Pope Christodoulos of Alexandria, also known as Abd-el-Messiah, served as the 66th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark until his death in 1077.

 

Before assuming his papal duties, Christodoulos entered the Paromeos Monastery located in the Nitrian Desert. Notably, during his papacy, Cairo became the permanent and official residence of the Coptic Pope. He accomplished this by relocating the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope from its previous location to Saint Mary's The Hanging Church in Cairo.

 

A conflict arose between the Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church and the El Muallaqa Church due to the patriarch's desire to be consecrated in the Hanging Church, a departure from the traditional practice which took place at Saints Sergius and Bacchus.

 

One significant decision attributed to Pope Christodoulos was the standardization of the Bohairic Dialect among the Copts. This dialect, prevalent in parts of Northern Egypt and the Scetes monasteries, was chosen to revitalize the weakening Coptic language, which was gradually succumbing to Arabic. However, this unintentionally led to a further decline of Coptic in the Sahidic region (Upper Egypt), where it had remained robust. Despite this, Sahidic Coptic persisted into the 15th and 16th centuries, as evidenced by accounts of encounters with Coptic speakers in Upper Egypt by an Italian traveler in the 17th century.

 

Relations between the Patriarchs of Antioch and the Pope of Alexandria had been historically close, yet occasionally strained. Disagreements arose, notably during the time of Patriarch John IX bar Shushan and Christodulus, particularly regarding the presentation of Eucharistic oblations. Christodulus objected to the Lyrian Jacobites' practice of adding oil and salt, leading to a rift that John of Antioch defended. Another controversy emerged in 1169 concerning auricular confession, further straining relations between the two communions.

 

In the context of Ethiopian Orthodox Church affairs, upon the death of the Abuna, the Emperor of Ethiopia sought Pope Christodoulos's assistance in ordaining a new Abuna. However, due to persecution against Christians in Egypt at the time, Christodoulos declined. Exploiting this opportunity, an individual named Abdun presented forged documents to the Ethiopian Emperor, falsely claiming to be the newly appointed Abuna.