I was driving south on Warden the other day when I spotted a large church dome.
This is St. Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral near Warden and Steeles. The Coptic, or Egyptian, Church is believed to have been founded by St Mark at around AD 42 in Alexandria Egypt. It split from the rest of the Christendom in 451. In the 600s, Egypt was ruled by Islamic conquerors but it wasn’t until the 12th century that Coptics became a religious minority.
Construction of the church began around 2008/9 and was completed by 2015. It was officially opened by Pope Tawadros II who is the 118th pope in the Coptic church. The Roman Catholic Church and the Coptic Church are the only two religions in the world led by a “pope”.
below: Seven large carved wood doors. The colour of the exterior is reminiscent of desert sand.
A large mosaic mural across the top of the church is almost complete. It has been grouted and now is being cleaned.
below: Come out of Egypt my son, Matthew 2:15
below: The interior of the church is massive; under the dome, the nave is just over 29m high. There is seating for 1800 people.
As I was walking around the church, I spotted another cross just to the north – the Toronto Christian Community Church – with a different style of architecture. The name of the church was also written in Chinese but the church functions in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. It was built in 2001.
