic Pope and question about election of hierarchs
    *][CWN]
    *]Bishop Tawadros chosen as Egypt’s 118th Coptic pope
    *]New Coptic Pope Selected
    *][CWN]
    *]Egypt’s Coptic Christians prepare to choose new Pope

    I understand that ‘pope’ comes from the Italian, ‘papa’, meaning ‘father’, but it appears to me that Roman Catholics now use the term as indicating the leader of Jesus’ Church, which would imply that there can only be one ‘pope’. Please clarify this matter for me!
 
The Copts have been using the term “Pope” for longer than the Romans have. I don’t know the exact dates the term came into use for either…perhaps one of our Coptic brothers or sisters could comment on that.
 
Yes, that is the title of the Patriarch of Alexandria. The See of Alexandria is held by the Coptic Orthodox, which are distinct from the Coptic Catholics.

So Pope Theodoros II is not in communion with the Pope of Rome.He is not a Catholic bishop, But they do maintain very cordial relations.

The term “Pope” derives from the familiar form of the Greek “πάππας\Papas” or “Father”

Technically, any spiritual Father could be addressed by that title.

As an interesting point, the Pope of Alexandria was referred to by that title BEFORE it was adopted in Rome.
 
The Catholic Church doesn’t have exclusive rights to the word “Pope,” which just means Father, Papa, etc. So, yes, it is correct to call the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, “Pope.”

Take note, he is not an antipope to the Pope of the Catholic Church, because he is the successor of St. Mark the Evangelist in the See of Alexandria (correct me if I’m wrong).

Many years to Pope Theodoros II!

And I am a Latin Catholic. 🙂
 
If you think about it…

The Patriarch of Alexandria was called “Pope” before the Patriarch of Rome did
The Patriarch of Constantinople wanted to become the Supreme Bishop of the Church before the Patriarch of Rome did
St. Peter was the Bishop of Antioch before he was Bishop of Rome

So the Pope of Rome isn’t really very original :D:D:D
 
ConstantineTG said:
If you think about it…

So the Pope of Rome isn’t really very original :D:D:D
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I really disagree with this statement.
Even if the name Pope was adopted in the later stage, it is proper to call the Bishop of Rome Pope. He is the spiritual head of the millions of Catholics. As for a Catholic, I dont think it is necessory to call a Coptic as Pope eventhough it is justified as the official title. And Peter might have been the Bishop of Antioch., But the bishop of Rome is the worthy succesor of St. Peter – Catholic Tradition!
 
Fra_Angelo said:
I really disagree with this statement.
Even if the name Pope was adopted in the later stage, it is proper to call the Bishop of Rome Pope. He is the spiritual head of the millions of Catholics. As for a Catholic, I dont think it is necessory to call a Coptic as Pope eventhough it is justified as the official title. And Peter might have been the Bishop of Antioch., But the bishop of Rome is the worthy succesor of St. Peter – Catholic Tradition!
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It is necessary to call the Coptic Pope as “Pope”. It is his title and it is traditional, yes, including in the Catholic Church. He was already Pope when they were in communion with Rome way back when.
 
The Vicar of Christ is properly known as the Roman or Supreme Pontiff. Even though we usually call him Pope, it is understandable that other communities may have used the same word to refer to their leader (since it means “father” in Greek). The word “pope”, as far as I recall, is also used in the Orthodox church to refer to priests (just like we use “father” :)).
 
The title can be confusing to Western Catholics and to Westerners in general since the Patriarch of Alexandria does not claim the same kind of authority as the bishop of Rome, but the answer is education not denial of the Patriarch’s traditional title.

The media could be more clear on this in its coverage, but remember their job is ultimately to sell newspapers and advertisements, and the title “Pope” can make this man, and therefore stories about him, seem even more important than they already are. Therefore there is little motive to clarify the point.

Also as a point of clarification the Coptic Church we hear so much about, which makes up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population (or so it’s claimed - it’s a suspiciously even number I think), is part of the Oriental Orthodox Church, which left the Catholic Church after rejecting the Council of Chalcedon and which remains out of full communion though there has been ecumenical progress in the last few decades. Its current situation is analogous in many ways to the larger Orthodox Church, aka Eastern Orthodox Church, with which it is also not in full communion.

There is also a much smaller Coptic Catholic Church, with its own Patriarch of Alexandria. That actually raises an interesting question for me, which I hope the original poster will not mind as it relates so closely to his own question. Is the Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria called “Pope” as well?
 
By the way, in response to the poll, I did choose “much worse” because at least I think the consequences of inaccurate and biased reporting on religion are more grave than on any other subject. I do think that any time you have a significant degree of knowledge on a subject you begin to see the flaws in media reporting on it. I once read the most ludicrous article on the decline of paper birch in the Adirondacks, for example.

Remember that reporters generally are not experts in anything except, perhaps, reporting. When you read a story on a religious, scientific, or technical subject for example it’s generally safe to assume that the reporter is at best an amateur enthusiast on the subject, and likely not even that.
 
Aelred_Minor said:
That’s interesting. Perhaps it’s to avoid confusion for other Catholics?
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I believe it is a complicated story. No Coptic Bishop reunited with the Catholic Church. It was only a priest or a small number of priests. So the hierarchy of the Coptic Catholic Church was actually established by the Latin Church. So it is probably why they weren’t allowed to use the title of “Pope”.
 
choliks said:
The Catholic Church doesn’t have exclusive rights to the word “Pope,” which just means Father, Papa, etc.
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Very true, although I can also sympathize with the surprise that some feel when they first learn about the Coptic popes. I can recall my own surprise, in the 90s I think, when I first heard Pope JPII mention “His Holiness Shenouda III, the Coptic Orthodox Pope and Patriarch” and the like.

It isn’t too hard to figure how the confusion came about historically: the Orthodox that we (most of us) are more familiar with, namely the Eastern Orthodox rather than the Oriental Orthodox, don’t apply the term Pope to their prime bishop. So not surprisingly a Orthodox-have-Patriarchs/Catholics-have-the-Pope way of thinking developed. (The other side of the coin is that people are surprised when they first learn that Catholics have Patriarchs too.)
 
choliks said:
Many years to Pope Theodoros II!

And I am a Latin Catholic. 🙂
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I really need a better monitor, I had to read your post three times before I was able to confirm that the exclaimation point was just that, and you were not wishing many years to +Theodoros the Third 😛
 
Brendan said:
I really need a better monitor, I had to read your post three times before I was able to confirm that the exclaimation point was just that, and you were not wishing many years to +Theodoros the Third 😛
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😃
 
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