Patriarchate of the Catholic Church
The
Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch
is the only actual residential Patriarchate of the
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
(
Eastern Catholic
,
Byzantine Rite
). It was formed in 1724 when a portion of the
Orthodox Church of Antioch
went into communion with Rome, becoming an
Eastern Catholic Church
, while the rest of the ancient Patriarchate continues in full communion with the rest of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch's present complete title is
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
, incorporating both of the church's other titular patriarchates.
[1]
Its archiepiscopal see is the
Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady
(
Arabic
:
????????? ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ?? ????
) in
Damascus
, Syria. It
was visited
by
Pope John Paul II
in 2001.
[2]
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church claims to be one of five churches that are continuations of the original
See of Antioch
. Thus, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church believes it traces its existence back to
Saint Peter
in a line of
apostolic succession
acknowledged by both Catholic and Orthodox canons. This claim is accepted by the
Holy See
and is not disputed by the other two
Eastern Catholic Churches
that also claim descent from the ancient See of Antioch, namely the
Maronite Church
[3]
and the
Syriac Catholic Church
,
[4]
which both also have Patriarchs of Antioch.
Proper province and archdiocese
[
edit
]
The Patriarch also holds the office of
Metropolitan
of an empty
Ecclesiastical province
without an actual
suffragan
see, actually comprising only his proper Metropolitan Archeparchy of Damascus (of the Melkites) also, in
Latin
:
Damascenus Græcorum Melkitarum
(with terms in other relevant languages:
Damasco [Curiate Italiano]
;
Arabic
:
??????
,
romanized
:
Dima?q
; and, locally,
a?-??m
). Like the Patriarchate, in Rome it depends only upon the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches
.
During a vacancy in the Patriarchate (such as following the resignation of
Gregory III Laham
in 2017), the bishop of the permanent synod who is most senior by ordination serves as administrator in chief of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
As of 2014
[update]
, it pastorally served three thousand Catholics in eight parishes and one mission with: nine priests (six diocesan, three religious); three deacons; thirty‑three lay religious (three brothers, thirty sisters); and ten seminarians.
Titular Patriarchates
[
edit
]
In continuation of the earlier Melkite patriarchates of the ancient sees of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, two
titular patriarchates
exist. These are however simply titles, vested in the residential Patriarch of Antioch, which also have Catholic residential counterparts:
List of eparchs and archeparchs
[
edit
]
The following is a list of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Those Patriarchs who were born in Syria are indicated with a symbol 'α', those born in Egypt with 'β', and those born in Lebanon with 'γ'.
Eparch
is equivalent to
bishop
, and
archeparch
to
archbishop
:
- Cyril VI Tanas
,
[α]
October 1, 1724 ? death July 8, 1759
- Athanasius IV Jawhar
(or
Jaouhar
)
[α]
(
first term
), July 19, 1759 ? August 1, 1760; then Eparch of
Saida of the Greek-Melkites
(Lebanon), 1761 ? May 5, 1788. For Jawhar's
§ second term
, see below
- Maximos II Hakim
[α]
BC, (
Basilian Chouerite Order of Saint John the Baptist
), June 15 ? death November 15, 1761; previously Archeparch of
Aleppo of the Greek-Melkites
(Syria), 1732 ? August 1, 1760
- Theodosius V Dahan
[α]
BC, December 24, 1761 ? death April 10, 1788; previously Metropolitan Archeparch of
Beirut of the Greek-Melkites
(Lebanon), 1736 ? December 24, 1761
- Athanasius IV Jawhar
(
second term
), May 5, 1788 ? death December 2, 1794. For Jawhar's
§ first term
, see above
- Cyril VII Siaj
,
[α]
December 11, 1794 ? death August 6, 1796; previously Metropolitan Archbishop of
Bosra of the Greek-Melkites
(Syria), 1763 ? December 11, 1794
- Agapius II Matar
BS
[α]
(
Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour
), September 11, 1796 ? February 2, 1812; previously the
Superior General
of his order, 1789?1795; Eparch of
Said? of the Greek-Melkites
(Lebanon), 1795 ? September 11, 1796
- Ignatius IV Sarrouf
,
[α]
1812
- Athanasius V Matar
,
[α]
1813
- Macarius IV Tawil
,
[α]
1813?1815
- Ignatius V Qattan
,
[α]
1816?1833
- Maximos III Mazloum
,
[α]
1833?1855
- Clement Bahouth
,
[β]
1856?1864
- Gregory II Youssef-Sayur
,
[β]
1864?1897
- Peter IV Jaraijiry
,
[γ]
1898?1902
- Cyril VIII Geha
,
[α]
1902?1916
- Sede vacante
, vacant 1916?1919
- Demetrius I Qadi
,
[α]
March 29, 1919 ? October 25, 1925
- Cyril IX Moghabghab
,
[γ]
December 8, 1925 ? September 8, 1947
- Maximos IV Sayegh
,
[α]
October 30, 1947 ? November 5, 1967
- Maximos V Hakim
,
[β]
November 22, 1967 ? November 22, 2000
- Gregory III Laham
,
[α]
November 29, 2000 ? May 6, 2017
- Youssef I Absi
,
[α]
June 21, 2017 ? present
Auxiliary bishops
[
edit
]
The following is a list of auxiliary bishops of the episcopate of the See of Antioch:
- Francois Abou Mokh BS (
Salvatorian Fathers
), 1996 ? July 27, 1998
- Isidore Battikha BA (66
[
clarification needed
]
), August 25, 1992 ? February 9, 2006
- Jean Mansour MSP, August 19, 1980 ? 1997
- Francois Abou Mokh BS, February 7, 1978 ? 1992
- Elias Nijme BA, August 16, 1971 ? June 15
- Saba Youakim BS, September 9, 1968 ? June 15
- Nicolas Hajj, July 30, 1965 ? November 3, 1984
- Neophytos Edelby BA (
Basilian Aleppian Order
), December 24, 1961 ? March 6, 1968
- Pierre Kamel Medawar, MSP (
Society of Missionaries of Saint Paul
), March 13, 1943 ? 1969
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Maximos III Mazloum
-
Gregory II Youssef
-
Peter IV Jeraigiry
-
Cyril VIII Geha
-
Demetrius I Qadi
-
Maximos V Hakim
-
Gregory III Laham
-
Youssef Absi
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]
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Patriarchs
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Eparchies
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Churches
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- Cathedrals:
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition, Damascus
- St. Elias Cathedral, Beirut
- St. George's Cathedral, Amman
- St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation, Jerusalem
- Annunciation Cathedral, Boston
- St. Anne's Cathedral, Los Angeles
- Saint Sauveur Cathedral, Montreal
- Porta Coeli Cathedral, Mexico City
- Our Lady of Paradise Cathedral, Sao Paulo
- St. George's Cathedral, Caracas
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Religious institutes
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See also
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