The Patriarchate of Alexandria

has been a small Church ever since the separation of the Mono-

physites in the fifth century, when the great majority of Christians in Egypt rejected the Council

of Chalcedon. Today  there  are about 10,000 Orthodox in Egypt, and perhaps 150,000-250,000

elsewhere in Africa. The head of the Alexandrian Church is known officially as .Pope and Patri-

arch.: in Orthodox usage, the title .Pope. is not limited solely to the Bishop of Rome. The Patri-

arch and most of his clergy are Greek. The whole of the African continent falls under the charge

of the Patriarch, and since Orthodox are just now beginning to undertake missionary work in

Central Africa, it may well be that the ancient Church of Alexandria, however attenuated at pre-

sent, will expand in new and unexpected ways during the years to come. (On missions in Africa,

see Chapter 9.).