ECPA Cover: Ven. Andrei Rublev, 1410, Holy prefigured in the 3 angels’ visit to . ©/ Wikimedia Commons. Inside Cover: Holy Fire Orthodox ceremony celebrating the Feast of the Resurrection, in the of the Anastasis, site of the Holy Sepulcher, . © Gali Tibbon, Getty Images. Pg. 3: Syriac detail from the Rabbula . See caption on pg 21. Back Cover: Marvelous mosaic of Pantocrator (“Ruler over All”) from the , , 1261 AD. ©/ Dianelos Georgoudis, Wikimedia Commons.

Compiled By ECPACONTENTS The Eastern Pastoral Introduction p. 3 Association of So. Ca. (ECPA) 300 South Flower Street Part I — Orange, CA 92868 The Concept and Origin of the Church p. 3 [email protected] Apostolic Church Development p. 4 The Metropolitan Centers p. 5 Main Editor The Five Patriarcates p. 5 Rev. Antoine Bakh Early and Councils p. 8 Divisions that Still Remain Today p. 9 Layout & Assistance Eliane Rached Cury Part II — Catholic Churches in The Roman Tradition p. 11 Published By The Byzantine Tradition p. 14 The Eastern Catholic The Alexandrian Tradition p. 18 Pastoral Association The Antiochian (West Syrian) Tradition p. 20 of Southern California (ECPA) The Chaldean (East Syrian) Tradition p. 22 The Armenian Tradition p. 24 Compliments Jay & Rola Glossary of Terms p. 25 Timeline of the Communion of Churches p. 26 Copyrights Catholic Churches in Communion p. 27 © ECPA, 2nd Edition, , 2016 Population of Non-Catholic Eastern Churches p. 28 ECPA gives permission to copy Population of Catholic Churches p. 29 this booklet for instructional Map p. 30 purposes only, but not to sell. Bibliography p. 31 2 The One Church and the Communion of Churches

INTRODUCTION This booklet summarizes the development of all the Catholic churches in communion with one another that today manifest the same oneness that existed at the time of the Apostles through their common bond with the Successor of . It is hoped that through this outline the reader will be able to view the splendor of the One Church shining forth through its multifaceted expressions within the communion of churches

PART I - HISTORY

Concept & Origin of the Church In the , beginning The Church has many names: “the with before the fall, Bride of Christ”, “the Kingdom of we see the image of a harmonious ”, “the MysticalECPA ”, church-family under God, namely, etc. (Rev. 21:9, Lk 17:21, Mt 16:16, Eph 4:12.) All a “paradise”. For a short time Adam have an experience of and Eve lived in obedience to the what a church is and many have only law commanded them. (Gen. 2:17) studied its great effect on human They were familiar with hearing history. Yet, when we consider God move about in the Garden. (Gen the grand view of creation from 3:8). Luke refers to Adam as “son of beginning to end, there is a deeper God” (Lk 3:38) The refers to this meaning to the concept of Church. kind of family-bond/contract as a The Fathers of the Church, that is, covenant. The sin of Adam and Eve the and teachers of the early broke the unique covenant God church, taught that the Church is made with them; it seemed then that very ancient; it is the first of all that God’s plans for his church-family came to be, and the reason for which to include the human race would God created the universe1! The be destroyed. But God cannot be Church exists wherever Truth exists. defeated by evil. Although our first It is that part of creation which will parents and their descendants, fell endure to the end and which will into sin, God had a plan to bring all become glorified.(2 Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15. Rev. 21:5) peoples and nations back to him. 1Jurgens, W.A., The of the Early Fathers, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1979, Vol. I, 82, 435 3 The story of Noah and his faithful covenant-family of God, be family confirms for us God’s desire to united to Christ. The collective maintain a covenant with the human body in union with Christ is called race and to preserve the world from the Church. It includes the angels destruction. God later formed a and the faithful departed who have covenant with Abraham and his clan. gone before us. The mission of the God then renewed this covenant with Church is to baptize all nations Isaac, then Jacob (,) who had into Christ. Jesus commanded his twelve sons that formed the twelve disciples, “Go therefore and make Tribes. Under Moses, the covenant disciples of all nations. Baptizing agreement of the Law formed at Sinai them in the name of the Father and encompassed a nation. Then, under of the Son and of the , King David, the covenant people teaching them to observe all that I became a kingdom. have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of Somehow each successive covenant the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20) expanded to include more and more people as God’s plan to redeem all of mankind matured. Yet these Apostolic Church Development covenants were constantly broken After , the Apostles because they depended on weak received great power (Acts 2), human beings. Finally, through the impelling them to evangelize not long awaited Messiah (Christos in only the tribes of Israel but all Greek), a completely new, eternal peoples. Leaving Jerusalem, many covenant was established that fulfilled went out into various regions of the all past covenants. The world. Since they were Hebrews, the formed the ChurchECPA gathered from liturgical form they used followed among the nations - the church the custom of the and the catholic! : they gathered, sang , said prayers, had Scripture The word catholic was used since at readings and a . They also least the year 110 AD by St. Ignatius2, carried out the commandment of , to designate that Christ gave them at the , church which is spread out all over forming a uniquely Christian way the world and is for all people, versus of worship through the “Breaking the church of the one nation- Israel. of the ”, namely, the , The word catholic is from the Greek or Thanksgiving. The celebration of catholikos, meaning universal. This the Eucharistic Communion was new covenant cannot be undone for them, and would be for all the because it is based in Jesus Christ, apostolic churches, the very heart of the Son of God, who lives forever. Christian life and worship. All who wish to enter into this new

2. Escorted by prison guards to in 110 AD, St. Ignatius wrote to the Church there asking them not to try to prevent his martyrdom for “I am God’s wheat, and I will be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.” Ibid 53a. He also mentions the Presidency of the Church of Rome.

4 The Metropolitan Centers Although the Apostles along with other evangelists and their successors went to many places, the areas that accepted most readily were the cities. Metropolitan areas especially became strong centers of Christianity and influenced the surrounding areas. “Rock of the Multiplication” 5th cent. Mosaic, in the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, on which Jesus is said to The early church spread and have multiplied the five loaves and two fish, symbolizing the developed in unique ways that were Eucharist. ©/ Berthold Werner, Wikimedia Commons characteristic to the metropolitan areas. Various liturgical traditions, the First Jewish-Roman War. One sometimes referred to as Rites, million were killed. After it evolved according to the , was rebuilt, it was again completely culture, and outlook of the people destroyed in 135 AD during the of the different areas of the world. second Jewish revolt. Unfortunately, Although all shared the common Jerusalem, the first church, never faith of the Apostles, each metro- recovered enough to preserve its politan church developed its own own distinctive tradition. Today, way of expressing that faith in the small Christian presence in that worship, and of explaining it in city is made up of all the other main theological writings. Churches in traditions of the church. the surrounding areas had to receive approval for theECPA of their The growth of early Christianity bishops. The metropolises became came at the great price of thousands magnets that strongly influenced of Martyrs. Severe persecution, everything around them, including torture and executions of Christians church practice and civil politics. subsided after the The bishop of these centers was which Emperor Constantine granted called a (a formal way of Christians at Milan in 313 AD. After saying “father”) or (a familial that, Bishops began to feel free and way of saying “father”). had more ability to codify the in order to preserve the essence of from . By The Five this time several patriarchates and Jerusalem liturgical customs had developed. In the first two centuries the major These served to enrich the Tradition metropolitan centers were Antioch, of the one Church. , and Rome. Jerusalem also began as an influential Christian Antioch center, but in 70 AD the city was It was in Antioch that the word completely demolished along with Christian was first used (:26) the Temple by the Romans during and where both Peter and 5 preached. Antioch was heavily but due to persecution and the fact Hellenized and its people spoke that it could not take root within Greek, but it was also a cross-roads the culture, it eventually died out for the Semitic and Greek cultures. after the tenth century, long before Some, especially with ties to the set foot there. Similarly, countryside, also spoke Syriac, a Christianity reached the Arabian dialect of Aramaic3, which was the peninsula and was only beginning language of Jesus; these people to take root among some tribes just had more of a cultural affinity with before the Islamic conquests. (in present day ) which became an influential Christian Alexandria center almost immediately from the According to tradition, Alexandria second century on. From Antioch was evangelized by a of and Edessa the reached St. Peter, St. , Persia (present day and parts of author of which bears his ) whose most important city was name. It quickly became a strong Seleucia-Ctesiphon. According to Christian center and took the faith tradition, this area, along with , into all of and , was evangelized by St. Thomas an area already acquainted with the Apostle. Later on, Christianity and which had received the reached China through the - gospel since the time Philip spoke speaking people. There it began to with the , a court thrive for severalECPA hundred years, official of the queen (Acts 8:26-39).

The Colosseum in Rome where some Christians were martyred. Jarvis, flickr

3. Jesus spoke Aramaic because after the Assyrian conquests in the 8th century BC it eventually became the common language of the area. Syriac is the later Aramaic after Christ. Syriac is to Aramaic what modern English is to early English. 6 12th century at of the embrace of St-Peter and St-Paul. According to tradition, the two embraced before being taken for execution. © Velissarios Voutsas, IML Image Group Ltd, Alamy Rome it that the Apostle Bartholomew Rome was the final evangelical evangelized , also in Asia mission of Peter. It is the tradition Minor. In 303 AD it became the of the church that Peter became the first country in the world to adopt first bishop ECPAthere and that both he Christianity as the official state and Paul were martyred in that city. religion. The Apostle Andrew is The Bishops of Rome henceforth had credited with evangelizing the small the distinguished honor of being port city of Byzantium, which in 330 the successors of Peter, the head AD was rebuilt and fortified by the of the apostles (Mt. 16:16-19, Acts 15:7), Emperor Constantine to become the and were therefore recognized as new capital of the Eastern part of having primacy. Also, the fact that the . Upon his death Rome was the center of the Roman it was renamed . Empire, caused the church there to have a prestigious place among all The church of Constantinople was other churches. hailed as the New Rome and instantly attained patriarchal status, gaining Constantinople such honors as to rank second only In the first century, Christianity to Rome. Its influence became great reached Asia Minor where St. Paul throughout the Greek-speaking preached and sent several letters Eastern Empire and beyond, into which have become part of Scripture. new evangelical frontiers both north Asia Minor is also the place of the and east. The Christian emperors Seven Churches mentioned in the also became more and more . Tradition has involved as patrons of the Church 7 held at Jerusalem (Acts 15).

The early church also had to deal with the Gnostics4 who denied that Jesus had a human body. They grew in number and threatened the (true faith) of the church. , contending with them, wrote, “...every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist....” (1 John 4:2-3) This group St. Clement, bishop of Rome, 3rd successor of St. Peter, 90- 99 AD, of St. Paul in Rome. grew larger after the death of the Pontifical Archeological Commission Apostles and took on various forms. The Gnostic sects that developed and attempted to settle disputes by were especially dangerous because taking sides on theological matters they denied the humanity of and even by choosing who would Jesus, and the goodness of the be the Patriarch in Constantinople. material creation, and because they Henceforth, political friction composed their own and between four metropolitan areas, scriptures such as the so-called Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, and and Antioch would increasingly many other “gospels” they simply trouble the church. At times political made up apart from the historical disputes evenECPA erupted into the reality. Every variety of theological sphere causing myopia sprouted to “suit every ear.” Most and needless misunderstandings of these sects died out after a few that also led to bitter divisions. hundred years.

Early Heresies & Councils The greatest heresy, the Arian5 Heresies in the church are as Heresy, took its name from , old as the time of the Apostles. a in Egypt, who said that the St. Paul had to contend with the Son of God was created as the first of . These were a group of all creatures and was not eternally fundamentalist Jews who, having begotten. This teaching caused great become Christian, insisted that all uproar, especially since Arius had Christians must hold onto the Law some bishops as sympathizers, and given to Moses (see Galatians). The it caused divisions among christians Apostles and other bishops put all over the world. As a result, a an end to the controversy by the great council was held at Nicea decision they reached at the Council in 325 AD. It was an impressive 4. From the Greek “Gnosis” “to know.” Gnostics believed that a person is saved by knowing certain secrets that are revealed to the elect. Gnostics mixed Christianity with various philosophies and mythologies. 5. Germanic tribes had converted to before becoming Catholic, hence the Nazi term, Arian Race. 8 gathering of all the bishops of the affirming the ancient belief in Christ world or their representatives. Like as a single person. the , in Acts 15, this council was held with the A segment of the East Syrian Church belief that the Holy Spirit would did not agree with the Council and guide them to all truth as Jesus was subsequently excommunicated. said (John 16:13). The council of Nicea This included Christians in the proclaimed the ancient faith of the Persian Empire, the long-time Apostles, which is still proclaimed arch-enemy of the Roman Empire. every Sunday, “I believe in one From there the Nestorian form of God, the Father almighty, maker Christianity spread further east. of heaven and earth, of all things Today, however, it is generally visible and invisible. I believe in one agreed that these sad divisions came Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten about as a result of political tensions Son of God, born of the Father and a lack of clear communication before all ages. God from God, Light across two distinct world views. from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial In 451 AD the with the Father...” Those who did was held to resolve another great not accept the of the council controversy which began in were excommunicated. Arianism Egypt over the identity of Christ. spread far and wide, lasting Eutyches, an Egyptian , taught hundreds of years until it finally that Christ had one . Today died out in the . we understand that the term nature answers the question “What is it?” Divisions that Still Remain Today While the term person answers the Because of variousECPA political tensions question “Who is he?” For example- and theological misunderstandings, Who is he? …Jesus. What is he? divisions which began in the fifth …human and divine. However, century are still with us.

When , Patriarch of Constantinople, said in a homily on day that we ought not call Mary the Mother of God, as was customary, riots broke out in the streets. This led to a General, Church-wide council in 431 AD at Ephesus6. The controversy was serious because failing to call Mary God-bearer implied a dichotomy in the identity of Jesus. The Council proclaimed that Mary is the The Good Shepherd, early 3rd century, Catacombs of St. (Bearer of God) thereby Callistus. Pontifical Archeological Commission

6. A city where the Mary is thought to have lived when she was with John the Apostle. 9 the terms nature and person were against each other. Antioch and not at all clear at that time. We Jerusalem fell in 637. Then, in 641, are only able to understand what Alexandria surrendered without is meant by these words today a fight, eager for liberation from since the Christological reflections Constantinople. Henceforth, Islamic that developed as a result of the dominance would calcify the council assigned their definition. Christian controversies that plagued The council taught that Christ is the divided Patriarchates of Antioch one divine person possessing two and Alexandria, and their former : divine and human, united influence on the rest of the Church together, but distinct, not mixed. outside their would wane. Three sections of the Church were Lastly, the Great between separated when they did not accept East and West took place in 1054; the council of Chalcedon; they were the great majority of the churches referred to as Monophysite (One in the East became separated from Nature). These came to be called the West. The rivalry was between the Coptic , the the Church of Rome, which holds Armenian Orthodox church, and the the primacy, and the Church of Antiochian Syrian Orthodox church. Constantinople, the New Rome. These followed the Patriarch (Pope) Since the 5th century, the Western of Alexandria. Today, however, it is Empire was in anarchy due to largely agreed that the division that constant invasions from Germanic now exists is a matter of semantics tribes and Islamic forces. Rome had and does not touch on the essence of declined in prestige and political the faith. These churches agree that influence. But Constantinople held Christ is both ECPAdivine and human, out, even against the greater blows although they use the term special of the Islamic invasions, while also nature to express the union of the holding out against the attacks of two. However, the growing political the Northern tribes. Because of the friction at that time, especially complex political climate, tensions between Constantinople and built to a breaking point between Alexandria, fueled the controversy. Rome and Constantinople until Christians fought with great each excommunicated the other in resentment over this issue, even to 1054. At that time the controversies the point of shedding blood. were not yet deep-rooted, not until the sacking of Constantinople by the In the early 7th century a great war Fourth Crusade in 1204. Henceforth, was fought between the Byzantine the divisions that may have been and Persian Empires that totally healed with a little resolve became bankrupted them both. This led to very bitter and still remain with us the lightning sweep of Arab Islamic today fighters against the Persian Empire and vast parts of the ; in particular, the Christian territories that had been divided

10 Left: 1965 Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople embrace. © CATHOLICPRESSPHOTO Right: May 25, 2014: and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople embrace in Jerusalem, while the back- drop commemorates the 1965 historic event. © ServizioFotograficoOR/CPP

PART II - CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN COMMUNION

Complicated are the historical The Roman Tradition circumstances which led each History: The Roman Tradition is particular church to either rich in variety. The prestigious continue communionECPA with Rome, influence of the city of Rome, the or to separate, only to later influence of the , a common reunite, at least in part. These scholastic language and the historical circumstances involve cohesion of the Western Empire’s centuries of shifting relationships infrastructure, were some of the of churches with one another, factors that contributed to a tradition intricately inter-woven and spanning a large geographic area influenced by linguistic, political, and encompassing a multitude of economic, and cultural variations. cultures. At the time of the Apostles, Below, the history of each of the 24 Greek was the language of the churches in communion with the learned. Eventually Latin prevailed Bishop of Rome will be dealt with throughout the West, even as Rome briefly. They are categorized into declined. As the Germanic tribes 6 main Traditions. A Tradition is conquered the western lands, a particular religious family that people who wished to be educated has its own liturgy, , had to learn Latin. Several liturgical and laws. They are: rites developed. In the Roman the Roman, the Byzantine, the Tradition there is only one Latin or Alexandrian, the Antiochian, the Roman church. This is largely due Chaldean and the Armenian. to the centralizing influence of the

11 The Basilica of St. Peter was built over the spot where the Apostle was buried. Нурлан Саяt, Wikimedia Commons

Pope of Rome within his patriarchal possible approaches to God within territory in the West and also due the . to the fact that unity eventually prevailed over all the early heresies Various liturgical rites belonging and divisions until the Protestant to the Roman Tradition developed in the 16th century. throughout the centuries but today ECPAare used sporadically. Some of these Liturgy & Spirituality: Latin include: liturgical tradition is ancient and Ambrosian: Celebrated in has elements from both the Greek the Archdiocese of Milan and and Syriac traditions. Its essential surrounding areas. form is influenced by monasticism Mozarabic: Celebrated through from the 5th century to the middle the eleventh century in the Iberian ages. Until the liturgical reform of Peninsula of . This liturgical the late 20th century Latin rite has Moorish influence. It was were commonly used. Today suppressed and became nearly the Latin liturgical tradition is extinct, confined to occasional characteristically diverse. Its celebrations in the Cathedral of basic form is highly adaptable Toledo and nine churches. In 1993 to the multitude of cultures and its use was restored to all regions of of each local . The Spain and wherever its celebration Liturgy can be solemn or simple, is desired. Many Hispanic customs depending on local custom. Today, for weddings, , and Holy the spirituality of the Week are derived from this rite can be characterized by its openness and its derivative, the Braga Rite of and inclusivity to a diversity of .

12 The Hagia Sophia (The of Holy Wisdom), of Constantinople, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, was turned into a mosque by the conquering Muslim . © Alan Oddie, PotoEdit

Gallican (Rite of Lyon): This rite Christianity. These evolved into developed as one of those Gallican the modern nations of . group of rites which were practiced Likewise, when the were from about the 5th century in Gaul. discovered, the Today this rite is no longer in use. eventually converted and today The Catholics of the Anglican comprise a large part of the Latin Usage is noteworthy of mention as a Church. A series of tragic divisions ECPA th recently established Ordinariate. of the church occurred in the 16 century, forming the Lutheran, The Latin Church - The Bishop of Calvinist (Reform,) Anglican and Rome is the successor of St. Peter, Presbyterian denominations. Since and as such is the Pope of the entire then, thousands of other protestant Church. The Latin Church is the denominations have splintered largest by far of all other churches off that have lost their original combined. It has a long history . That is, they which spans the greater part of the do not have a valid priesthood. globe. Until the second Vatican Many efforts are being made to Council the liturgical language was bridge the gap of misunderstanding Latin. Beginning in the 5th century, and to bring healing to the divisions when the Germanic tribes became that remain in . victorious over the , they settled in various The world population of the Latin areas over the course of several is over 1.2 billion. hundred years. They eventually mixed with the indigenous local peoples and were converted to

13 The Byzantine Tradition mixed in a and given to the History: The word Byzantine comes faithful with a . But from the name of the ancient give communion by . port city, Byzantium, later named Byzantine spirituality emphasizes Constantinople. Today it is known as the unknowable mystery and Istanbul (from the Greek expression majesty of God. Yet God does not Eis tin Bolin which means towards remain distant; on the contrary, the city.) Since the time of Alexander we are each called to share in the the Great (d. 323 BC) Greek had divine nature through Christ. God become as universal as English is remains unknowable in his essence today. Constantinople became the while communicating his love. vanguard of the ancient Roman We participate in his very life by Empire and of communing with him through his until around the time of the birth of body, the church. Christopher Columbus! All fourteen Churches listed below Liturgy & Spirituality: The Liturgy use the Byzantine liturgical rite of the Byzantine Tradition owes but have their own variations and much to the splendor of the royal history. court of the Byzantine Empire with its elaborate rituals, processions, Albanian Church chants, , and mosaics. An Christianity came to before the icon screen dividing the Holy 4th century. Since then most Place from the nave creates a sense have become Muslim. After the East- of mystery. At communion time, West schism of 1054, a small group the body and ECPAblood of Christ are became Catholic in the 16th century,

Interior of St. Anne Greek Catholic Cathedral, North Hollywood, Ca. Courtesy St. Anne Cathedral 14 but soon after disappeared. In 1920 Constanatinople. In the second half another small group became Catholic. of the 19th century a small group of In 1967 the government of Albania Greek Orthodox from Constantinople outlawed all religion. Today Albanian (Istanbul) became Catholic. Today Byzantine Catholics have become they number a few thousand. dispersed and numerically are only a few hundred. Hungarian Church The Hungarian (Magyars) received Bulgarian Church their faith from Byzantium but sought The Bulgarian Catholic Church had the jurisdiction of the Latin Church its beginnings in 1861. Today a small until 1696. The influx of refugees from community remains of approximately Byelorussia and increased in 10,000 mostly in whose number and melded with the local bishop resides in Sophia. population. In 1912 a diocese was created for them. Today they number Byelorussian Church about 261,000. The Byelorussian Catholic Church had its beginnings at the Union of Italo-Albanian Church Brest in 1596. Today they number a Since and southern were few thousand. heavily Greek in culture at the time of the early church, many of the people of Croatian Church those regions adopted the Byzantine Although most Croatians belong to the Liturgy. But as the centuries passed, Latin Church, some use the Byzantine the region came more and more Liturgy (these were Orthodox who, by Latinized. The Byzantine influence 1613, entered into communion with on the region nearly disappeared. Rome). In 1777ECPA a permanent diocese However, in 1453, the fall of was established in Kirževci. In 2001 Constantinople brought a new wave & 2002 the Serbian and Macedonian of immigrants from Albania, most Apostolic Exarchates were established of whom were Byzantine Christians. whose faithful used to be under the Thus the faithful now number 62,212. church of Križevci, . There is no Orthodox counterpart.

Georgian Church Melkite-Greek Church adopted Christianity Also referred to as Roum Catoleek. It early in the 4th century through is erroneous to translate this literally the ministry of a woman, St. Nino. as since Roum really The church originally rejected the refers to New Rome, Constantinople, Council of but accepted it the new capital of the Roman Empire. in 607. In 1905 a small group was Melkite comes from the Syriac Malko established as the Georgian Catholic which means King, in reference to Church. the Emperors who supported the Council of Chalcedon. The early Greek Church Melkite Tradition included Syriac Today’s speaking Christians and Syriac is independent of the Patriarch of liturgical usage. At the time of the 15 Islamic invasion Byzantine liturgical the Western liturgical tradition. The influence gradually increased area however gradually adopted the until the Melkites finally adopted Byzantine usage, although culturally Byzantine liturgical usage by the and linguistically it remained thirteenth century, along with Greek Western. After the Great Schism and later vernacular. between East and West, Romanian After the schism between Rome Christians became Orthodox. In and Constantinople in 1054, the the beginning of the 18th century did not some reunited with Rome. After immediately break off relations with 1948 the Romanian Byzantine Rome. There are many examples of Catholic Church was outlawed sacramental sharing in the centuries by the totalitarian communist that followed. A distinct Catholic/ government, and all the bishops, Orthodox hierarchy emerged in and many , , and 1724 when a patriarch having faithful died in prison and in the clear Catholic sympathies was gulags (forced labor camps). Today, elected. Those opposed to Catholic Romanian Orthodox number 23 communion elected their own million, while Romanian Catholics candidate. number 512,726.

Today the Melkite Patriarchal seat Russian Church is in with residences in One of the last of the Byzantine Raboueh () and . The Catholic Churches to be formed Patriarch has the title of Patriarch of is the Russian Greek Catholic Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria Church. In the nineteenth century and Jerusalem. (East being the some prominent figures and boundaries of ancientECPA .) The intellectuals in Russia became faithful are mostly Arabic speaking from all the countries of the . Melkites living outside of their native lands today make up the greater portion. There are () and churches in North and , , and various parts of the world. There are 1,685,296 Melkite Catholics worldwide. The Antiochian Orthodox Church called Roum Orthodox is their more numerous counterpart with about 2.5 million faithful.

Romanian Church Christianity in has been of located on traced back to Apostolic times. In the the Mount of , near the Garden of in 3rd century it took root in the form of East Jerusalem. cc Sustructu, Wikimedia Commons 16 Catholic. However, it was illegal to be a Russian Catholic until an edict of tolerance was issued in 1905. Small Catholic groups then began to form in St. Petersburg and as well as in Kursk and Harkhov. They called themselves the Catholic . In 1917, with the Bolshevik takeover, the Catholic Codex Petropolitanusl 9th Century . One who had been appointed example of thousands of such Biblical of the that same year was imprisoned and Byzantine text type, some of which ultimately gave rise to th his flock subsequently scattered. the King James English Bible in the 16 century. ©/ Wikimedia Commons. Today there are small communities in Paris, Brussels, the Hague, Rome, Ukrainian Church , Sao Paulo, Buenos Although Christianity among the Aries, El Segundo, , and Ukrainian people is ancient, the San Francisco, with a combined Rus- Nation did not convert population of about 3,500, with in until 988 following the possibly more in Russia. The conversion of Prince Volodymyr. Russian Orthodox Church has 150 The divisions of 1054 would later million faithful, the largest by far. affect this area of the world. The in 1596 began Ruthenian Church reestablishment of communion with The Ruthenians are of the Carpatho- the Orthodox of Ukraine. By the Ukraine region. They are related to 18th century two-thirds of the area the Ukrainians and speak mostly of Western Ukraine was Catholic. a different dialectECPA of the same In the 19th century the but consider themselves Czar officially suppressed Catholic ethnically Ukrainian, Slovak, and Churches, but many communities Rusyn. Some Ruthenians came into still flourished in the area of the formal communion with Rome in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and 17th century. Today the Ruthenian . Under , the Catholic Church numbers 571,827. Ukrainian Catholic Church was oppressed and forced to join the Slovakian Church Russian Orthodox. Most bishops The Slovaks have been closely and many priests died in prison linked to the Ruthenians, in fact, while others were exiled. But the indistinguishable until national events of 1989 have brought the awareness arose in mid 19th century. Ukrainian Catholic Church out Catholic Slovaks were outlawed from its underground existence. by the Communists until 1968. Numbering 4,418,570 faithful, Today there are about 210,767 the Ukrainian Catholic Church Slovak Catholics worldwide constitutes the largest Catholic including about 30,000 in . Church in the former In the they identify and the largest Eastern Catholic themselves with the Ruthenians. Church in the world. 17 The Alexandrian Tradition History: Mark the Evangelist is credited with founding the church in Alexandria. Eventually, all of Egypt, present-day , and much of Ethiopia became Christian until the seventh century when dominated North . But it was not until the middle ages that Christians ceased to be in the majority. During the first few hundred years of Christianity Alexandria was very St. Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, also known as active theologically having only the the Hanging Church (El Muallaqa,) is one of the oldest churches in Egypt. cc Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons school of Antioch as a competitor. The Alexandrian Tradition also gave the The Alexandrian Tradition had only Church one of its greatest treasures, one Church until the 20th century Monasticism. After the example of when the southern part of the Coptic Saint (251-356 AD), Church attained independent status thousands flocked to the desert to and became known as the Ethiopian experience and learn this way of life. Church.

But there were also tensions. Liturgy & Spirituality: The Liturgy Alexandria provided grain for of the Alexandrian Tradition closely Constantinople, which had grown resembles the Byzantine Liturgy with in dominance over Alexandria. Both its processions and chanting but has cities had culturalECPA and language less speculative poetry and symbolic differences as well as arguments over splendor. It is highly penitential, trade. Egypt, after all, was once an contemplative, long, and solemn. The empire itself. Now it was subservient wear slippers in the holy place. to Constantinople. The The faithful remove their shoes before of the Coptic Liturgy was resisted for going up to communion. Men and the most part, and the Coptic language women go separately into side rooms (a mixture of the old Egyptian and that are open to the to Greek) and way of worship prevailed. receive communion. Leavened bread This rivalry fueled the religious is used. The liturgical language is controversies which ended in division Coptic, but the vernacular is also used. after the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In the early church Alexandria The greater part of the Alexandrian emerged as a center of spirituality divided from the rest with an emphasis on faith, of the church. Those who accepted and constant prayer. Through the the Council faded away during the influence of monasticism Alexandrian long period of Islamic domination. spirituality is highly penitential. In 1442 at the council of an There are strict fasts throughout agreement of unity was reached but most of the year. Charity, meekness, did not materialize in practice. constant prayer, and a simple life 18 are encouraged. There is a strong the time of the Marxist revolution in emphasis on the divinity of Christ and 1974, which put an end to what was the otherness of God. claimed to be the most ancient line of Monarchical succession going back to Coptic Church King ! The Muslim Arab invaders referred to the indigenous peoples of Egypt The Ethiopian Church had its as Gypt (Copt) from the Greek word beginnings among the Coptic Egyptos meaning Egyptian. Orthodox and it received independent take pride in the ancient tradition status from Alexandria in 1950, thus that Mark the Evangelist founded becoming an autonomous church. At the See (Seat) of Alexandria, and the communion take even more pride in that Egypt was achieved with the Ethiopian is part of the since it was Church but it could not take hold the country of refuge for the Holy because of the forced introduction of Family. activity from the Latin liturgical practices. This caused Coptic Church spread in all directions resentment and finally reversion to and was particularly successful a state of division. In the 19th century southward, reaching deep into missionary activity resumed, and in where Christianity eventually became 1960 a Catholic Metropolitan See was extinct due to Islamic persecution and established. conquest. Eritrean Church Around the middle part of the In 2015, Pope Francis reorganized the 18th century, Franciscan and Jesuit Catholic Church in , detaching influences resulted in a small number it from the Catholic Church in of Coptic OrthodoxECPA becoming Ethiopia and raising it to the rank of Catholic. In the 19th century a Coptic a Metropolitan Church. Today there Catholic Patriarchate was established. are 88,114 Ethiopian Catholics and Today the Coptic Catholic population 159,826 Eritrean Catholics, while the is 173,688, a fraction of the overall combined Orthodox population is 48 Coptic Orthodox population of million. about 15 million, and has churches in Canada, USA, Australia, and various other countries.

Ethiopian (Geez) Church Although there were Christians there from Apostolic times, large scale conversions, including that of the King, did not take place until the 4th century when the Coptic, St. , evangelized the area. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church became an integral A priest at Na’akuto La’ab church, , Ethiopia, part of Ethiopian life, so much so that with an old depicting the miracles of Mary. it became the right up to © Sean Sprague 19 The Antiochian Tradition largely due to the influence of a group of ; among the largest and (The West Syrian Tradition) most influential was the of From the Antiochian Patriarchate Saint . there evolved two Semitic traditions: The West Syrian Tradition also referred During the Islamic conquests of the to as the Antiochian Tradition, and the 7th century, the Patriarch of Antioch Chaldean (East Syrian) Tradition. resided in Constantinople because History: When St. Peter and other Antioch was too dangerous. The Apostles founded the early church Emperor would appoint the Patriarch. community in Antioch the city was a But there occurred a period of major metropolis. It quickly became vacancy. As a result, a portion of the the center of Christian activity for Catholic bishops of the Near East, hundreds of miles away. However, The under the influence of the Monastery Patriarchate of Antioch suffered from of Saint Maron, decided to elect their two main divisions. The first occurred own Patriarch as rightful successor. in 431 when bishops from all over the This was St. . He moved world gathered in Ephesus to settle the See to the more secure mountains a dispute regarding the personhood of Lebanon. His election, and that of of Christ. They affirmed that Mary his successors, was not recognized by can be called Mother of God. This title the remaining bishops. They instead was not accepted by some bishops awaited an appointment from the and a schism occurred which led to Emperor. When finally one was the formation of a separate Chaldean- appointed, he continued to reside in Assyrian Church. The second Constantinople as did his successors. schism occurred in 451 following the For this reason and because of Council of ChalcedonECPA which stated political, economic, geographic, and that Christ had two natures, divine other factors, the Chalcedonians who and human. A portion of the Syriac followed the Emperor-appointed Church along with a portion of the Patriarch began to employ elements Alexandrian and Armenian Church of the Byzantine liturgical tradition rejected the Council. They were called increasingly from the 7th century until Monophysites (adherers of one-nature,) the 13th century when the Byzantine since they believed that Christ had only Liturgy was used in its entirety. one divine-human nature. The Syriac- Because of their Byzantine usage they speaking Monophysites were later also called Jacobites. They eventually elected their own Patriarch of Antioch and claimed rightful Apostolic succession. Today this Church is called Syrian Orthodox, whereas the portion of this Church that has come into communion with Rome is called Syrian Catholic. The remaining Christians in the Antiochian Patriarchate supported Chalcedon The Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (East Syriac script.) and remained in catholic communion ©/ Dangelo, Wikimedia 20 are today referred to as Greek-Melkite or Roum Catholic, or Roum Orthodox. The remaining Catholic Chalcedonians retained the Syriac-based Antiochian liturgical tradition along with some Edessan influence. They came to be called Maronite because of the influence of the in preserving allegiance to the 5th century Council and because of the monastery’s influence in the election of St. John Maron in the 7th century.

Liturgy & Spirituality: The liturgy is among the most ancient, having Jewish roots. It is highly influenced One of the oldest depictions of the and the by Monasticism in its simplicity. Resurrection is found in the Rabbula Gospels, 586 AD. Such Syriac art inspired early Byzantine . Some churches have a separating © of of Los Angeles. the inner sanctuary as in the ancient temple; it opens during the Eucharistic the monastery of Saint Maron and its celebration. Although some icons many sister monasteries. The existence are used these are not ornate. There of this monastery, among the largest in are processions, chants, and songs. the Near East, having 800 cells, was a Eucharist is given by intinction. The critical factor in preserving the ancient prayers are poetic and scriptural. They Apostolic Syriac Tradition within the are filled with imagery showing the Catholic Communion. It was named fulfillment ofECPA the in after a priest-, Maron, d. 410 Christ. Syriac spirituality emphasizes AD. He lived in the mountains of paradox in order to depict the essence present-day Syria in the region of of God. Though unknowable he has Apamea along the . made himself known to the simple When he died, his disciples later built and pure of heart. Thus, Mary held the monastery in his memory. The in her arms the one who holds the monks of this monastery and dozens whole universe. In the early church, of sister monasteries were zealous Antioch competed with Alexandria as evangelizers. Until the early Middle a spiritual center. But its emphasis was Ages, the were numerous on the humanity of Christ. God became throughout the Near East where “one of us” that we may be as he is. monastic evangelization became very successful, but especially in the mountainous areas of Lebanon which The only Catholic body in the became a fertile home for the Gospel, Near East that retained its Syriac and from the 7th century on, a refuge characteristics after the in for Maronites during the terrible the Patriarchate of Antioch. It later persecutions when St. John Maron, came to be referred to as Maronite a Maronite bishop, was elected as because it aligned itself closely with Patriarch, and moved the Antiochian 21 See to the Lebanon mountains. Patriarch has been elected along side Henceforth, the Maronites would the non-Chalcedonian Patriarch of the shape the culture and history of Syrian Orthodox Church. The Church Lebanon and its surrounding areas. suffered terribly during the chaos of under the Turks and Outside of Lebanon there are today 3 again under ISIS. There are 207,740 Eparchies in Syria, an Eparchy each Syrian Catholics mostly in Syria, in , Egypt, Europe, the Holy Lebanon, and Iraq, the Americas and Land, Australia, , , Australia. , Canada, and two in the USA. The Maronite Church, never The Chaldean Tradition broke communion with Rome and (The East Syrian Tradition) has no Orthodox counterpart. The While the West Syrian Tradition was population is 3,358,504. influenced by the later Byzantine Tradition, the Chaldean Tradition Syrian (Syriac) Church was hardly touched due to the Persian The Semitic minded Edessa and Empire’s hostility with its ancient and the surrounding areas in arch-rivals in the West. Chaldeans Syria staunchly resisted Hellenization and Assyrians lived in ancient Persia and the influence of Constantinople. but also in the “in-between” lands of Many of these rejected the Council of present-day Iraq that was always a Chalcedon (451). Under the efforts of battle ground that vacillated between Jacob Baradai, the non-Chalcedonian the two great empires. The designation movement gained strength and hence of this tradition by the linguistic term, this Church was referred to as Jacobite East Syrian, is disputed. (a term rejected by the Syrian Church). Negotiations forECPA the reestablishment Chaldean Church of communion began in the 12th Not only did the area of ancient century, and unity documents were Babylon & resist the influence signed at the Council of Florence in of Constantinople, but it also 1442, but nothing materialized. In the rejected the Hellenizing influence 17th century Latin Catholic missionary of Antioch from the beginning. Its activity and Maronite influence liturgy developed from Palestinian succeeded in persuading many Syrian Christianity through Antioch and Christians to enter into communion Edessa with minimal Greek influence. with Rome. Ever since, a Catholic The Mesopotamian region was

August 20, 2014, photo of historic visit of five patriarchs to , Iraq, at the height of the terrible persecutions which killed thousands of Christians and other , and caused hundreds of thousands to flee their ancestral in Iraq & Syria. From Left: Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorius III Lahham, Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Youna, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Rafael Sako. © AINA, www.aina.org/releases/20140826162613.htm 22 St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Palayur, , India, is believed to be established (in 52 AD) by St. as the oldest of his seven churches. © Raj Singh, Alamy evangelized in the second half of the Lebanon, Egypt, Europe, USA, 1st century by Mar (saint) Addai and Australia, Indonesia, & other areas. Mar Mari. In the 4th century Seleucia- Ctesophone became the ecclesiastical The Christians of St. Thomas center, and self-governance was Syro-Malabar & Malankar Churches proclaimed in 424. Chaldeans and Malabar is a region in Southwest India Assyrians adopted in Kerala. According to local tradition, in 486 soon afterECPA the Council of St. Thomas the Apostle evangelized Ephesus in 431. This division reflected the area and was martyred there. a political and theological tension Therefore, Christians there are called with Byzantium. The Chaldeans and St. Thomas Christians. They had Assyrians continued their missionary little contact with other churches of activity in Persia, India, and China, the Roman Empire, but developed particularly from the 8th to the 13th hierarchical and liturgical relations century, but their activities were with the Chaldean-Assyrian Church curtailed in the 14th century following with added Indian traditions. With the conversion of the Mongolian the arrival of European invaders to Islam. Communion with in the 15th century, the relationship the Church of Rome began in the 16th with the Chaldean-Assyrian Church century and has continued with more was stopped. By 1600 European and more success. The Muslim Turks Bishops governed. But in 1653 a major inflicted cruel persecutions upon the division took place when one group faithful during World War I, killing accepted the Antiochian non-Catholic 200,000. Recent persecution has also tradition, marking the beginning of decimated the church. The Chaldean the Orthodox Church in India. They Catholic Church has 602,058 members. became known as Syro-Malankara. In It exists in Iraq, Iran, Syria, , 1930, a group from this church under 23 the leadership of Mar opened during the celebration of the Ivanios reestablished communion Eucharist. A high platform elevates with the Catholic Church and the the sanctuary from the main body of accepted it as a separate the church. The priest wears a crown Catholic Church. Like the Syrian to signify Christ the king. Unlike the Church, the Malankara Catholic Byzantine Liturgy, unleavened bread Church employed the Antiochian is used. Liturgical Rite. Today this Malankara Catholic body constitutes about 22% The Armenian Church of the overall Malankara Christian For political, cultural and theological population of 2 million. The other reasons the Church of Armenia branch of the Malabar Church that rejected the Council of Chalcedon had broken communion with Rome in 451 and split from the rest of the retained the Assyrian liturgical usage. Catholic Church. The Armenian The great majority, however, returned, Apostolic Church of Cilicia and by 1992 the Church was raised to established communion with Rome the status of Major Archiepiscopate. during the ; but when both Today it comprises over 92% of the the Crusader and the Armenian Malabar Christian population of over Kingdoms collapsed, communion 4 million. was broken. In 1439, at the Council of Florence, a of reunion was published but did not materialize. In The Armenian Tradition 1740 an Armenian Catholic Patriarch History: Tradition attributes the was elected and later became evangelization of Armenia to the established in Lebanon. The brutal Apostles Jude and Bartholomew. genocide by Turkey during World Ancient ArmeniaECPA lay outside the War I killed over 1.5 million. Since borders of the Roman Empire, in then, became scattered all part of what is today eastern Turkey, over the world. Of the approximately between the Black and Caspian Seas 9 million Armenian Christians, about and the bordering areas of Iran. In 6% are Armenian Catholic the 10th century the area of Cilicia was also populated by Armenians. Armenia became the first State to adopt Christianity in 303 AD after King Tiridates III was converted to Christianity by St. , who came from Cappadocia. It is a daughter .

Liturgy & Spirituality: The Armenian liturgical tradition is UNESCO World Heritage Site: Monestary, Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain. highly influenced by the Antiochian While the main chapel was built in 1215, the monastery complex and Byzantine traditions. A curtain was founded in the 4th century by St. Gregory the Illuminator at separates the inner sanctuary. It is the site of a sacred spring inside a cave. cc Oleg Sidorenko, flickr 24 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Anaphora: The Eucharistic Prayer also Ephesus, Council of: In 431 AD the bishops referred to as the . of the world proclaimed that Mary can be called the Mother of God, thereby affirming the Antioch: The ancient metropolis in present- identity of Christ as one person. This council day Turkey where the name Christian was condemned the doctrine of Nestorius who first used (Acts 11:26.) said that Mary cannot be called Theotokos, the God-bearer. Apostolic: Having roots that reach back to the Apostles. Eucharist: The Thanksgiving offering usually referring to Holy Communion. Aramaic: The language spoken by Christ. Hellenized: Resembling Greek culture. Arian: A heresy named after its founder, Arius, a priest in Egypt. Arians maintained Heresy: An explicit rejection of a truth that the Son of God was created the first of all officially proclaimed by the church. things. The Council of Nicea condemned this belief in 325 AD. Liturgy: All public worship but usually the Eucharistic celebration. Byzantine: Having ties to the capital city of Constantinople, whose former name was Monophysite: One nature. A heresy Byzantium. condemned in 451 AD by the Council of Chalcedon. Canon: Having official approval. For example: the Canon of Scripture, the Canon Nicea, Council of: In 325 the bishops of the of the Mass. world proclaimed that Christ was “begotten not made, one in substance with the Father, Chalcedon, Council of: In 451 AD the bishops God from God, Light from Light”. They of the world met in the city of Chalcedon to condemned Arius who said there was a time decide on the issue of the natures of Christ. when God was not a Father and when the They said that Christ is fully man and fully Son did not exist. God. He is one personECPA having two distinct but united natures, divine and human. Orthodox: True faith, upright worship.

Gnosticism: A class of heresies in the first Patriarch: The bishop of a diocese that has few hundred years of the church that are great influence and authority over other characterized by their lack of adherence surrounding dioceses and whose authority to all the major tenets of Christianity. They is officially recognized by the whole church. made their own scriptures, rejected the Old Testament, denied the humanity of Christ, Patriarchate: The geographic domain of a believed that matter was evil, rejected Church patriarch’s authority. authority, etc. Rite: Ritual. Constantinople: The metropolis founded as the New Rome and named after its founder, Schism: A division that is not due to heresy. Emperor Constantine, the first pagan emperor to favor Christianity. Syriac: The evolved form of Aramaic from the early church until today. Coptic: Egyptian. The Greek Egyptos shortened to gypt became Copt. Theotokos: God-bearer. A title officially affirmed by the in 431 AD. Council: A gathering of bishops to make official decisions. Tradition: A venerable practice that has become part of the identity of a society or a Eparchy: The Greek form of the word Diocese, family of societies. This term can also apply the territory of a bishop. to the unchangeable Apostolic teaching.

25 2016 Coptic Orthodox Syro-Malabar Chaldean Catholic Coptic Catholic Italo-Albanian Other Byzantine Catholic Greek, Russian, Ukranian, & All other Byzantine Orthodox Antiochene Orth. Greek Melkite Maronite Syrian Catholic Syrian Orthodox Syro-Malankar Ethiopian/Eritrean Orthodox Ethiopian/Eritrean Catholic Anglican Calvinist- Various Denominations Lutheran 1517 Protestant Reformation Orthodox Communions Schism is disputed among Slavic Churches Schism is disputed among Antiochian and Byzantine Churches 1054 ECPA East/West Schism (Byzantine Influence) Catholic Communion Islamic Invasion 636 Chalcedon 451 431 Various Traditions Represented in Jerusalem Chaldean (East Syrian) Tradition

Latin (Roman) Tradition

Ephesus

Byzantine Tradition Armenian Tradition Antiochian (West Syrian) Tradition Alexandrian Tradition CONSTANTINOPLE

→ → 313 → → Edict of Tolerance Syriac Greek TIMELINE ↓

Jerusalem Tradition Faded

↑

Evangelization Evangelization 70 BYZANTIUM ANTIOCH ALEXANDRIA ROME JERUSALEM Temple Destroyed 33 26 ↓ ALEXANDRIA is used by some authors as a some authors is used by 1. COPTIC CHURCH † CHURCH 1. COPTIC 2. ETHIOPIAN CHURCH 3. ERITRIAN CHURCH † East Syrian East Tradition + ↓ Catholic Churches that have a patriarch. have that Churches Catholic under an in Serbia and are The faithful Exarchate. Apostolic Apostolic Exarchate: The faithful within a bishop and diocese are own their who do not have Tradition under the jurisdiction of a bishop another Church. The term designation for this Tradition but it is disputed. Tradition for this designation — — — — ARMENIA † * ○ + ↓ 1. ARMENIAN CHURCH † 1. ARMENIAN CHURCH SYRO-MALANKAR CHURCH SYRO-MALANKAR Chaldean (East Syrian) Chaldean (East 4. CHALDEAN CHURCH 4. CHALDEAN CHURCH CHURCH 5. SYRO-MALABAR ↓ ← † † ANTIOCH † * ○ ○ ○ ○ JERUSALEM

ECPAAntiochian Influence ↓ CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN COMMUNION MELKITE-GREEK CHURCH Antiochian (West Syrian) Tradition (West Antiochian 1. MARONITE CHURCH CHURCH 1. MARONITE 2. Syrian (Syriac) CHURCH CHURCH 3. SYRO-MALANKAR CONSTANTINOPLE † Churches ofChurches Tradition Byzantine the 1. ALBANIAN CHURCH CHURCH 1. ALBANIAN CHURCH 2. BULGARIAN CHURCH 3. BYELORUSSIAN SERBIA & 4. CROATIA, CHURCH 5. GEORGIAN 6. GREEK CHURCH 7. HUNGARIAN CHURCH CHURCH 8. ITALO-ALBANIAN 9. MELKITE-GREEK CHURCH CHURCH 10. ROMANIAN CHURCH 11. RUSSIAN CHURCH 12. RUTHENIAN CHURCH 13. SLOVAKIAN 14. UKRANIAN CHURCH → ↓ ROME 1. ROMAN (LATIN) CHURCH (LATIN) 1. ROMAN

27 NON-CATHOLIC EASTERN CHURCHES INDEPENDENT CHURCHES OF THE BYZANTINE TRADITION 240 million Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarchate of Moscow 150,000,000 23,000,000 Church of 15,000,000 11,500,000 Bulgarian Orthodox Church 10,000,000 3,500,000 Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople, Patriarchate of Constantinople 3,500,000 Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, Patriarchate of Antioch 2,500,000 Greek Orthodox , Patriarchate of Alexandria & All Africa 1,500,000 Orthodox Church in America 1,200,000 1,000,000 Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Patriarchate of Jerusalem 140,000 Other (Albania, Cyprus, Czech, Slovak) 1,500,000 SELF-GOVERNING CHURCHES WITHOUT INDEPENDENT STATUS 12 million Ukrainian Orthodox Church (under the Patriarchate of Moscow) 7,200,000 Moldovan Orthodox Church 3,200,000 Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia 1,250,000 Other (Bessarabia, , Estonian, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Latvian, W Europe) 960,000 CHURCHES OF DISPUTED STATUS 32.2 million Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Kiev) 19,500,000 Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 2,400,000 Macedonian Orthodox Church 2,000,000 Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church 800,000 Other (Greece, Romanian,ECPA Bulgarian, Italy, Montenegrin, Old Believers, Greek 9,070,000 , True Orthodox Church, etc) PRE-CHALCEDONIAN CHURCHES 85.3 million Ethiopian Church 48,000,000 Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Pope of Alexandria) 15,500,000 Armenian Apostolic Church 8,000,000 Syriac Orthodox Church 6,600,000 Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church 2,500,000 Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church 2,000,000 Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia 1,500,000 Jacobite Syrian Christian Church 1,200,000 Other (Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, of Jerusalem, others) 1,000,000 PRE-EPHESUS, EAST SYRIAN CHURCHES 1.76 million 1,100,000 Assyrian Church of the East (Also called the Catholic Church of the East) 500,000 Ancient Church of the East 100,000 Malabar Independent Syrian Church 60,000

Population estimates are based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_ number_of_members#cite_note-patriyarkhat.org.ua-137 as viewed as of May, 2016.

28 POPULATION OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES

LATIN— ROMAN TRADITION 1.25 Billion 1. Roman (Latin) Church 1,254,000,000 GREEK— BYZANTINE TRADITION 7.79 Million 2. Ukrainian Church 4,418,570 3. Melkite-Greek Church 1,685,296 4. Ruthenian Church 571,827 5. Romanian Church 512,726 6. Hungarian Church 261,100 7. Slovakian Church 210,767 8. Byzantine Church of Italy (Italo-Albanian) 62,212 9. Church of Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro* 51,641 10. Bulgarian Church 10,000 11. Greek Church 6,020 12. Russian Church 3,500 13. Byelorussian Church 3,000 14. Albanian Church A few hundred 15. Georgian Church A few hundred CHALDEAN— (EAST SYRIAN) TRADITION 4.7 Million 16. Syro-Malabar Church 4,121,096 17. Chaldean Church 602,058 ANTIOCHIAN—ECPA (WEST SYRIAN) TRADITION 4 Million 18. Maronite Church 3,358,504 19. Syro-Malankar Church 445,381 20. Syrian (Syriac) Church 207,740 ARMENIAN TRADITION .73 Million 21. Armenian Church 736,956 COPTIC TRADITION .42 Million 22. Coptic Church 173,688 23. Eritrean Church 159,826 24. Ethiopian Church 88,114

Catholic Churches populations are based on The Annuario 2015, . Numbers in italics are ECPA estimates.

* Croatia 18,260, Serbia 22,058, Macedonia 11,323.

Please Note: Charts on pg 26-29 are color-coded to show various communions as they are traditionally grouped. Due to dialogue today, these communions are subject to change between one particular non-Catholic Eastern church and another.

29 ECPA Theotokos of Vladimir, Holy Protectress of Russia. Painted in ECPAConstantinople around 1130 AD. ©/ Wikimedia Commons BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annuario Pontificio, Vatican City, Vatican, 2015.

Roberson, Ronald G., The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey, Edizioni: Orientalia Christiana, Rome, 7th edition, 2008.

Faris, John D., Eastern Catholic Churches: Constitution and Governance, St. Maron Publications, NY, 1992.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Eastern Catholics in the United States of America, Washington, DC, United States Catholic Conference, 2000.

Jurgens, W.A., The Faith of the Early Fathers, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1979, Vol. I-III.

RSVCE, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2006.

31 The One Church and the Communion of Churches

ECPA

ISBN 978-1-4951-8114-6 90000>

9 781495 181146