History

Our Church goes back to the early stage of the Christian History.
The Acts of the Apostles, speaking of the missionary activities of Paul and Barnabas (around 43 AD) reports: "For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the Disciples were for the first time called Christians"(11:25-26).




Liturgical Usage And Theology

The Melkites are the descendants of those first Antiochian Christians. The usage of the word Greek does not refer to a geographic ethnicity, but to the Byzantine rite used by our Church. It is significant that the Arab historians called the Byzantines "Roum", in reference to the title of Constantinople, the New Rome. Before Emperor Constantine decided to make Constantinople the Capital of his Eastern Empire and gave it his imperial name, the City of Constantine, it was known as Byzantium. Hence the name of our Byzantine rite.

The Term Melkites, (Royalist)

Our theology, spirituality and liturgy are deeply rooted in the Greek Fathers of the Church, such as John Chrysostom who was born and grew up in Antioch before becoming Archbishop of Constantinople. In 451 A.D. an Ecumenical Council was held in Chalcedon (now in Turkey) to define the true faith regarding Christ. Some Christian factions taught that Christ was one person with one divine nature (hence their name of Monophysites). The Council proclaimed that Christ was truly God and Man at the same time, i.e. one person with a double nature, human and divine. In order to bring peace back to his people, Marcion, the Byzantine Emperor at that time, supported the decisions of the Council. The term Melkites, meaning Royalists, was originally meant to be an insult applied by the Monophysites to all churches who accepted the teachings of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. It comes from the Aramaic word for king, "Melko" used by all Semitic languages (Arabic: Malek, Hebrew: Melech, Syriac: Malko etc...) Catholic is a Greek word meaning "Universal". It was applied by the Nicene Creed (325 A.D.) completed by the Council of Constantinople (380 A.D.) to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

The Melkite Church owes its character to its triple loyalty to: - the first Seven Ecumenical Councils
- the Byzantine traditions
- and the communion with Rome

The Great Schism which took place in 1054 A.D. between Rome and Constantinople did not affect the See of Antioch. Peter III who was Patriarch of Antioch as that time, did his best to reconcile the Pope with the Ecumenical Patriarch Michael Cerularios. Only later, long after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans (1453 A.D.) did the Patriarchate of Antioch line up with Constantinople against Rome. But there has always remained a clear, definite current among the Antiochian Bishops, Clergy and People in favor of restoring full communion with Rome. The occasion for doing so presented itself in July, 1724 A.D. when the Antiochian Patriarch Athanasios III died. Cyril VI Tanas was elected as his successor in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus and he re-established the communion with Rome. His election was perfectly legal by the norms of that time. Angered by this development, the Orthodox Synod of Constantinople hurriedly called the Greek Deacon Sylvester of Cyprus, a relative of the late Antiochian Patriarch Athanasios, to Constantinople, ordained him to priesthood, consecrated him Bishop and proclaimed him Patriarch of Antioch two months later in September 1724. Thus a parallel Hierarchy came into being, with a Greek Orthodox Patriarch and a Greek Catholic (Melkite) Patriarch for the same See of Antioch. During the early Ottoman hegemony, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was given complete authority by the Sultans over all Christian communities of the Empire including the Melkites. It was not until 1848 A.D. under the great Patriarch Maximos III Mazloom that the Melkite community won its full recognition by the Ottoman rulers as an independent Church. The Melkite Church is Catholic, in full communion with Rome. As a Catholic branch of the Patriarchate of Antioch, it remains faithfully attached to its Eastern theology, spirituality and traditions and, at the same time, to the See of Peter in Rome. This means it is "a voice for the East within the Western Church" as was superbly demonstrated by another great Melkite Patriarch, Maximos IV Saigh, of blessed memory, during Vatican II. The Melkite Church therefore considers itself a bridge between the Western and the Eastern Churches. It devotedly strives for the unity of all Christian Churches. The Melkite Church is governed by the Patriarch who, with the Bishops, form the Holy Synod, the highest authority in the Melkite Church. His Beatitude Gregory III is the 172nd Melkite Patriarch.

The Patriachate of Antioch

His Beatitude Gregory III was elected by the Holy Synod on November 29, 2000, to succeed Patriarch Maximos V who had resigned for health reasons. He bears the title of Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem. "All the East" should not be understood geographically. It refers to an ancient Diocese called Anatoly (a Greek word meaning East) which administratively used to depend on Antioch.
The Holy Synod includes 32 Bishops, with Dioceses in all continents, from the Americas to Australia and New Zealand. In the USA, The Melkite Diocese is called the Eparchy of Newton. It is headed by an Eparch, the Most Rev. Bishop Nicholas Samra. His residence is at 3 VFW Parkway, Roslindale, MA, 01231. The Melkite Church counts approximately 600,000 faithful in the Middle East and about a million in the other parts of the world.