Eastern Orthodox patriarchate currently headquartered in Damascus, Syria
"Orthodox Church of Antioch" redirects here. For the Syriac Orthodox church, seeSyriac Orthodox Church. For the early Orthodox Church, seeChurch of Antioch.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
TheGreek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (Greek:Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as theGreek Orthodox Church of Antioch,Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as theRūmOrthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (Arabic:بطريركيّة أنطاكية وسائر المشرق للروم الأرثوذكس,romanized: Baṭriyarkiyyat ʾAnṭākiya wa-Sāʾir al-Mašriq li-r-Rūm al-ʾUrṯūḏuks,lit.'Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East for the Orthodox Rum'[6]), is anautocephalousGreek Orthodox church within the wider communion ofEastern Orthodox Christianity that originates from the historicalChurch of Antioch. Headed by theGreek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch, it considers itself the successor to theChristian community founded inAntioch by theApostlesPeter andPaul. It is one of the largest Christian denominations of the Middle East, alongside theCopts of Egypt and theMaronites of Lebanon.[7]
ItsNorth American branch is autonomous, although the Holy Synod of Antioch still appoints its head bishop, chosen from a list of three candidates nominated in the North American archdiocese. ItsAustralasia and Oceania branch is the largest in terms of geographic area due to the relatively large size of Australia and the large portion of the Pacific Ocean that the archdiocese covers.
The head of the Orthodox Church of Antioch is calledPatriarch. The present Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch isJohn X (Yazigi), who presided over the Archdiocese of Western and Central Europe (2008–2013). He was elected as primate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East asJohn X of Antioch (Yazigi) on December 17, 2012. He succeededIgnatius IV who had died on December 5, 2012. Membership statistics are not available, but may be as high as 1,100,000 in Syria[11] and 400,000 in Lebanon where they make up 8% of the population or 20% of Christians who make up 39–41% of Lebanon. The seat of the patriarch in Damascus is theMariamite Cathedral of Damascus.
According toLuke the Evangelist—himself a Greco-Syrian member of that community—the distinctive identity of the Antiochian Church emerged at an early stage:
The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
StPeter and StPaul are traditionally regarded as the co-founders of the Patriarchate of Antioch, with Peter considered its first bishop. When Peter left Antioch,Evodios assumed leadership, followed byIgnatius. Both Evodios and Ignatius died as martyrs during Roman persecutions.
PatriarchBabylas of Antioch is regarded as the first saint whose remains were translated for religious purposes—a practice that became extremely widespread in the following centuries[14].
Some historians believe that a substantial proportion of theHellenized Jewish population and most gentile Greco-Macedonian settlers in southernTurkey (Antioch,Alexandretta and neighboring cities) as well asSyria andLebanon—referred to in theActs asHellenistai—gradually converted to the Greco-Roman form of Christianity that later became theMelkite (orImperial) Hellenistic Churches of Western Asia and North Africa:
As Jewish Christianity originated at Jerusalem, so Gentile Christianity started atAntioch, then the leading center of the Hellenistic East, with Peter and Paul as its apostles. From Antioch it spread to the various cities and provinces of Syria, among the Hellenistic Syrians as well as among the Hellenistic Jews who, as a result of the great rebellions against the Romans in A.D. 70 and 130, were driven out from Jerusalem and Palestine into Syria.[17]
Acts 6 highlights the cultural tensions between Greek-speaking Judeo-Christians associated with Antioch and related Cilician, southern Anatolian, and Syrian diasporas, and the more conservativeAramaic-speaking Jewish Christians centered in Jerusalem:
The 'Hebrews' were Jewish Christians who spoke almost exclusively Aramaic, and the 'Hellenists' were also Jewish Christians whose mother tongue was Greek... As the very context of Acts 6 makes clear, the Hellenistai are not Hellenes.[18]
In 313 AD, emperorsConstantine I andLicinius issued theEdict of Milan, which permitted the free profession of any religion within theEmpire. Around the same time, the spread of the heresy ofArianism began, leading to a schism that lasted until 381.
During the episcopate ofMeletius of Antioch, the struggle against Arianism reached its peak. Meletius was deposed by Emperor Constantius II but later restored under Emperor Julian, exiled again, returned by Emperor Jovian, and once more exiled by Valens. Under Emperor Theodosius, who held him in special esteem, Meletius was elected to preside over theSecond Ecumenical Council[20][21].
In the 4th century,monasticism spread throughoutSyria. Unlike Egyptian monasticism, earlySyrian monasticism was less secluded: monks engaged inmissionary preaching and charitable activity. In the 5th century,stylitism emerged—an ascetic form of seclusion practiced atop pillars or rocky outcrops (seeSimeon Stylites).
Given the antiquity of the Antiochian Church and the importance of the Christian community in the city of Antioch, as well as its economic significance in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, theFirst Council of Nicaea in 325 recognized the importance of the church, naming it one of the main regional primacies in the Christian world, with jurisdiction over the territory of theDiocese of the East, thus laying the foundation for the creation of the "Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East".[3]
The Antiochian Patriarchate and Syria in general were the most troubled region of the Roman Empire, where at the beginning of the5th century Christological disturbances began. Although theAntiochian School of Theology was the founder ofdyophysite Christology, there was also a strong party in Syria supporting the theology ofCyril of Alexandria. With the practical defeat of the Nestorians in the Roman Empire, after theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451 the Christological conflict occurred between supporters and opponents of this council. In 512 PatriarchFlavian II was deposed by EmperorAnastasius I (d. 518), and on November 6, 512, at a synod inLaodicea in Syria, the Miaphysite theologianSeverus of Antioch (d. 538) was elected, who was ordained on November 16 in the Golden Hous.[22] However, in 518 he was deposed by EmperorJustinian I (d. 527) for propagating heresy.[23][24][25] A new patriarch was appointed,Paul the Jew.
However, part of the clergy, which did not recognize the decision of the Council of Chalcedon, also refused to recognize the new patriarch, after which it split off, creating a parallel structure under Severus, which after the final ethno-confessional division in the empire became theSyro-Jacobite Church. The non-Chalcedonian community was divided between the "Severians" (followers of Severus) and theAphthartodocetists, and this division remained unresolved until 527.[26]
After the deposition of the Miaphysite PatriarchSeverus of Antioch in 512–518 by EmperorJustinian I and the near-total destruction of the episcopate not recognizing the Council of Chalcedon, the state-recognized Antiochian Church became fully dyophysite. Around this time, the monk ofEdessa,Jacob Baradeus, effectively restored the Miaphysite structure, essentially creating theSyriac Orthodox Church.[27]
But before the Chalcedonian Patriarchate of Antioch became purely Greek, and the non-Chalcedonian purelySyrian, attempts to overcome the division continued. In the early7th century, EmperorHeraclius, with a strong intention to unite the Universal Church, appointed Miaphysite patriarchs to all leading sees and proposed a compromise doctrine ofMonothelitism. However, this initiative did not take root and the patriarchates were again divided.
From 637, Syria came under the rule of theArab Caliphate. The situation of the Greek Orthodox was severely complicated, as the Arabs considered them not only "infidels" but also allies of Byzantium. For this reason, the Antiochian Greek patriarchs were forced to live in exile in Constantinople, and after the death ofGeorge II (c. 702), this line was interrupted. Only in 742 didCaliph Hisham allow the election of the Syrian monk Stephen to the Antiochian see, on the condition of his complete loyalty.[28]
Cooperation with Muslim authorities sometimes exceeded all limits. For example, Patriarch Job accompanied the Arab army in the campaign against Amorium in 838 and persuaded Byzantine fortresses to surrender to the Arabs.[29]
Byzantine EmperorNikephoros II Phokas (963–969), after several victories over the Arabs, liberated Antioch and several other territories. However, the military failures of the Muslims increased interconfessional tension: every triumph of Nikephoros provoked pogroms against Christians in Palestine and Syria. One of the victims of these persecutions was the AntiochianPatriarch Christopher, who was killed in 967.[30]
The Byzantine period, lasting until 1084, became an era of revival for the Patriarchate.[31]
In December 1084, during a sudden strike, theSeljuks capturedAntioch. The mere establishment of Seljuk rule in the Near East in the late 11th century did not result in a significant deterioration of the social status of local Christians. They suffered mainly, like the rest of the population, from political instability in Syria, endless wars of small emirates, and forced territorial partitions.[32]
In 1097, EuropeanCrusaders appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean. After the Crusaders’ victories, the relations between them and the local Christians were "complex and ambiguous," not simply friendly or hostile. Local Christians felt closer ties with their fellow Crusader-Christians than with Arab Muslims.[33]
Nevertheless, some scholars agree that relations between Orthodox and Catholics in Outremer were generally good. This is evidenced by the growth of the Orthodox population in thePrincipality of Antioch, including an influx of refugees from other regions under Muslim rule.[34]
However, the Latins still considered their Eastern co-religionists as inferior Christians, attempting to subject Orthodox Christians to Catholic clergy. By 1100, PatriarchJohn the Oxite was expelled from Antioch, replaced by the Latin prelate Bernard of Valencia. Latin patriarchs soon began replacing Orthodox bishops with Catholics in conquered territories, forcing the Antiochian see into exile inConstantinople.
These Catholic persecutions did not last long. In 1165, Antiochian PrinceBohemond III had to appeal to Byzantine EmperorManuel I Komnenos, who demanded the immediate restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy and equal rights with Catholics. Thereafter, Patriarch Athanasius I arrived in the city and began residing at theCathedral of St. Peter.[35]
By 1291, the Crusaders lost their last possessions in the East. They were replaced by fanaticalMamluks, who destroyed churches and exterminated the clergy to eradicate any trace of Christianity. As a result, Christians, who had constituted nearly half of the population of Syria and Palestine in the 11th century, became an overwhelming minority over the next 200 years, scattered across small communities. Their situation worsened further after the fall ofByzantium in 1453.[36]
In 1342, the Patriarchal see was transferred toDamascus, where it remains to this day.[37]
In 1517, Damascus was captured by theOttoman Empire, and the Antiochian Patriarch came under the administrative authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople. In Syria, the Church was subjected to a special tax for non-Muslims, and for delayed payments even metropolitans or Patriarchs could be imprisoned. At the same time, the Orthodox community was not subjected to systematic religious persecution, and there were no recorded cases of mass or forced Islamization in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The only period of persecution of Orthodox Christians in the Near East was connected with theGreek uprising of the 1820s, when Patriarch Seraphim narrowly escaped execution.[38]
At the beginning of the 18th century, a movement emerged in the Antiochian Orthodox Church advocating union withRome. The center of the unionist supporters wasDamascus, and the opponents were inAleppo. In 1724, PatriarchAthanasius IV died, appointing as his successor the monkSylvester, a supporter of the Aleppine faction and opponent of the union. However, the people of Damascus did not accept Sylvester’s candidacy and elected their own candidate —Cyril VI Tanas. After intervention by thePatriarch of Constantinople and the Ottoman authorities, who supported Sylvester, Cyril had to fleeSyria toLebanon. Five years later,Pope Benedict XIII recognized Cyril as Patriarch of Antioch, formalizing the schism and the creation of theMelkite Greek Catholic Church.[39]
According to various estimates, the number of Orthodox believers in the Antiochian Patriarchate in the mid-19th century reached 60–110 thousand (approximately 8–9% of the total population of Syria).
In 1860, Syrian Christians suffered a tragedy when, during amassacre and pogrom in Damascus, a significant part of the city’s Christian community was destroyed and all churches were ruined.
In 1898,Russian diplomacy, with active participation of theImperial Orthodox Palestine Society, succeeded in History of the relations of the ensuring the election of an Arab-Syrian to the patriarchal throne, followed by theremoval of Greeks from the hierarchy.[40]
In April 1899, the first Arab patriarchMeletius (Dumani) was elected.[41] From that time onward, the practice of electing the Antiochian Patriarch from among Orthodox Arabs has been maintained.
According to theLausanne Treaty of 1923, part of the territory of the Antiochian Orthodox Church —Cilicia,Şanlıurfa, andMardin — became part of the Republic of Turkey; by agreement with Greece on population exchange, all Orthodox were deported from these areas, despite protests and claims that they were Arabs, not Greeks. On the eve ofWorld War II, the French authorities handed over the district ofAlexandretta, whereAntioch is located, to Turkey. This action (still not officially recognized by Syria) worsened the situation of the local Christian population.
In 1929, part of the Orthodox population ofLebanon sought the creation of anautocephalous Lebanese Church, arguing that ecclesiastical independence was a logical consequence of political sovereignty. These aspirations were supported by the French authorities but met with strong opposition from Syrians. After tense negotiations inBeirut andZahlé (1929), the parties agreed that the Patriarchal See would remain inDamascus. The prolonged election procedure for a new Patriarch ended in February 1931 with the election in Beirut of a candidate from the Lebanese faction, Metropolitan of Laodicea Arsenius (Haddad). Soon thereafter, Metropolitan of TripoliAlexander (Tahhan) was elected in Damascus. After Arsenius’ death in January 1933, he united the entire Patriarchate under his authority.
Throughout the 20th century, Arab Christians emigrated from the Middle East, many settling in North America, where until 1918 they were under the jurisdiction of theRussian Orthodox Church. After theRussian Revolution of 1917, which caused ecclesiastical unrest in North America, the Syrian-Arab parishes partly joined the Russian North American Metropolia and partly remained under the direct jurisdiction of the Antiochian Patriarchate.
The Antiochian Patriarchate managed to reach an agreement with the Russian North American Metropolia to transfer all Arab dioceses under itsomophorion, but the planned ordination of two bishops in 1936 led to a new schism. Instead of ordaining one of them as a vicar bishop, the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, within which the North American Metropolia was then included, ordained him as Archbishop of Toledo, creating a separate independent church.
In 1972, the current Charter of the Antiochian Orthodox Church was adopted.
Only in 1975 was the schism of the Antiochian Church in America overcome: on 24 June 1975, MetropolitanPhilip (Saliba) of the Antiochian Archdiocese ofNew York and Metropolitan Michael (Shaheen) of the Antiochian Archdiocese of Toledo (Ohio) signed the "Articles of Reunification" — a document restoring administrative unity among the Antiochian Orthodox in the USA andCanada; on 19 August 1975, the "Articles" were approved by the Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate.
In October 2003, the Antiochian Patriarchate’s North American metropolias were granted self-governance by the Synod; vicar bishops of the metropolia were elevated to diocesan rank.
In March 2013, theJerusalem Patriarchate appointed a bishop to the newly establishedQatar Diocese, which caused protests from the Antiochian Patriarchate Synod.[43][44][45] Since none of the Antiochian Patriarchate’s demands were met, on 27 June 2015, the Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate decided to sever "all ecclesiastical communion" with the Jerusalem Patriarchate.[46] In 2023, in the context of thearmed conflict in Israel and Gaza Strip, the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate decided to restore communion with the Jerusalem Orthodox Church.[47]
These ethno-cultural and social tensions were eventually surmounted by the emergence of a new, typically Antiochian Greek doctrine (doxa) spearheaded by Paul (himself a HellenizedCilician Jew) and his followers be they1. Established, autochthonous HellenizedCilician-Western Syrian Jews (themselves descendants ofBabylonian and 'Asian' Jewish migrants who had adopted early on various elements of Greek culture and civilization while retaining a generally conservative attachment toJewish laws & traditions),2. Heathen, 'Classical'Greeks, Greco-Macedonian and Greco-Syrian gentiles, and3. the local, autochthonous descendants of Greek or Greco-Syrian converts to mainstream Judaism – known as "Proselytes" (Greek: προσήλυτος/proselytes or 'newcomers to Israel') and Greek-speaking Jews born ofmixed marriages.
Paul's efforts were probably facilitated by the arrival of a fourth wave of Greek-speaking newcomers to Cilicia, Northwestern Syria,Galilee andJerusalem: Cypriot and 'Cyrenian' (Libyan) Jewish migrants of non-Egyptian NorthAfrican Jewish origin and gentileRoman settlers from Italy — many of whom already spoke fluentKoine Greek and/or sent their children to Greco-Syrian schools. Some scholars believe that, at the time, these Cypriot and Cyrenian North African Jewish migrants were generally less affluent than the autochthonous Cilician-Syrian Jews and practiced a more 'liberal' form of Judaism, more propitious for the formation of a new canon:
[North African] Cyrenian Jews were of sufficient importance in those days to have their name associated with a synagogue at Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). And when the persecution arose about Stephen [a Hellenized Syrian-Cilician Jew, and one of the first known converts to Christianity], some of these Jews of Cyrene who had been converted at Jerusalem, were scattered abroad and came with others to Antioch [...] and one of them, Lucius, became a prophet in the early church there [the Greek-speaking 'Orthodox' Church of Antioch].[48]
These subtle, progressive socio-cultural shifts are somehow summarized succinctly in Chapter 3 of theEpistle to the Galatians:
There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither slave nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).[49]
Dual self-designation: "Melkites" and "Eastern Romans"
The unique combination ofethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of aGreek cultural base,Hellenistic Judaism andRoman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian "Eastern Mediterranean-Roman" Christian traditions of Cilicia (Southeastern Turkey) and Syria/Lebanon:
The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church.[50]
But members of the community in SouthernTurkey,Syria andLebanon still call themselvesRūm (روم), which meansEastern Romans orAsian Greeks inArabic.[51] In that particular context, the termRūm is used in preference toYūnāniyyūn (يونانيون), which meansEuropean Greeks orIonians inBiblical Hebrew (borrowed from Old PersianYavan) and Classical Arabic.[52][53] Members of the community also call themselvesMelkites, which literally meansmonarchists orsupporters of the emperor in Semitic languages – a reference to their past allegiance to Greco-Macedonian,Roman andByzantine imperial rule.[54] But, in the modern era, the term tends to be more commonly used by followers of theGreek Catholic Church of Antioch and Alexandria and Jerusalem.[55]
Interaction with other non-Muslim ethnocultural minorities
Following the fall of the TurkishOttoman Empire and theTsaristRussian Empire (long the protector of Greek-Orthodox minorities in the Levant), and the ensuing rise ofFrench colonialism,communism,Islamism and Israeli nationalism, some members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch embracedsecularism and/orArab Nationalism as a way to modernize and "secularize" the newly formed nation-states of NorthernSyria andLebanon, and thus provide a viable "alternative" to political Islam, communism and Jewish nationalism (viewed as ideologies potentially exclusive of Byzantine Christian minorities).
This often led to interfaith conflicts with theMaronite Church in Lebanon, notably regarding Palestinian refugees after 1948 and 1967. Various (sometimes secular) intellectuals with a Greek Orthodox Antiochian background played an important role in the development ofBaathism, the most prominent beingMichel Aflaq, one of the founders of the movement.[56]
In the early 20th century (notably duringWorld War I), Lebanese-American writers of Greek-Orthodox Antiochian background such as Abraham Dimitri Rihbany, known asAbraham Mitrie Rihbany (a convert toPresbyterianism), popularized the notion of studying ancient Greco-Semitic culture to better understand the historic andethnocultural context of the ChristianGospels: his original views were developed in a series of articles forThe Atlantic Monthly, and in 1916 published in book form asThe Syrian Christ.
At a time when most of theArab world area was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, France and Britain, Rihbany called for US military intervention in theHoly Land to fend off Ottoman Pan-Islamism, French colonialism, Soviet Communism and radical Zionist enterprises- all viewed as potentially detrimental to Christian minorities.
The Patriarch is elected by the Holy Synod from among the metropolitans who compose it. The Patriarch presides the Holy Synod and executes its decisions. He also acts as metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Antioch and Damascus.
The current Patriarch,John X (Yazigi), was elected on December 17, 2012, succeeding to MetropolitanSaba Esber, who had been electedlocum tenens on December 7, 2012, followingIgnatius IV (Hazim)'s death.[57]
Diocese ofShahba: Niphon Saykali (1988–), elevated to archbishop in 2009 and elevated to metropolitan in 2014, Representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East at the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia[82]
Church of Georgia: Georgian autocephaly is believed to have been granted by the Patriarchate of Antioch between 467 and 491 CE, although another proposed date is 1010 CE.
^Arman Akopian (December 11, 2017). "Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites".Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies. Gorgias Press. p. 217.ISBN978-1-4632-3893-3.The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th–6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.
^abMeyendorff, John (1989).Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. pp. 54–59.ISBN978-0-88141-056-3.
^Thomas, D.R. Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. — Leiden: Brill, 2001, p. 47.
^Thomas, D.R. (2001).Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. Brill. pp. 51–52.
^Thomas, D.R. (2001).Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. Brill. pp. 53–54.
^Thomas, D.R. (2001).Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. Brill. pp. 55–56.
^Thomas, D.R. (2001).Syrian Christians Under Islam: The First Thousand Years. Brill. pp. 57–58.
^Ellenblum (1998).Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Cambridge University Press. pp. 26–28.
^Weltecke, Dorothea (2006).On the Syriac Orthodox in the Principality of Antioch during the Crusader Period // East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. pp. 95–96.
^Weltecke, Dorothea (2006).On the Syriac Orthodox in the Principality of Antioch during the Crusader Period // East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. p. 108.
^Weltecke, Dorothea (2006).On the Syriac Orthodox in the Principality of Antioch during the Crusader Period // East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. pp. 97–100.
^Weltecke, Dorothea (2006).On the Syriac Orthodox in the Principality of Antioch during the Crusader Period // East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. pp. 110–115.
^Weltecke, Dorothea (2006).On the Syriac Orthodox in the Principality of Antioch during the Crusader Period // East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean I: Antioch from the Byzantine Reconquest until the End of the Crusader Principality. Peeters Publishers. pp. 120–124.
^Lisovoy, Nikolai N. (2002).The Russian Church and the Patriarchates of the East. Three church-political utopias of the 20th century. Religii mira. Istoriya i sovremennost. p. 150.
^Lisovoy, Nikolai N. (2002).The Russian Church and the Patriarchates of the East. Three church-political utopias of the 20th century. Religii mira. Istoriya i sovremennost. p. 150.
Hohmann, Gregory (2000). "Loyalty to the Emperor and Change of Rite: What Induced the Melkite Church to Exchange the Syrian for the Byzantine Tradition".The Harp.13:49–56.doi:10.31826/9781463233013-008.ISBN978-1-4632-3301-3.
Madey, John (1997). "The Rite of Notification and Acceptance of the Episcopal Election in the Melkite Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch".The Harp.10:85–89.doi:10.31826/9781463232993-013.ISBN978-1-4632-3299-3.
^The ROCsevered full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018, and later severed full communion with theprimates of the Church of Greece, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and the Church of Cyprus in 2020.
^abcdefghiAutocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.
^UOC-MP has moved to formally cut ties with the ROC as of 27 May 2022.
^Semi-autonomous part of theRussian Orthodox Church whose autonomy is not universally recognized.
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