Milking
Expressing Melkites (also Melkites ) and the derived adjective Melkite ( melchitisch are) different from the Middle East originated churches designated or its members. The origin of the word lies in the Syriac-Aramaic malka (ܡܠܟܝܐ), German: 'king'. In Arabic there is the adjectiveملكي / malakī , German: 'royal', in the broader sense also 'state' or 'imperial', from which the European name Melkit seems to be derived directly. After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the term was used by the other oriental churches as a pejorative term for those supported by the Byzantine emperor. It is no longer known today when the Melkites began to use it on themselves.
The Melkites were generally Greek-speaking urban citizens who lived in the western Levant and Egypt , while the non-Chalcedonian Syriac Orthodox and Copts tended to live in the countryside. The Melkite Church was divided into three historical patriarchates : Alexandria , Antioch and Jerusalem , each under the Patriarch of Constantinople . The non-Chalcedonians established their patriarchates in Alexandria ( Coptic Church ) and Antioch ( Syrian Orthodox Church ). In contrast to its non-Chalcedonian neighbors, the Nubian kingdom of Makuria (now in Sudan ) practiced the Melkite faith from 575 to 1300 (see list of the bishops of Faras ).
From 1342 Roman Catholic priests came to Damascus and other areas of the Orient . They began proselytizing and some Orthodox priests secretly converted. At the time, the nature of the oriental schism was undefined. Most converts retained the Byzantine rite and remained in their church as a pro-Roman Catholic group. In 1724 Kyrillos VI. Tanas , a pro-Catholic bishop, was elected Patriarch of Antioch. The Patriarch of Constantinople, Jeremais III, viewed this election as a Catholic "takeover attempt" and nominated the Greek monk Sylvester instead of Cyril as patriarch.
The newly elected Pope Benedict XIII. recognized Cyril's claim to patriarchy and welcomed him and the believers into unity with Rome. From that point on, the Melkite Church split into an Orthodox and a Catholic part, each of which was recognized by Constantinople and Rome. The Catholic part kept the name Melkit . In today's parlance, the term Melkiten is used almost exclusively for the Greek Catholic believers.
See also
literature
- Dick, Ignatius. Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Boston: Sophia Press. (2004)
- Dick, Ignatius: Les Melkites . Brepols, Bruxelles 1994