Patriarch ofAntioch | |
|---|---|
| Christian | |
| Information | |
| First holder | Saint Peter |
| Denomination | Catholic (Eastern Catholic Churches),Eastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox, |
| Sui iuris church | Melkite,Maronite,Syriac Catholic |
| Rite | West Syriac Rite,Byzantine Rite |
| Established | 34 (founded)451 (granted title of patriarch) |
ThePatriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by thebishop ofAntioch (modern-dayAntakya,Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος,episkopos, from which the wordbishop is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance inPauline Christianity from itsearliest period. This diocese is one of the few for which the names of its bishops from the apostolic beginnings have been preserved. Today five churches use the title of patriarch of Antioch: oneEastern Orthodox (theGreek Orthodox Church of Antioch); oneOriental Orthodox (theSyriac Orthodox Church); and threeEastern Catholic (theMaronite,Syriac Catholic, andMelkite Greek Catholic Churches).
According to the pre-congregation church tradition, this ancient patriarchate was founded by theApostleSaint Peter. The patriarchal succession was disputed at the time of theMeletian schism in 362 and again after theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451, when there were rivalMelkite andnon-Chalcedonian claimants to the see. Following a 7th-century succession dispute in the Melkite Church, theMaronites also began appointing aMaronite patriarch. After theFirst Crusade, the Catholic Church began appointing aLatin Church patriarch of Antioch, though this became strictlytitular after theFall of Antioch in 1268, and was abolished completely in 1964. In the 18th century, succession disputes in the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Churches of Antioch led to factions of those churches entering into communion with Rome under claimants to the patriarchate: respectively theMelkite Greek Catholic patriarch of Antioch and theSyriac Catholic patriarch of Antioch. Their respective Orthodox progenitors are theGreek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and theSyriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch.
In Roman times, Antioch was the principal city ofthe Roman Province of Syria, and the fourth largest city of the Roman Empire, after Rome,Ephesus andAlexandria.
The church in Antioch was the first to be called "Christian," according to Acts.[1] According to tradition,Saint Peter established the church in Antioch which was the first major Christian area before the 4th century and was the city's first bishop,[2] before going toRome to found the Church there.[3][self-published source]: 95 Ignatius of Antioch (diedc. 107), counted as the third bishop of the city, was a prominentapostolic father. By the fourth century, the bishop of Antioch had become the most senior bishop in a region covering modern-day easternTurkey,Lebanon,Israel,Palestine,Syria,Jordan,Iraq, andIran. His hierarchy served the largest number of Christians in the known world at that time. Thesynods of Antioch met at a basilica named forJulian the Martyr, whose relics it contained.
Despite being overshadowed in ecclesiastical authority by thepatriarch of Constantinople in the later years of theEastern Roman Empire, the Antiochene Patriarch remained the most independent, powerful, and trusted of the eastern patriarchs. The Antiochene church was a centre of Christian learning, second only toAlexandria. In contrast to theHellenistic-influencedChristology ofAlexandria,Rome, andConstantinople, Antiochene theology was greatly influenced byRabbinic Judaism and other modes ofWest Asian monotheistic thought—emphasizing the single, transcendent divine substance (οὐσία), which in turn led toadoptionism in certain extremes, and to the clear distinction of two natures of Christ (δύο φύσεις:dyophysitism): one human, the other divine. Lastly, compared to thePatriarchates in Constantinople, Rome, and Alexandria which for various reasons became mired in the theology of imperial state religion, many of its Patriarchs managed to straddle the divide between the controversies of Christology and imperial unity through its piety and straightforward grasp of early Christian thought which was rooted in its primitive Church beginnings.
TheChristological controversies that followed theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451 resulted in a long struggle for the Patriarchate between those who accepted and those who rejected the Council. The issue came to a head in 512, when a synod was convened in Sidon by the non-Chalcedonians, which resulted inFlavian II (a Chalcedonian) being replaced as Patriarch bySeverus (a non-Chalcedonian). The non-Chalcedonians under Severus eventually came to be called theSyriac Orthodox Church (which is a part of theOriental Orthodox Church), which has continued to appoint its ownpatriarchs of Antioch. The Chalcedonians refused to recognise the dismissal and continued to recognise Flavian as Patriarch, forming arival church. From 518, on the death of Flavian and the appointment of his successor, the Chalcedonian Church became known as theByzantines' (Rūm)Church of Antioch. In theMiddle Ages, as the Byzantine Church of Antioch became more and more dependent onConstantinople, it began to use theByzantine rite.[4]
The internal schisms among Christians — such as issues withChristology,Julianism,Monothelitism,Monergism, and others — were followed by the Islamic conquests which began in the late 7th century, resulting in the patriarch's ecclesiastical authority becoming entangled in the politics of imperial authority and later Islamichegemony. Being considered independent of both Byzantine and Arab Muslim power but in essence occupied by both, thede facto power of the Antiochene patriarchs faded. Additionally, the city of Antioch suffered several natural disasters including major earthquakes throughout the 4th and 6th centuries and anti-Christian conquests beginning with theZoroastrianPersians in the 6th century, then the MuslimArabs in the seventh century before the city could be recovered by the Byzantine Empire in 969.[5]
Although someSyriac-speaking followers of the 4th-century hermitSaint Maron did accept the terms ofChalcedon, they adhered toMonothelitism (due to impossible communication with the wider Chalcedonian church and their attempt to synthesize the works of earlySyriac Fathers with Chalcedonian language) until the 12th century through the establishment of communion withRome.[6][7] Although the Maronites initially fought alongside the Byzantines in their struggle against the Arabs, in 685 AD, they appointed a Patriarch for themselves,John Maron, who became the first Patriarch of theMaronite Church; however, the historical existence of John Maron is doubtful and largely relies on recent traditions of the Maronite Church itself.[8]
Over the centuries, differences between the Church in the East and West emerged such as the use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist in the West or the addition of thefilioque to theNicene Creed byPope Sergius IV. The resulting schism, theGreat Schism, has often been dated to the 1054 mission ofCardinal Humbert to Constantinople when Humbert excommunicated (invalidly) the Patriach of Constantinople,Michael I Cerularius, who in turn excommunicated the Pope and removed him from thediptychs. Consequently, two major Christian bodies broke communion became two fractions: One faction, now identified as the Catholic Church, represented the Latin West under the leadership of the pope; the other faction, now identified as the Eastern Orthodox Church, represented the Greek East under the collegial authority of the patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople and Alexandria. This split, however, was then most likely known only within higher clerics who either gave it little importance or expected it to be overcome soon.[5]
As with the patriarchates of Alexandria and Jerusalem, communication between Rome and Antioch was not as easy as between Rome and Constantinople. Nevertheless, documentation between Antioch and Rome exist such as when in 1052 Patriarch Peter III send news of his appointment toLeo IX and asked him to send a profession of faith back as the popes had not been commemorated in the diptychs for 30 years.[5] After Michael I Cerularius had excommunicated the Latin Church in 1054, informed also Peter III whose reply shows the non-importance he and many others maintained toward the events of 1054; Peter maintained the Latins were their brothers but that their thinking was prone to error and that as barbarians they should be excused from a precise understanding of orthodoxy.[5] In 1085, the city was captured bySultanate of Rum but it was allowed thatJohn the Oxite, the newly appointed patriarch by emperorAlexios I Komnenos could live in the city. When the army of theFirst Crusade appeared before thewalls of Antioch, John was imprisoned by thecity's governor and subject to torture in front of the eyes of the crusaders. After the conquest of the city in June 1098, John was released and reinstated by the spiritual leader of the crusader,Adhemar of Le Puy, as patriarch of Antioch.[9] After Adhemar's death, theNormanBohemond of Taranto established himself asprince of Antioch and went in opposition to Alexios I in 1099/1100, forcing John to leave the patriarchate due to his suspected loyalty to the Byzantine Emperor. Bohemond selecteda Frankish cleric loyal to him as new patriarch, thus starting theLatin Patriarchate of Antioch.
The Western influence in the area was finally ended by the victories of theMuslimMamluks over theCrusader States in the 13th century. In 1268 thePrincipality of Antioch came to an end with thebrutal conquest of the city by Mamluks which left the significance of the patriarchate, together with the ecclesiastical schisms between Rome and Constantinople and between Constantinople and Alexandria and Antioch, isolated, fractured and debased. The Latin Patriarch went into exile in 1268, and the office became titular only. The office fell vacant in 1953 and was finally abolished in 1964.
In Aleppo, the efforts of Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries led some members of the local Syriac Orthodox community to create a pro-Roman faction within their church. In 1667,Andrew Akijan was elected as patriarch, resulting in a schism. After Akijan's death in 1677, two rival patriarchs emerged, one of whom was Akijan's uncle. Until 1782,Syriac Catholics had no patriarch, until the Syriac Orthodox Holy Synod, composed of Catholic-leaning members at the time, appointed MetropolitanMichael Jarweh of Aleppo as patriarch, who immediately proclaimed his allegiance to the Catholic Church, and brought many members of theOrthodox faithful into communion withRome. This pivotal decision established the leadership of the Syriac Catholic Church, known as the Ignatius Line, which has remained continuous since Jarweh's time.[10]
In 1724,Cyril VI was elected Greek patriarch of Antioch. He was viewed as pro-Rome by thepatriarch of Constantinople, who refused to recognize the election and appointed another patriarch in his stead. Many Melkites continued to acknowledge Cyril's claim to the patriarchate. Thus, from 1724, the Greek Church of Antioch divided into theGreek Orthodox Church of Antioch and theMelkite Greek Catholic Church. In 1729,Pope Benedict XIII recognized Cyril as the Eastern Catholic patriarch of Antioch and welcomed him and his followers intofull communion with theCatholic Church.[11]
Today, five churches claim the title of patriarch of Antioch;[12] three of these are autonomousEastern Catholicparticular churches in full communion with thepope of Rome. All five see themselves as part of the Antiochene heritage and claim a right to the Antiochene See throughapostolic succession, although none are currently based in the city ofAntakya. The presence of multiple patriarchs of Antioch, along with their absence from the city itself, highlights the tumultuoushistory of Christianity in the region. This history has been characterized by internal conflicts and persecution, especially following the Islamic conquest. As a result, the original Christian population in the territories of the Antiochene patriarchs has been nearly eradicated through assimilation and expulsion, leaving the current Christian community as a small minority.
The current patriarchs of Antioch are listed below in order of their accession to the post, from earliest to most recent.
At one point, there was at least nominally asixth claimant to the Patriarchate. When the Western EuropeanCrusaders established thePrincipality of Antioch, they established a Latin Church church in the city, whose head took the title of Patriarch. After the Crusaders were expelled by theMamluks in 1268, the pope continued to appoint atitularLatin patriarch of Antioch, whose actual seat was theBasilica di Santa Maria Maggiore inRome. The last holder of this office wasRoberto Vicentini, who died without a successor in 1953. The post itself was abolished in 1964.
One way to understand the historical interrelationships among the various churches is to examine their chain of episcopal succession—that is, the sequence of bishops each church recognizes as the predecessors of its current claimant to the patriarchate. There are four key moments in history when a disputed succession to the patriarchate resulted in a lasting institutional schism, leading to the five churches that exist today.
Thus, the succession recognized by each church is as follows:
Monophysites were no more than a party every where (except in Egypt, where they were all-powerful), but that party was the majority in Palestine and Syria, and was not negligible in the Capital, and in Asia Minor. .. There were plenty of laity and monks among the Monophysites; there was a fair supply of clergy; Chalcedonians were negligible in Egypt, and a minority in all the Orient, though they were a considerable minority, perhaps even a local majority, in Palestine.
Traditional ecclesiastical jurisdictions ofprimates inChristianity, sorted according to earliestapostolic legacy and branched where multiple denominational claimants: bold blue =Catholic Church,light blue =Eastern Orthodox Church (* unrecognized),bold/light green =Oriental Orthodoxy,italic blue =Nestorianism,bold italic blue =pre-schism | |||||||||||||||||||||
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