 Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East بطريركيّة أنطاكية وسائر المشرق للروم الأرثوذكس | |
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 Mariamite Cathedral, Damascus, Syria, headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch since 1342 AD, with the 'Umariyya Minaret at the front, to the right | |
| Type | Antiochian |
| Classification | Eastern Orthodox |
| Orientation | Greek Orthodox |
| Scripture | Septuagint, New Testament |
| Theology | Eastern Orthodox theology |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | John X (Yazigi), Patriarch of Antioch and All the East (since December 17, 2012) |
| Language | Koine Greek (historical), Aramaic (Classical Syriac) (historical),[1] Arabic (official),[2] Turkish (in Turkey), English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and other languages (extended) |
| Headquarters | Mariamite Cathedral, Damascus, Syria Traditionally: Church of Cassian, Antioch, Byzantine Empire Monastic residence: Balamand Monastery, Koura, Lebanon |
| Territory | Primary: Syria, Lebanon, part of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia (formerly also Cyprus, Georgia and parts of the Central Caucasus area) Extended: North America, Central America, South America, Western, Southern and Central Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines |
| Founder | Apostles Peter and Paul |
| Independence | A.D. 519[3] |
| Recognition | Orthodox |
| Branched from | Church of Antioch |
| Separations | Maronite Church – 685 Georgian Orthodox Church – 1010[4] Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch – 1724 |
| Members | Approx. 4.3 million (2012)[5] |
| Official website | www.antiochpatriarchate.org |
| Part of a series on the |
| Eastern Orthodox Church |
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| Overview |
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (Greek: Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Rūm Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East (Arabic: بطريركيّة أنطاكية وسائر المشرق للروم الأرثوذكس, romanized: Baṭriyarkiyyat ʾAnṭākiya wa-Sāʾir al-Mašriq li-r-Rūm al-ʾUrṯūḏuks, lit. 'Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East for the Orthodox Rum'[6]), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity that originates from the historical Church of Antioch. Headed by the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch, it considers itself the successor to the Christian community founded in Antioch by the Apostles Peter and Paul. It is one of the largest Christian denominations of the Middle East, alongside the Copts of Egypt and the Maronites of Lebanon.[7]
Its adherents, known as Antiochian Christians, are a Middle-Eastern semi-ethnoreligious Eastern Christian group residing in the Levant region including the Hatay Province of Turkey.[8][7] Many of their descendants now live in the global Eastern Christian diaspora. The number of Antiochian Greek Christians is estimated to be approximately 4.3 million.[9]
- ^ Arman Akopian (December 11, 2017). "Other branches of Syriac Christianity: Melkites and Maronites". Introduction to Aramean and Syriac Studies. Gorgias Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-4632-3893-3.
The main center of Aramaic-speaking Melkites was Palestine. During the 5th-6th centuries, they were engaged in literary, mainly translation work in the local Western Aramaic dialect, known as "Palestinian Christian Aramaic", using a script closely resembling the cursive Estrangela of Osrhoene. Palestinian Melkites were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, who had a long tradition of using Palestinian Aramaic dialects as literary languages. Closely associated with the Palestinian Melkites were the Melkites of Transjordan, who also used Palestinian Christian Aramaic. Another community of Aramaic-speaking Melkites existed in the vicinity of Antioch and parts of Syria. These Melkites used Classical Syriac as a written language, the common literary language of the overwhelming majority of Christian Arameans.
- ^ All the metropolitans are now required to be proficient in Arabic per the Church's statutes.
- ^ Hore, Alexander Hugh (1899). Eighteen Centuries of the Orthodox Greek Church. James Parker. pp. 281–282.
- ^ Ioseliani, P. (1866). A Short History of the Georgian Church. Saunders, Otley and Company.
- ^ Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East Archived May 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at World Council of Churches
- ^ Wehr, Hans. Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th ed.). p. 428.
- ^ a b "Fragmented in space: the oral history narrative: of an Arab Christian from Antioch, Turkey" (PDF).
- ^ Gorman, Anthony (2015). Diasporas of the Modern Middle East: Contextualising Community. Edinburgh University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7486-8613-1.
- ^ Eastern Orthodox Churches Archived March 29, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at World Council of Churches