DOCSLIB.ORG

The Holy See

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Holy See The Holy See MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS TO THE NEW SYRIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST, HIS HOLINESS MOR IGNATIUS APHREM II To His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church I received with joy the news of the election of Your Holiness as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church. I gladly extend to you and to the clergy and faithful of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate my good wishes and prayerful solidarity, asking the Holy Spirit to bestow his abundant blessings upon your lofty ministry. It is my prayer that Your Holiness may be a spiritual father for your people and an untiring builder of peace and justice, serving the common good and the good of the entire Middle East in today’s difficult circumstances. It is important for all Christians to bear witness to the love and fellowship that binds us together, mindful of the prayer offered by our Lord at the Last Supper: that all may be one, so that the world may believe (cf. Jn 17:21). I thank the Almighty for the bonds of fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church and I hope and pray that our continuing friendship and dialogue may be further developed and deepened. May our heavenly Father fill Your Holiness with peace and strength for the noble task that awaits you. 2 From the Vatican, 2 April 2014 FRANCISCUS PP. Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Who Are Christians in the Middle East?
    Who Are Christians in the Middle East? Seven Churches, each bearing a great and ancient history with Patriarch, who chose as his patriarchal seat the monastery at unique liturgical traditions and culture, comprise the Catho- Bzommar, Lebanon. After a brief relocation to Constantinople, lic Church in the Middle East. Each of these Churches is in the Patriarch of Cilicia of Armenian Catholics returned his seat full communion with Rome, but six with an Eastern tradition to Bzommar, with his residence and offices in Beirut, Lebanon. are sui iuris, or self-governing, and have their own Patriarchs. The Chaldean Catholic Church has almost 500,000 mem- All these Churches are Arabic-speaking and immersed in Ar- bers, with about 60 percent residing in the Middle East. The abic culture. Chaldeans are historically concentrated in Iraq as they came The Maronite Catholic Church is the largest of the East- from the Assyrian Church of the East. In 1552, a group of As- ern Catholic Churches in the Middle East at around 3 million syrian bishops decided to seek union with Rome. Although members. It has a strong presence in Lebanon, with smaller Pope Julius III proclaimed Patriarch Simon VIII Patriarch “of communities in Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, and the Holy Land. the Chaldeans,” pro- and anti-Catholic parties struggled with- However, slightly over half its members have emigrated from in the Assyrian Church of the East until 1830, when another the Middle East to countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Aus- Chaldean Patriarch was appointed. The Patriarch of Babylon of tralia, Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding the Eastern Christian Churches
    UNDERSTANDING THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES John M. Samaha SM Introducing the Question When you think of the Church, what image comes to mind? What image do you think the average Catholic forms when the Church is mentioned? Usually the image is that of a highly centralized, worldwide institution with headquarters in Rome. Or, of one's neighbourhood parish church. All in the West who share the heritage of European civilization tend to identify the Catholic Church with the Latin Rite (Roman Rite). Similarly, Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Christians may think of the church of their own country of origin with its chief bishop and centre in the ancient capital city. Seldom do we think of the church as the Mystical Body of Christ, the Head united with his many, diverse groups of members comprising the People of God. Attitudes among Eastern Catholic and Orthodox peoples not only stem from their strong national feelings, but are also deeply rooted in their ecclesiastical history and religious thought. For while the one, holy, catholic, arid apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ is unified, the Church certainly is not uniform in all aspects. Basic Understandings To understand clearly the situation it is important to establish basic understanding of some fundamental points. In the context of studying the Church, a rite refers to a local Church or specific tradition, not to ceremony or ritual. A particular Church means a style or way of living Christianity, a cultural mentality toward practicing the Gospel, a community of faith with a distinct, ancient tradition. 18 John M.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ESTABLISHMENT of the MELKITE CATHOLIC MILLET in 1848 and the POLITICS of IDENTITY in TANZIMAT SYRIA Bruce Masters in 1848, S
    THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MELKITE CATHOLIC MILLET IN 1848 AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY IN TANZIMAT SYRIA Bruce Masters In 1848, Sultan Abdülmecid granted the Melkite Catholic commu- nity offi cial status as an ‘autonomous religious community’ (millet) by adding his seal to an imperial patent (berat) naming Maksimus Mazlum ‘Patriarch of Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria and wher- ever else Melkite Catholics reside in the sultan’s protected realms’. Th e patent further stated that although the Chaldean, Syrian, Melkite, and Maronite Catholic priests had been under the authority of the ‘Catho- lic Patriarch of Istanbul’, they constituted separate communities and would henceforth be recognized as such.1 With Mazlum’s elevation, the Melkite Catholic Church joined the ranks of the Orthodox (the Rum in Ottoman Turkish) and the Apostolic Armenian Churches that had long enjoyed de facto recognition and the rather more recently legiti- mated Catholic, later to be known as the Armenian Catholic, (1830) and Jewish (1835) communities. Mazlum’s victory came in the face of resistance on the part of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch in Istan- bul who claimed that the Melkite Catholics were both heretics and traitors, disloyal both to their Mother Church and their sultan. Having recognized the Melkites, the sultan opened a fl oodgate of repressed aspirations for autonomy from the empire’s myriad Christian denomi- nations, with the result that the list of offi cially sanctioned Christian millets had expanded to twelve by 1900. Although the various millets within the Ottoman Empire were offi cially constituted as religious communities, a particular commu- nity’s own sense of distinctiveness, and hence the need for recogni- tion, arose more oft en out of a nascent ‘proto-nationalism’ (to borrow Eric Hobsbawm’s term)2 than from questions of religious dogma.
    [Show full text]
  • Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East the Ministry of Social Charity
    Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East The Ministry of Social Charity Fifth Encyclical Letter By Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Bkerke 2017 1 Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East The Ministry of Social Charity Fifth Encyclical Letter addressed By Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rai Patriarch of Antioch and All the East To The Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Monks and Nuns, And All the Faithful, Sons and Daughters of our Maronite Church In the Patriarchal Domain and the Countries of Expansion On the Sixth Anniversary of His Election The Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary March 25, 2017 2 Mar Bechara Boutros Rai Through the Grace of God Patriarch of Antioch and All the East And Cardinal of the Universal Church To our Brothers, their Excellencies, the Most Reverend Bishops, Superiors General The Sons and Daughters of our Maronite Church, the Priests, Deacons, Monks and Nuns, And All the Faithful in the Patriarchal Domain and the Countries of Expansion. Peace and Apostolic Blessing Introduction 1. The ministry of social charity reflects the nature of God. For He is “love” and rich “in mercy”1. This nature is the foremost attribute that takes precedence over administrative roles and responsibilities which look upon the ministry of social charity as a social sustenance. Hence, it becomes a spiritual energy and a fountain of altruism that never runs dry. This is what Saint Paul the Apostle wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
    [Show full text]
  • "Pentarchy" (From the Greek Πενταρχία, Pentarchia from ̟Έντε
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentarchy "Pentarchy " (from the Greek Πενταρχία, Pentarchia from ̟έντε pente , "five", and ἄρχειν archein , "to rule") is a model historically championed in Eastern Christianity as a model of church relations and administration. In the model, the Christian church is governed by the heads (Patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.[2] The idea came about because of the political and ecclesiastical prominence of these five sees, but the concept of their universal and exclusive authority was firmly tied to the administrative structure of the Roman Empire. The pentarchy was first tangibly expressed in the laws of Emperor Justinian I (527–565), particularly in Novella 131. The Quinisext Council of 692 gave it formal recognition and ranked the sees in order of preeminence. Especially following Quinisext, the pentarchy was at least philosophically accepted in Eastern Christianity, but generally not in the West, which rejected the Council, and the concept of the pentarchy. [3] The greater authority of these sees in relation to others was tied to their political and ecclesiastical prominence; all were located in important cities and regions of the Roman Empire and were important centers of the Christian Church. Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were prominent from the time of early Christianity, while Constantinople came to the fore upon becoming the imperial residence in the 4th century. Thereafter it was consistently ranked just after Rome. Jerusalem received a ceremonial place due to the city's importance in the early days of Christianity. Justinian and the Quinisext Council excluded from their pentarchical arrangement churches outside the Empire, such as the then-flourishing Church of the East in Sassanid Persia, which they saw as heretical.
    [Show full text]
  • The Statute of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East Approved by the Holy Synod of Antioch on June 22Nd, 1973
    The Statute of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East Approved by the Holy Synod of Antioch on June 22nd, 1973 General Provisions Article 1. The Church of Antioch known as the “Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East” is an ecclesiastically independent apostolic church associated with the rest of the Orthodox churches with the unity of faith, holy sacraments, and ecclesiastical traditions. Article 2. The mandate of the Antioch Patriarchate extends to the territories of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Iran, Arabian Peninsula, North and Central America, Australia, and New Zealand. Article 3. Antioch is the ancient apostolic centre, and Damascus is the current Patriarchal Residence. Article 4. The Holy Synod is the supreme authority of the Church. Article 5. The clericals along with seculars shall engage altogether in the life of the Church each by his Spirit‐given gifts. Article 6. The term “Clerical” in this Statute shall include: the Patriarch, Metropolitan, Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. Article 7. Every clerical is a servant of the Lord and his people and his service is pro‐bono whilst receiving no wage or money for rendering spiritual services. Article 8. The Church shall secure the subsistence of its servants from the faithful’s bids and the religious endowments’ revenues. Chapter One: Holy Synod Article 9. The Holy Synod shall be comprised of the Patriarch being the President and the Diocesan Metropolitans being the members. Article 10. The Holy Synod is the judge in matters of faith, being thus the legislative body of the Church and its supreme judicial authority.
    [Show full text]
  • The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch at a Glance Patriarch
    The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch At A Glance Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas The Syrian Orthodox Church is the Church of Antioch, whose foundation goes back to the very dawn of Christianity, when Antioch was the capital of Syria1 and one of the three capital cities in the Roman Empire.2 The gospel was first preached in Antioch by some of Christ's own disciples who fled Jerusalem after the Jewish persecution. Following the martyrdom St. Stephen the deacon ca. 34 AD., Antioch was visited by Barnabas, one of the seventy preachers, as well as St. Paul the Apostle. Both stayed in Antioch for an entire year preaching the gospel after St. Peter who preached the gospel there and established his apostolic see ca. AD. 33. According to some historians, the conversion of the city of Antioch itself was carried out by St. Peter the Apostle in two stages: the first was the conversion of the Jews from whose ranks the Christian Church was established;3 the second was the conversion of the pagans who included Aramaeans, Greeks and Arabs. This took place after the settling of the case of Cornelius and his acceptance in the church.4 As we go through the events recorded in the New Testament, we find that during St. Peter's second visit to Antioch, he refrained himself from mingling with the converted gentiles, even after their baptism because of his fear of the Christians in Jerusalem who had contended with him regarding the reception of Cornelius. However, St. Paul opposed him publicly.5 Further, some of the Jewish converts compelled the gentile converts to be circumcised so that they might become Jews before becoming Christians.
    [Show full text]
  • Position of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East on the Crisis in Syria
    POSITION OF THE PATRIARCHATE OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST ON THE CRISIS IN SYRIA Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Office of Strategic Planning, Policy and Public Affairs - April 2017 INTRODUCTION “The world would assist both Christians and Moslems much better if it spreads the culture of dialogue in our East and wipes away the culture of the sword…” Patriarch John X The ancient Church of Antioch was founded by the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul and according to church tradition, represents one of the earliest Christian communities in existence. The Patriarchate was established in Antioch two thousand years ago, and moved to Damascus in the fourteenth century, following the Ottoman invasion of Antioch. The head of the Orthodox Church of Antioch is called the Patriarch. The present Patriarch of Antioch is John X (Yazigi), who previously presided over the Archdiocese of Western and Central Europe (2008–2013). He was elected as primate of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East as John X of Antioch on December 17, 2012. The Patriarchate is the center for millions of Antiochian Orthodox faithful all over the world and includes the following Archdioceses: In the Middle East: In Asia, Oceania, Europe and the Americas: Antioch and Damascus and Dependencies Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines Akkar and Dependencies Germany and Central Europe Aleppo, Alexandretta and Dependencies Buenos Aires and All Argentine Bosra, Horan and Jabal al-Arab British Isles and Ireland Baghdad, Kuwait and Dependencies France, Western and Southern Europe Beirut and Dependencies Mexico, Venezuela, Central America and the Byblos, Batroun and Dependencies Islands of the Caribbean Sea Hama and Dependencies New York and all North America Homs and Dependencies Santiago and all Chile Lattakia and Dependencies Sao Paulo and all Brazil Tripoli, Al-Koura, and Dependencies Tyre, Sidon and Dependencies Zahleh, Baalbek, and Dependencies The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America was established in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Beginnings of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite Full Is Advance Article: 21 Full Article Language: En Indien Anders: Engelse Articletitle: 0
    _full_journalsubtitle: Journal of Patrology and Critical Hagiography _full_abbrevjournaltitle: SCRI _full_ppubnumber: ISSN 1817-7530 (print version) _full_epubnumber: ISSN 1817-7565 (online version) _full_issue: 1 _full_issuetitle: 0 _full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien J2 voor dit article en vul alleen 0 in hierna): 0 _full_alt_articletitle_deel (rechter kopregel - mag alles zijn): The Beginnings of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite _full_is_advance_article: 21 _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0 306 Scrinium 16 (2020) 306-332 Treiger www.brill.com/scri The Beginnings of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite Translation Movement in Antioch Alexander Treiger Associate Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Canada [email protected] Abstract The present article surveys the early stages of the Graeco-Syro-Arabic Melkite transla- tion movement in Antioch, from the first known translation (the Graeco-Syriac version of the Life of St. Symeon the Stylite the Younger, BHG 1689) dating to 827/8 AD to the Antiochene translators Ibrāhīm the protospatharios, Gregory of Dafnūnā, Chariton of Aršāyā, and Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ (the compiler of the Antiochene Menologion), all of them disciples of the martyred patriarch of Antioch Christopher (d.967). It provides new evidence on each of these translators. Significantly, it re-dates Yūḥannā ʿAbd al-Masīḥ to the early eleventh century. Keywords translations – Greek into Syriac – Syriac into Arabic – Greek into Arabic – Antioch – Black Mountain – Christian Arabic literature
    [Show full text]
  • The Patriarchal Institution in the Early Church: (The Pentarchy of the Patriarchs
    Durham E-Theses The Patriarchal institution in the early church: (The Pentarchy of the Patriarchs. The presuppositions, the evolution and the function of the institution) Panagiotopoulos, Loannis Ant. How to cite: Panagiotopoulos, Loannis Ant. (1996) The Patriarchal institution in the early church: (The Pentarchy of the Patriarchs. The presuppositions, the evolution and the function of the institution), Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5385/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Patriarchal Institution in the Early Church (The Pentarchy of the Patriarchs. The Presuppositions, the Evolution and the Function of the Institution) by loannis Ant. Panagiotopoulos Graduate of Theology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens 1996 MA THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM ^Department of Theology -6 OCT II to my parents Antonios and Stamatina Panagiotopoulos Ill FOREWORD The command of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Beliefs and Practices of Coptic Christians in Egypt and Syriac
    Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Page 1 of 6 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Home > Research Program > Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests (RIR) respond to focused Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process. The database contains a seven-year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the UNHCR's Refworld website. 10 October 2013 ZZZ104593.E Egypt and Syria: Beliefs and practices of Coptic Christians in Egypt and Syriac Orthodox Christians in Syria, including sacraments, holy days, symbols and official documents; history and structure of the Coptic Church and Syriac Church, including leadership Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa 1. Oriental Orthodox Churches In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a Board Member of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Canada stated that the Oriental Orthodox family of churches has been a "distinct church body" since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, when they "took a different position over Christological theology from that of the Eastern Orthodox Church" (3 Oct. 2013). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, an Anglican Priest based in Montreal also said that in 451 AD at the Council of Chalcedon, there was a debate about who Christ was, in which all churches except for the Oriental Orthodox family of churches agreed that Christ had two natures, human and divine, while Oriental Orthodox churches believed that Christ was of one nature (30 Sept.
    [Show full text]
  • KHALIL Sr Dominga MAS 13-14 Pages 50
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by RERO DOC Digital Library Université de Genève Faculté autonome de théologie protestante Institut œcuménique de Bossey Diversity and Uniformity in the Quest for Christian Unity: A Study of the Relationship between the Maronite Church and the Holy See for a Possible Contribution to the Ecumenical Movement by/par Sr. Dominga Khalil Khalil Thesis presented as part of the requirements for the degree of Master of Advanced Studies in Ecumenical Studies Mémoire présenté en accomplissement partiel des exigences pour l’obtention d’une Maîtrise universitaire d’études avancées en études œcuméniques Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Enrico Norelli Prof. Fr. Dr. Lawrence Iwuamadi Juin 2014 Acknowledgement First and foremost I would like to thank God for the gift of life, for all his graces, especially for the grace of achieving this thesis. I am grateful to the Maronite Patriarchate, especially His Beatitude Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai and Bishop Paul Nabil Sayah, to the Pontifical Council of Promoting Christian Unity and to my Congregation in Lebanon for giving me the opportunity to do ecumenical studies at the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey. I am also thankful to the World Council of Churches that granted me the scholarship for these studies. I would also like to thank all the staff and professors of the Ecumenical Institute. In a special way I thank Reverend Father Dr. Ioan Sauca for his support. My thanks go to my professors at the University of Geneva, especially Dr. Enrico Norelli who supervised my work. I thank the librarian of the Ecumenical Institute Library, Reverend Andreas Waldvogel for his assistance.
    [Show full text]