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Melkite (/ˈmɛlkaɪt/) orMelchite churches are variousEastern Christian churches of theByzantine Rite, and their members. The name comes from theCentral Semiticrootm-l-k[a] 'royal', referring to the loyalty to theByzantine emperor, and became adenominational designation for Christians who accepted imperial religious policies, notably theCouncil of Chalcedon (451).[1][2]
Originally, during theEarly Middle Ages, Melkites used bothKoine Greek andAramaic (Classical Syriac &Syro-Palestinian)[3][4][5][6][7] languages in their religious life,[8] and initially employed theAntiochian rite in their liturgy, but later (10th–11th century) accepted theConstantinopolitan rite, and incorporatedArabic in parts of their liturgical practices.[9][10][11]
In modern times, there are twodenominations calledMelkite:[12]Orthodox Melkites, theGreek Orthodox Christians of the Near East, andCatholic Melkites, members of theMelkite Catholic Church. Melkites can be of various ethnic origins, and Melkite can be the denominational component ofethnoreligious classifications.[13]
Melkites view themselves as thefirst Christian community, dating the Melkite Church back to the time of theApostles.[14] Accordingly, notably toVatican historiographers and theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, this first community is said to have been a mixed one made up of individuals who wereGreek,Copts,Roman,Aramean (Syriac),Arabs andJewish.[15][16] Secular historians likeEdward Gibbon andErnest Renan held similar views regarding the emergence of the Melkite community.
The emergence ofChristological controversies in the first half of the 5th century gave rise to divisions amongEastern Christians in various regions of theNear East. Official state support, provided by theByzantine imperial government to adherents ofChalcedonian Christianity (451), provided the base for a specific use ofAramaic terms that designated those who were loyal to the empire, not just in regard to their political loyalty, but also in relation to their acceptance of imperial religious policies. Throughout the Near East, all Christians who accepted state-backed Chalcedonian Christianity, became known asMelkites, a term derived from the Hebrew wordmelekh (similar to Aramaicmalkā ormalkō, meaning "ruler", "king" or "emperor"), thus designating those who are loyal to the empire and its officially imposed religious policies.[1][2]
The very term (Melkites) designated all loyalists, regardless of their ethnicity (Greeks, Copts, Hellenized Jews, Arameans (Syriacs), Arabs,...), thus including not only Greek-speaking Chalcedonians, but also those among Aramaic-speaking and Arabic-speaking Christians andJudeo-Christians who were followers of Chalcedonian Christianity. All pro-Chalcedonian Christians throughoutByzantine Syria,Byzantine Phoenicia,Byzantine Palestine andByzantine Egypt thus became commonly known asMelkites. Since Melkite communities were dominated by Greek episcopate, position of Aramaic-speaking and Arabic-speakingMelkites within the wider Melkite community was somewhat secondary to that of GreekMelkites. That led to the gradual decline of Syriac-Aramaic traditions.Classical Syriac was originally theliturgical language of the SyriacMelkites inAntioch and parts ofSyria, while some other Aramaic-speakingMelkites, predominantly of Jewish descent, used theSyro-Palestinian dialect inPalestine andTransjordan instead.[17][18][19][20][21] The SyriacMelkites changed their church'sWest Syriac Rite to that ofConstantinople in the 9th-11th centuries, requiring new translations of all their Classical Syriac liturgical books.[22][23]The decline of Syriac-Aramaic traditions among Melkites was enhanced (since the 7th century) by gradualArabization, that also affected Greek-speaking Melkite communities, since under the Islamic rule Arabic became the main language of public life and administration.[24][25][26]
Internal divisions that emerged after theCouncil of Chalcedon (451) in the eastern patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, gradually led to the creation of distinctive pro-Chalcedonian (Melkite) and non-Chalcedonian branches, that by the beginning of the 6th century evolved into separate hierarchical structures.[27]
Chalcedonian (Melkite) patriarchates ofAlexandria,Antioch, andJerusalem remained in communion with theEcumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. On the other side, amongmiaphysite non-Chalcedonians, parallel patriarchates emerged in Alexandria (miaphysiteCoptic Church) and Antioch (miaphysiteSyriac Church).
InByzantine Palestine, the pro-Chalcedonian (Melkite) party prevailed, as well as in some other regions, like the Nubian kingdom ofMakuria (in modern Sudan), that was also Chalcedonian, in contrast to their non-ChalcedonianEthiopian Tewahedo neighbours, fromc. 575 until c. 710 and still had a large Melkite minority until the 15th century.
Main Melkite Orthodox Churches are:
Some typicallyGrecian "ancientsynagogal"priestlyrites[which?] andhymns have survived partially to the present,[citation needed] notably in the distinctchurch services of the Melkite andGreek Orthodox communities of theHatay Province of Southern Turkey,Syria andLebanon. Members of these communities still call themselvesRūm, which literally means "Romans" inArabic (that is, those of theEastern Roman Empire, what English speakers often call "Byzantines"). The termRūm is used in preference toYūnāniyyūn, which means "Greeks" or "Ionians" in Classical Arabic andBiblical Hebrew.
The Orthodox Saint,Raphael Hawaweeny, reports that:
"There is a local tradition which says that when the Caliph Umar Ibn Al-Khattab wanted to write the document of guardianship to Patriarch Sophronius, after he had heard that Christians were divided into different groups such as Jacobites, Nestorians, Armenians, Maronites, and so forth, he asked him: "What is the name of your branch of Christianity?" Sophronius entreated him to give him some time so that he could find a good name pleasing to the Caliph. While he was absorbed in praying fervently, he was inspired to call his people by the first word he would hear in the service. Then listening attentively, he heard the Deacon reading the fifth Psalm from the first hour: "Oh my King and my Lord." Then he knew that he should call his people "the Royal People, or the Kingly People." Upon finishing his prayer he told the Caliph that they should be called "Royal People," or "Melkites." The Caliph approved this name and ... From that time till the end of the Arabic period, the Orthodox people of Palestine and Syrian came to be called the Royal People."
This local tradition has been interpreted by some members ofthe Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre to argue thatPatriarch Sophronius was Greek, and therefore claim that the term Melkite refers specifically to the Greek nation and ethnicity as a "Royal People", often as justification for racial discrimination against non-Greeks, which Saint Raphael argues against.[28]
From 1342, there wereRoman Catholic clergy who were based inDamascus and other areas who had worked toward a union between Rome and theOrthodox. At that time, the nature of theEast–West Schism, normally dated to 1054, was undefined, and many of those who continued to worship and work within the Melkite Church became identified as a pro-Western party. In 1724,Cyril VI (Seraphim Tanas) was elected in Damascus by the Synod as Patriarch of Antioch. Considering this to be a Catholic takeover attempt,Jeremias III of Constantinople imposed a deacon, the Greek monkSylvester to rule the patriarchate instead of Cyril. After being ordained a priest, then bishop, he was given Turkish protection to overthrow Cyril. Sylvester's heavy-handed leadership of the church encouraged many to re-examine the validity of Cyril's claim to the patriarchal throne.
The newly electedPope Benedict XIII (1724–1730) also recognised the legitimacy of Cyril's claim and recognized him and his followers as being in communion with Rome. From that point onwards, the Melkite Church was divided between the Greek Orthodox (Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch), who continued to be appointed by the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople until the late 19th century, and the Greek Catholics (Melkite Greek Catholic Church), who recognize the authority of the pope of Rome. However, it is now only the Catholic group who continue to use the titleMelkite; thus, in modern usage, the term applies almost exclusively to theArabic-speakingGreek Catholics from theMiddle East.
In contrast to "Nestorians" and "Jacobites", a small group of Syriacs accepted the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Non-Chalcedonian Syriacs called them "Melkites" (from Aramaic malka "king"), thereby connecting them to the Byzantine Emperor's denomination. Melkite Syriacs were mostly concentrated around Antioch and adjacent regions of northern Syria and used Syriac as their literary and liturgical language. The Melkite community also included the Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity in Palestine and the Orthodox Christians of Transjordan. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary work (mainly translation) in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect, using a script closely resembling the Estrangela cursive of Osrhoene.
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 of Roman, greek and lvantian descent 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.
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.
In contrast to "Nestorians" and "Jacobites", a small group of Syriacs accepted the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. Non-Chalcedonian Syriacs called them "Melkites" (from Aramaic malka "king"), thereby connecting them to the Byzantine Emperor's denomination. Melkite Syriacs were mostly concentrated around Antioch and adjacent regions of northern Syria and used Syriac as their literary and liturgical language. The Melkite community also included the Aramaic-speaking Jewish converts to Christianity in Palestine and the Orthodox Christians of Transjordan. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary work (mainly translation) in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect, using a script closely resembling the Estrangela cursive of Osrhoene.
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