Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch

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Coat of arms of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and the entire Orient is an autocephalous Orthodox Church of the Byzantine tradition . It is sometimes also called the Rum Orthodox Church (“ Rum ” in Arabic stands for “Rome” on the one hand - means Constantinople ['the new Rome'] -, on the other hand for “Byzantines”), as the Antiochene Church or the Antiochene Orthodox Church designated. Their territorial dispersion in the Arab region has promoted their self-image of being the bearer of an Arab-Oriental culture. Above all, their Arabic-speaking ethnicity gives the patriarchate the character of an Arabic Orthodox Church .

The liturgical language of the Roman Orthodox Church was originally Syriac Aramaic and mainly Koine Greek , but has been modern Arabic since the 20th century .

History and organization

The patriarch initially resided in Antioch on the Orontes (Antioch). The members of the old Christian community in the Hellenistic city of Antioch were the first to be called christianoi (Greek for Christians ). Since the conquest of Antioch in the 14th century by the Ottoman Turks , however , their patriarch has resided in the Syrian capital Damascus .

Since half of the two million Syrian Christians are associated with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, it is the largest church in Syria . The church has many congregations abroad, particularly in Australia and the USA; it is considered a progressive force among the Orthodox churches. Unlike in most other Orthodox churches, the foreign congregations often maintain their liturgy in the language of the respective host country and also accept converts more frequently and without problems , without requiring them to perform a "cultural conversion" along with their belief in Orthodox Christianity. The church also conducts active youth work, which is rather unusual in the Orthodox field, which is sometimes based on the ideas of the scout movement .

Various members of the church actively campaigned for secular pan-Arabism and had a great influence on the Ba'ath Party in various Arab states until this political direction was ousted by Islamism in the 1980s . Due to the emergence of Islamism in the Arab region, more and more Christians have left their homes in the Middle East because they were threatened or kidnapped by Islamists because of their Christianity . The Greek Orthodox are the denominations that have been decimated the most by emigration.

The head of the Church since 2012 has been His Beatitude John X , Patriarch of Antioch and all of the East . Until then he was Metropolitan and Acting Bishop of Europe with his seat in Paris. The Archdiocese of Europe was then divided into the Archdiocese of Britain and Ireland, the Archdiocese of France, Western and Southern Europe, the Archdiocese of Germany and Central Europe and the Vicariate of Sweden and the Scandinavian countries. Metropolit, responsible for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, has been Isaak Barakat since 2013 , based in Cologne. Auxiliary Bishop in Germany is Bishop Hanna Haikal , based in Berlin. Ignatius Alhoschi has resided in Paris since 2013 as Metropolitan of France, Western and Southern Europe.

The cathedral basilica of the Patriarch of Antioch has been the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus since 1342 .

The Church of Cyprus , the Church of Georgia and the Church of Imeretia and Abkhazia emerged from the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch . For other churches that also lay claim to the patriarchal seat in Antioch, see Patriarchate of Antioch .

See also

literature

  • Christoph Leonhardt: The Orthodox Christians in Syria and Lebanon: Between Assad and Islamists (= DOI short analyzes) German Orient Institute, Berlin 2014.
  • Wolfgang Brandes: The Melkite Patriarchs of Antiocheia in the 7th century. Number and chronology . In: Le Muséon 111 (1998), pp. 37-67.
  • Klaus-Peter Todt : Region and Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antiocheia in Middle Byzantine times . In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 94 (2001), pp. 239–267.
  • Klaus-Peter Todt: Greek Orthodox (Melkite) Christians in central and southern Syria. The period from the Arab conquest to the transfer of the patriarchal residence to Damascus (635–1365) . In: Le Muséon 119 (2006), pp. 33-38.
  • Carsten-Michael Walbiner: The episcopal and metropolitan seats of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch from 1594 to 1664 according to some contemporary sources . In: Oriens Christianus 82 (1998), pp. 99-152.
  • Carsten-Michael Walbiner: The episcopal and metropolitan seats of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch from 1665 to 1724 according to some contemporary sources . In: Oriens Christianus 88 (2004), pp. 36-92.

Web links

Commons : Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Brief introduction on the WCC website
  2. Christoph Leonhardt: The Levantine War: The Islamist Threat and the Redefinition of Political Alliances in Lebanon. A critical analysis of the positioning of interviewed Rum and Syrian Orthodox Christians. In: Martin Tamcke (Ed.): That is more than a contribution to international understanding. On the history and reception of the genocide against the Armenians (= Göttinger Orientforschungen I .: Syriaca Vol. 52). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 185–232.
  3. Christoph Leonhardt: The Greek and the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch in the context of the Syrian Conflict. In: Chronos 33 (2016), pp. 193–242.
  4. Christoph Leonhardt: The Attitude of Rumanian and Syrian Orthodox Christians in the Syrian Arabellion - Between the ruling Baath Party and the opposition. In: Ostkirchliche Studien 63/2 (2014), pp. 193–242.
  5. Christoph Leonhardt: The Orthodox Christians in Syria and Lebanon: Between Assad and Islamists (= DOI short analyzes) Deutsches Orient-Institut, Berlin 2014.