TheGreek Orthodoxpatriarch of Alexandria has the titlePope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa. The term "Greek" is a religious identifier and not an ethnic one; while many of these patriarchs were ethnic Greeks, some were HellenizedEgyptians, and others wereMelkite Arabs.
Following theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451, aschism occurred in Egypt, between those who accepted and those who rejected the decisions of the council. The former are known as Chalcedonians and the latter are known asmiaphysites. Over the next several decades, these two parties competed for theSee of Alexandria and frequently still recognized the same Patriarch. But after 536, they permanently established separate patriarchates, and have maintained separate lineages of Patriarchs ever since. The miaphysites became theCoptic Church (part ofOriental Orthodoxy) and the Chalcedonians became theGreek Orthodox Church of Alexandria (part of the widerEastern Orthodox Church).
After 727, the Byzantine emperor Leo III once more attempted to install a Melkite patriarch in Alexandria. With the consent of the Muslim authorities the bishopric was, from that moment onwards, again headed by a patriarch.
