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Patriarch [[Petros VII (Papapetrou) of Alexandria|Pope Petros VII]], who was elected in 1997, actively encouraged mission until his untimely death in a helicopter crash on [[September 11]], 2004, along with three other bishops, including Bishop [[Nektarios (Kellis) of Madagascar|Nektarios]], a pioneer missionary in Madagascar. The new Patriarch, His Beatitude Pope [[Theodoros II (Choreftakis) of Alexandria|Theodoros]], himself has missionary experience, having been Archbishop of Cameroun and later Zimbabwe.
Today the [[Coptic]] Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the largest Church in the Middle East and Africa. Besides the Coptic Orthodox Church bishops in Sudan (HG Bishop Sarabamon is the Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Sudan (Atbara and Om Dorman) and HG Bishop Elija is the Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Khartoum), Africa also currently has two dedicated Coptic Orthodox bishops, HG Bishop Antonious Markos and HG Bishop Paul (Boulos), serving in missions in at least nine African countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Zaire, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, and as far as Johannesburg, South Africa in the south (see [http://www.geocities.com/copticafrica/]).(Bishop names correct as of August 2005--see [http://www.theholysynod.copticpope.org/].)
[[Category:Church History]]
