Maronite Cathedral of Damascus

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The Maronite Cathedral of Damascus ( Arabic الكاتدرائية المارونية, DMG al-Kātidrāʾīya al-Mārūnīya ) or St. Anthony 's Cathedral (مار أنطونيوس Mar Antonios 'Sankt Antonius') is the cathedral of the Maronite Catholic Church in the Syrian capital Damascus . It is located in the Christian quarter of the old town not far from the north-eastern city gate Bāb Tūmā on the north side of the monastery street (El-Deir).

General

The Maronite Cathedral in Damascus is located in the westernmost section of El-Deir Street (Klosterstraße) on the north side opposite the Catholic St. Paul Monastery of the Franciscans , shortly before it joins Bab-Tuma Street to the west at the Omari Mosque.

The Maronite Cathedral in Damascus was built in 1865. It is the seat of the Maronite Arch Parchy Damascus , which had over 20,000 members in 2013. Archbishop has been Samir Nassar since November 26, 2006 .

history

The first Maronite bishop in Damascus was from 1523 - seven years after the city fell to the Ottoman Empire - Bishop Antonios († 1529), with 1527 being given as the year of the establishment of the Archeparch. The first Maronite church in Damascus existed until 1616. During the massacre in the Christian quarter of Damascus on July 9, 1860, many Maronite Christians initially found refuge in the Franciscan monastery in Damascus , but the Druze militia managed to penetrate the monastery and continue to kill there. Eleven Christian martyrs were killed: In addition to Engelbert Kolland , who came from Tyrol , there were seven Spanish friars and the three Maronite brothers Masabki - Fransis, 'Abd al-Muti and Rufayil - who had refused to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. All eleven martyrs from 1860 were on October 10, 1926 by Pope Pius XI. beatified and honored on July 10th.

Today's Maronite church was first opened as the Church of the Assumption of Mary in 1864, four years after the massacre. Later Saint Anthony of Padua (مار أنطونيوس, also in the French form القديس أنطون البدواني) Patron saint.

From 2013, during the civil war in Syria , the Bab Tuma district came under repeated attack by Islamist rebels. On January 8, 2018, Islamist mortar shells were fired again on the old town of Damascus from the eastern Ghouta after a lengthy period of calm. A bomb exploded in the bedroom of Archbishop Samir Nassar , who was in another room and was therefore unharmed. Up to five people were reported to have died in the area of ​​the Maronite Cathedral on January 8th. Of the churches in the district, the Maronite cathedral in particular suffered damage, especially to the doors and windows. The bombing ended with the capture of Eastern Ghouta by the Syrian army in April 2018.

Equipment and outbuildings

The Maronite Cathedral is located in the heart of a complex that also includes the Bishopric. In the courtyard there is a monument to Saint Rita and another to Saint Anthony of Padua from 1959. Above the door of the cathedral is a poem dated 1865, which reminds that the children of Marons kept faithful to the faith and the truth God's spread. A marble plaque next to it commemorates the renovation in 1992 under Bishop Anton Hamid Morani under the direction of the engineer George Sharabieh. In the church are the graves of the three Maronite brothers Masabki, who were martyred in the 1860 massacre in the Franciscan monastery opposite today's Maronite cathedral.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Saint Anthony (Mar Antonios) Maronite Cathedral and Bishopric, Bab Touma district. Christians of Syria, Aid to the Church in Need, January 8, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Maronite cathedral damaged in a mortar attack on the old town of Damascus. Fides, January 9, 2018.
  3. ^ Maronite Cathedral, Damascus, Syria, Maronite Archdiocese of Damascus. Gcatholic, January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Archeparchy of Damas (Maronite) - Damascenus Maronitarum. Catholic Hierarchy, February 17, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b c متري هاجي اثناسيو ، قتيبة شهابي ، 2005 ، اديرة وكنائس دمشق وريفها: (بحث ميداني توثيقي تاريخي اثري)[ Mitri Haji Athanasio , Qutaiba Shihabi : Monasteries and churches in Damascus and their landscape (historical archaeological documentary research). Damascus 2005], 12.كنيسة القديس أنطوان البدوي[ Church of St. Anthony of Padua ].
  6. ↑ The Massabki brothers. Living Maronite, accessed May 6, 2020.
  7. ↑ Matthew Davis: Damascus archbishop describes Syrian Catholics' plight. The Catholic Spirit, November 16, 2018.
  8. ↑ Giuseppe Caffulli (translation Paul Waldmüller OFM and Gabriel Gnägy OFM): In Damascus, monasteries and churches under bomb attack. Terra Santa, January 24, 2018.
  9. ↑ Ulrich W. Sahm: “No alternative to Assad in Syria”. Israel Network, September 30, 2019.

Coordinates: 33 ° 30 ′ 43.4 "  N , 36 ° 18 ′ 55.7"  E