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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.
Data as of December 1990
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