Blessed Bishop Flavianus Michael Malke | |
|---|---|
| Eparch of Gazireh | |
 Bet. 1913-5. | |
| Diocese | Gazireh |
| See | Gazireh |
| In office | 19 January 1913 - 28 August 1915 |
| Predecessor | Julius Behnam Aqrawi |
| Successor | None; suppressed |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 13 May 1883 by Ignatius George V Shelhot |
| Consecration | 19 January 1913 by Ignatius Ephrem II Rahmani |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ya'Qūb Melkī 1858 |
| Died | 29 August 1915(1915-08-29) (aged 55–56) Cizre, Ottoman Empire (now in Turkey) |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 29 August |
| Venerated in | |
| Title as Saint | Blessed |
| Beatified | 29 August 2015 Harissa,Lebanon by CardinalAngelo Amato |
| Attributes |
|
| Patronage | |
Flavianos Michael Malke (Syriac:ܦܠܒܝܐܢܘܣ ܡܝܟܐܝܠ ܡܠܟܝ,Flavyānus Mikhayil Malké), bornYa'Qūb Melkī; (1858 – 29 August 1915) was anEastern Catholicprelate of the Brothers of Saint Ephrem of aSyriac background.[1] He became theSyrian Catholiceparch ofGazarta (modern Cizre).[1][2] Malke was killed in Gazarta during theAssyrian genocide after he refused to convert toIslam.
On 8 August 2015,Pope Francis approved hisbeatification after he determined that Malke was killed in hatred of the faith.[1] He was beatified on 29 August 2015, the centenary of his martyrdom.[3]
Malke was born in Kalat’ül Mara, a village to the east ofMardin,Turkey, in theOttoman Empire.[1] He belonged to a family from theSyriac Orthodox Church which hails fromKharput. In 1868, he joined theSaffron Monastery where he studiedAramaic, Arabic and Turkish beside theology. He was consecrated a deacon in 1878 and a secretary of the library and a teacher in the monastery's school.[4]
He leaned towards Eastern Catholicism and subsequently joined theSyriac CatholicCharafe Monastery school spending four years. He was ordained a priest inAleppo on 13 May 1883 and was assigned to various villages inTur Abdin. His church and house were sacked and burned in 1895 during theHamidian massacres in Diyarbekir Vilayet, during which Father Flavianus' mother and many other members of his parish were murdered.[5]
Over the following years he served as a visiting priest in several sacked and burned villages in Tur Abdin, where he helped with rebuilding efforts. Due to his works, Malke was ordainedChorbishop in 1897 and vice bishop of Mardin andGazarta. On 19 Januari 1913, he was consecrated a bishop together with the futureSyriac Catholic Patriarch of AntiochGabriel Tappuni inBeirut.[5]
In the summer of 1915, during the height of theArmenian Genocide, in the rural region Tur Abdin, Malke, who was inAzakh at the time, returned to Gazarta upon hearing news of the impending Assyrian genocide and refused to flee despite being advised so by local Turkish and Kurdish Muslim leaders. He was arrested by Ottoman authorities on 28 August 1915, alongside theChaldean bishop of the city,Philippe-Jacques Abraham. According to Muslim eyewitnesses they were given choice between death orconversion to Islam. Upon their refusal, Bishop Jacques Abraham was immediately shot dead and Bishop Michael Malke was beaten senseless and then beheaded.[5]
In 2010, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch launched a request for thebeatification of Malke. He was declaredServant of God by theHoly See, which is the first step towards sainthood.[6][7]
On Sunday, 30 September 2012, a report was submitted toRome by theSyriac Catholic Patriarch for Mar Michael Malke's beatification.[8]
On 8 August 2015, his beatification was approved after Pope Francis determined that Melki was killedIn odium fidei ("Out of Hatred of the Catholic Faith").[1] CardinalAngelo Amato - on behalf of the pope - presided over the beatification inLebanon on 29 August 2015.
