Athanasios IV. Dabbas

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Paul Procopius Athanasius III. Dabbas (actually: Pavlos Prokopios Athanasios Dabbas: Greek Παύλος Προκόπιος Αθανάσιος Δάββας; Πατριάρχης Αθανάσιος Γ * 1647 in Damascus ; † 5 August 1724 in Aleppo , including: Athanasios IV. ) Was the last Greek Patriarch of Antioch before the schism in 1724 which split the Melkites into the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch . For a short time, from 1705 to 1707, he was also the ruling Archbishop of Cyprus ( Athanasios II ).

Life

Paul Dabbas was born in Damascus in 1647 and trained at a Jesuit school . He entered the Mar Saba monastery , where he took the name Procopios for ordination . Later he was appointed superior ( hegumen ) of a monastery in Bethlehem . Then he went to Syria and tried to be appointed bishop of Aleppo , but to no avail.

The hierarchy of the Melkite Church was very unstable at this time. After the death of Patriarch Makarios III. Zaim In 1672, various parties claimed the office of patriarch: his nephew, Konstantinos Zaim, who was installed at the age of 20 (or younger) as Kyrillos V. Zaim , and Neophytos of Chios (Νεόφυτος Αντιοχείας), the nephew of the former patriarch Euthymios III. was appointed by Chios (Ευθύμιος Γ΄ Αντιοχείας) and by the Ecumenical Patriarch Dionysius IV (Διονύσιος Δ΄ Μουσελίμης) for the office. In 1682, however, Neophytos of Chios decided to resign due to his debts. Only Kyrillos V. Zaim was thus a pretender. This situation did not last long, however: the next aspirant to the patriarchal throne was now Paul Dabbas, who was supported by the Franciscan orders , which opposed Cyrillos V Zaim because he was obviously practicing simony . Dabbas received further support from his maternal uncle, Michael Khayat, who had great influence at the Sublime Porte . In 1685 Michael Khayat obtained a Ferman from the Ottoman Sultan , through whom Paul Dabbas was appointed Patriarch of the Melkite Church. On July 5, 1685 Paul Dabbas was consecrated by Leonce von Saidnaya and two other bishops and enthroned as patriarch with the name Athanasios III. The next nine years were marked by the conflict between him and the other candidate, Kyrillos V. Zaim.

On April 10, 1687, Athanasios III. Dabbas signed a Catholic confession and on June 16 of the same year the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples confirmed the election of Patriarch. The congratulations of Pope Innocent XI. followed on August 10th. Since then, the Holy See has considered Dabbas to be the legitimate patriarch of the Melkite Church.

However, the dispute with Kyrillos V. Zaim did not end until October 1694, when the two rivals came to an agreement after Salmon, a Jew from Aleppo, mediated. The terms of the agreement were: Athanasius recognized Kyrillos as patriarch in exchange for 13,000 écu , the appointment to the bishopric of Aleppo and the right of succession at the death of Kyrillos. This agreement was declared void by the Vatican in 1698, which continued to regard Athanasius as patriarch. From 1700 to 1704, Dabbas toured Eastern Europe to solicit financial support. He particularly visited Wallachia , where he was able to receive the support of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu . At the end of 1705 he was Patriarch Gabriel III. of Constantinople (Γαβριήλ Γ΄) to appoint the ruler ( proedros πρόεδρος) Archbishop of Cyprus , an office that Athanasios held until 1707. When he returned to Aleppo, he set up a printing company with the help of Abdallah Zakher .

In 1716 the ruling patriarch Kyrillos V. Zaim also made a commitment to the Catholic faith and was accepted into full church fellowship with Rome on May 9, 1718 . After Kyrillos' decision, Athanasios declared himself Orthodox and led the Orthodox party, to which he remained loyal until his death.

On January 16, 1720 Kyrillos V. Zaim died and after an attempt by the Ecumenical Patriarch to install his own bishop as patriarch, Athanasios finally became the patriarch of Antioch and was even able to make a friend of the candidate from Damascus, the pro-Catholic Euthymios Saifi by Kyrillos Zaim, win for yourself. During the remaining four years of his patriarchy, he preferred to live in Aleppo rather than Damascus , where the patriarchal seat is. He died in Aleppo on July 13, 1724.

Dabbas' follow-up process revealed the divisions in the Melkite Church between the pro-Catholic and pro-Orthodox parties, as well as between the communities in Damascus (the supporters of Kyrillos V Zaim) and Aleppo (the supporters of Athanasios). Dabbas had chosen the priest Sylvester (1696–1766), a militant advocate of the Aleppine Orthodox party, on his deathbed, while the Melkite community in Damascus pushed for the formal election of the new patriarch and the pro-Catholic Kyrillos VI. Tanas chose. Later the Patriarch Jeremias III. of Constantinople invalidated this election, excommunicated Kyrillos and appointed Sylvester Patriarch of Antioch, and consecrated him bishop in Istanbul . This split marked the schism between the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church .

Works

Dabbas was an avid writer and editor. His main work, History of the Patriarchate of Antioch from St. Peter to 1202, was written in contemporary Greek and translated into Latin . He also published liturgical texts such as the Liturgicon 1701 (in use in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church until 1839) and a Horologion (1702).

See also

predecessor Office successor
Bishop of Damascus
1685–1724
Neophytos of Chios Patriarch of Antioch (Orthodox)
1685–1694
Kyrillos V. Zaim
Germanos II. Archbishop of Cyprus
1705–1708
James II
Kyrillos V. Zaim Patriarch of Antioch (Melkite / Orthodox)
1720–1724
Cyril VI Tanas
New Years Eve of Cyprus

Individual evidence

  1. In the list of patriarchs of Korolevski and Skaff he appears as Athanasius III , in the incorrect list of Costantius as Athanasius IV .
  2. Iganatios Dick: Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchate of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem . Sophia Press, Boston 2004, pp. 33-34.
  3. ^ A b c Elias Skaff: The place of the Patriarchs of Antioch in Church History . Sophia Press, Boston 1993.
  4. a b c G. Levenq: Athanase III In: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques , vol. 4: 1369-1376, Letouzey et Ané, Paris 1930.
  5. June 25th according to the Julian calendar
  6. Leonce von Saidnaya († 1686) was himself of Patriarch Makarios III. Zaim was ordained bishop in 1671. Zayat: Histoire de Saidnaya .
  7. Cyril Korolevsky: Antioch. In: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques vol. 3: 644. Letouzey et Ané, Paris 1924.
  8. George Hill: A History of Cyprus, vol 4 . Cambridge Univ Pr, City 2010, ISBN 978-1-108-02065-7 , pp. 342-3.
  9. January 5th according to the Julian calendar
  10. July 24th according to the Julian calendar.

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