Second in a series
Re “Discovering a Little Known but Rewarding Historic Treasure”
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Father Gorgy
As another day passed in Los Angeles without a report in the hometown newspaper on the historic – and routinely overlooked – Islamic savaging of the small Coptic Christian community in Egypt, it was time to learn the roots of one of the world’s lowest-profiled religions.
On this day, in the quietly ornate sanctuary of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, Pico-Robertson, Father Cyril Gorgy was responding to a visitor’s question about the Coptic Church’s
origins.
Throughout Father Gorgy’s tutorial about the 2,000-year-old religion, he repeatedly returned to an idealistic theme that many religious leaders advocate, the all-pervasive power spirituality. Instead of fighting, or fighting back, Coptic Christians rely, not just mainly but entirely on prayer, as taught by God.
First, though, Father Gorgy needed to arrange the furniture on the stage of history.
“Our faith was handed to us, in Alexandria, Egypt, by St. Mark, who was the writer of the second Gospel,” he explained. “Somewhere in the range of 58 A.D. This was at a time when the city of Alexandria was known around the world for its philosophy and its knowledge. There were lots of gods people believed in while they worshipped objects such as the sun.
“As St. Mark was walking through the streets of Alexandria, he was wondering, ‘How can I to bring this faith I believe in to these people?’
“As he walked, his sandals tore, and he went to a cobbler. Then the awl slips and punctures his finger. He yells, “Oh, the one God!” St. Mark looks up immediately and says, “Do you know about the one God?” He began introducing the faith to the cobbler. Soon, the cobbler and his household believed in the faith St. Mark was bringing, and eventually he became our second bishop.
“From there, the faith spread throughout Alexandria,” Father Gorgy said.
What distinguishes Coptic Christianity from Roman Catholic Christianity?
“At the beginning of Christianity, basically there was one church with five major sees (dioceses or regions), the See of Sat. Mark, the See of Alexandria, the See of Jerusalem, the See of Constantinople, the See of Antioch.
“When heresies occurred in the one church that is over the world, an ecumenical council was held to discuss the heresy, and from there, canons of belief were formed and sent out to the churches.”
For clarification purposes, Father Gorgy said, definitions of certain beliefs and rejections were explained in satisfactory detail for the masses.
(To be continued)
