Wadi Al-Natrun is Now Home to the World’s Largest Coptic Library

The Central Papal Library was inaugurated in Wadi al-Natrun’s Saint Bishoy Monastery by Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria and other Church officials on Tuesday.

Serving as a resource for researchers and scholars in the Coptic sciences, this library aims to become a leading academic environment and increase awareness of the Coptic period in Egyptian history. An important fixture of Egypt’s history and the greater Middle East, the library will house resources including Coptic visual and audio materials offered in multiple languages, academic books, papers, periodicals, newspapers and magazines.

Pope Tawadros II described the Coptic Orthodox Church as “an Egyptian national institution and a church of the people.”

The church has two responsibilities to its people: integrating religion into people’s communities and safeguarding the hallmarks of Egyptian civilization, which includes language, historical literature, architecture and Egyptian art.