The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria has the title Pope 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 Hellenized Egyptians, and others were Melkite Arabs.

List of Patriarchs

Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, a schism 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 as miaphysites. Over the next several decades, these two parties competed for the See 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 the Coptic Church (part of Oriental Orthodoxy) and the Chalcedonians became the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria (part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church). For the list of patriarchs until 536 see List of patriarchs of Alexandria.

Chalcedonian Patriarchs of Alexandria After 536

The Muslim invasion caused the see of Alexandria to become vacant.

Chalcedonian Patriarchs of Alexandria after the Islamic conquest

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.