WITNESS - Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria

Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak was elected as the successor to Patriarch Antonios Naguib on January 16, 2013, during a Synod in Cairo. Even though the Coptic Catholic Church is relatively small in population, it is the See of St. Mark the Evangelist, dating back to the period of the Apostles. The Church of Alexandria began to separate from the Church of Rome after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. The Roman Catholic Patriarchate has existed since the 18th century, as part of the Catholic mission to unite all Christians.

This Church stands at the global meeting point of East and West, Catholic and Orthodox, Christian and Muslim. Pope Francis made an historic visit to Egypt late April 2017. This remarkable visit to the largest country in the Arab world was a great sign of peace for the small Coptic Catholic community, and most especially to the Catholic leader of the Egyptian Church, His Beatitude, Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria.

This WITNESS interview took place in the Salt and Light broadcast centre on September 7, 2018.