Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church, also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originated from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 1.5 million followers worldwide. The church upholds the Miaphysite doctrine in Christology and employs the Liturgy of Saint James, associated with James the Just. Classical Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the church.
The supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is the patriarch of Antioch, a bishop who, according to sacred tradition, continues the leadership passed down from Saint Peter. Since 2014, Ignatius Aphrem II has served as the Syriac Orthodox Antiochian patriarch. The Great Church of Antioch was the patriarchal seat and the headquarters of the church until, after which Severus of Antioch had to flee to Alexandria, Egypt. After the death of Severus, the patriarchal seat moved from Egypt to different monasteries like the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery; some patriarchs also set up headquarters in Antioch temporarily. Later, Mor Hananyo Monastery was declared as the patriarchal seat and the headquarters of the church from until 1932. In 1959, the patriarchal seat and headquarters were relocated to the Cathedral of Saint George in Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria, due to conflicts in the region.
The Syriac Orthodox Church comprises 26 archdioceses and 13 patriarchal vicariates. It also has an autonomous maphrianate based in India, the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.
The Syriac Orthodox Church became distinct in 512 when Severus, a leader who opposed the Council of Chalcedon, was chosen as patriarch after a synod was held at Laodicea, Syria. This happened after Emperor Anastasius I removed the previous patriarch, Flavian II, who supported Chalcedon. Severus's later removal in 518 was not recognized by majority of the Syriac speakers in and out of Antioch, and this led to the establishment of an independent Miaphysite patriarchate headed by Severus. In the 6th century, a bishop named Jacob Baradaeus helped strengthen this Miaphysite patriarchate. Meanwhile, those who supported Council of Chalcedon formed what later became the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Maronite Church.
Name and identity
-speaking Christians have referred to themselves as "Sūryoyē/Ōromōyē/Ōṯurōyē" in native Aramaic terms based on their ethnic identity. In most languages, a unique name has long been used to distinguish the church from the polity of Syria. In Arabic, the church is known as the "Kenissa Suryaniya" as the term "Suryani" identifies the Syriac language and people. Chalcedonians refer to the church as "Jacobite" since the schism that followed the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. English-speaking historians identified the church as the "Syrian Church". The English term "Syrian" was used to describe the community of Syriacs in ancient Syria. In the 15th century, the term "Orthodox" was used to identify churches that practiced the set of doctrines believed by early Christians. Since 1922, the term "Syrian" started being used for things named after the Syrian Federation. Hence, in 2000, the Holy Synod ruled that the church be named as "Syriac Orthodox Church" after the Syriac language, the official liturgical language of the church.Although the church is not ethnically exclusive, the main ethnic group in the community usually identifies as Assyrian and/or Aramean, which has resulted in internal conflicts. "Suryoye" is the term used to identify the Syriacs in the diaspora. Church traditions crystallized into ethnogenesis through the preservation of their stories and customs by the 12th century. Since the 1910s, the identity of Syriac Orthodoxy in the Ottoman Empire was principally religious and linguistic. The Syriac Orthodox identity included auxiliary cultural traditions of the Assyrian Empire and Aramean kingdoms, and was reflected as such in the works of historical figures such as Michael the Syrian. Formation of identity was also influenced by biblical interpretation, leadership by clergymen, and their political situation.
In 1981, to address ongoing name conflicts in the diaspora, the Holy Synod stated that the church is known as the "Syrian Orthodox Church", its language the "Syriac language", and its people the "Suryoyo people".
In recent works, Assyrian-American historian Sargon Donabed has pointed out that parishes in the US were originally using Assyrian designations in their official English names, also noting that in some cases those designations were later changed to Syrian and then to Syriac, while three parishes continued to use Assyrian designations. Today, the Assyrian Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in Paramus, New Jersey officially retains the Assyrian name in its parish.
History
Early history
The church claims apostolic succession through the pre-Chalcedonian Patriarchate of Antioch to the early Christian communities from Jerusalem led by Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul in Antioch, during the Apostolic era, as described in the Acts of the Apostles; "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch". Saint Peter was selected by Jesus Christ and is venerated as the first bishop of Antioch in after the Incident at Antioch.Saint Evodius was the second bishop of Antioch until 66 AD and was succeeded by Saint Ignatius of Antioch. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD. In A.D 169, Theophilus of Antioch wrote three apologetic tracts to Autolycus. Patriarch Babylas of Antioch was considered the first saint recorded as having had his remains moved for religious purposes, a practice that was to become extremely common in later centuries. Eustathius of Antioch joined Athanasius of Alexandria in opposing the followers of the condemned doctrine of Arius during the Arian controversy at the First Council of Nicaea. During the time of Meletius of Antioch, the church split due to his being deposed for Homoiousian leanings which became known as the Meletian Schism, and saw several groups and claimants to the See of Antioch.
Patriarchate of Antioch
Given the antiquity of the bishopric of Antioch and the importance of the Christian community in the city of Antioch, a commercially significant city in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, the First Council of Nicaea recognized the bishopric as one of the main regional primacies in Christendom, with jurisdiction over the administrative Diocese of the Orient, thus laying the foundation for the creation of the "Patriarchate of Antioch and All of the East". Because of the significance attributed to Ignatius of Antioch in the church, most of the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs since 1293 have used the name of Ignatius in the title of the patriarch preceding their own patriarchal name.Christological controversies that followed the Council of Chalcedon did not result in the development of a separate community for those who became Miaphysites, though it became the catalyst for the development of a unique Syriac Orthodox identity. It later resulted in a long struggle for the patriarchate between those who accepted and those who rejected the council. In 512, pro-Chalcedonian patriarch Flavian II of Antioch was deposed by Emperor Anastasius I, and on 6 November 512, at the synod of Laodicea in Syria, Severus of Antioch, a notable Miapyhsite theologian, was elected and later consecrated on 16 November at the Great church of Antioch. In 518, he was exiled from Antioch by the new emperor, Justin I, who tried to enforce a uniform Chalcedonian doctrine throughout the empire. Those who belonged to the pro-Chalcedonian party accepted newly appointed patriarch Paul the Jew. The Miaphysite patriarchate was thus forced to leave Antioch, with Severus the Great taking refuge in Alexandria. The non-Chalcedonian community was divided between "Severians", and Julianists, a division that remained unresolved until 527. Severians continued to recognize Severus as the legitimate Miaphysite Patriarch of Antioch until his death in 538, and then proceeded to follow his successors.
Jacob Baradaeus, bishop of Edessa, is credited for ordaining most of the Miaphysite hierarchy while facing heavy persecution in the sixth century. In 544, Baradaeus ordained Sergius of Tella, continuing the non-Chalcedonian succession of patriarchs of the Church of Antioch. This was done in opposition to the Byzantine-backed patriarchate of Antioch held by the pro-Chalcedonian believers, leading to the Syriac Orthodox church becoming popularly known as the Jacobite Church, while the Chalcedonian believers were known popularly as Melkites, derived from the Syriac word for king, malka. Due to numerous historical upheavals and hardships, the patriarchate of the Syriac Orthodox church was relocated to various monasteries in Mesopotamia for centuries. John III of the Sedre was elected and consecrated Patriarch after the death of Athanasius I Gammolo in 631 AD, followed by the fall of Roman Syria and the Muslim conquest of the Levant. John and several bishops were summoned before Emir Umayr ibn Sad al-Ansari of Hims to engage in an open debate regarding Christianity and represent the entire Christian community, including non-Syriac Orthodox communities, such as Greek Orthodox Syrians. The rise of Islam did not change the position of clergy in leading the church, and they acted as the leaders of their community.
Middle Ages
By the seventh century AD, the Syriac Orthodox identity gradually began to shift from a purely religious association to one considered ethnic, as the adoption of Edessan Aramaic became one of its strongest features. The eighth-century hagiography Life of Jacob Baradaeus provides evidence of a definite denominational and social differentiation between the Chalcedonians and Miaphysites. The longer hagiography indicates that the Syriac Orthodox, referred to as Suryoye Yaquboye, in the work, identified more closely with Jacob's story than with those of other saints. The Coptic historian and Miaphysite bishop Severus ibn al-Muqaffa discusses the origins of the Jacobites and their veneration of Jacob Baradaeus. He asserted that, unlike the Chalcedonian Christians, Miaphysite Jacobites never compromised their orthodoxy to win the favor of the Byzantine emperors, as the Melkites had done.In the tenth century, after the Byzantine reconquest of Cappadocia, Cilicia and Syria, the Byzantine emperor encouraged Syriac settlement of these newly conquered frontier lands, leading to a period of economic and intellectual flourishing for Syriac Orthodox communities from 950 to 1020. The 65th patriarch John VII Sarigta and his two successors resided at the Monastery of Bārid, close to Melitene, one of many newly founded monasteries at the time, and Syriac Orthodox Christians were granted access to imperial positions. The wealth and influence of the Syriac Orthodox communities then sparked conflicts with the Byzantine Church, which began to persecute Syriac Orthodox Christians, forcing Patriarch Dionysius IV to relocate the seat to Amida.
Before the advent of the Crusades in the eleventh century, the Syriacs occupied much of the hill country of Jazira and lived under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate. In Antioch, after the eleventh-century persecutions by the Byzantines, the Syriac Orthodox population was almost extinguished. Only one Jacobite church is recorded in Antioch in the first half of the twelfth century, leading Dorothea Weltecke to conclude that the Syriac Orthodox population was very low in this period in Antioch and its surroundings.
This changed during the twelfth century when the Crusader states were established. Scholars agree generally that relations between the Syriac Orthodox and Latins in Outremer were positive. The Syriac population in the Principality of Antioch grew, partly due to the influx of refugees, which was also reflected in the construction of two additional churches. During this period, several Syriac Orthodox patriarchs visited Antioch, with some even establishing temporary residences there, and the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy in Antioch was open to accepting Latin supervision. Nevertheless, they stayed officially independent, though they also engaged in ecumenical dialogue with the Byzantines and Latins regarding church union.
File:Deyrulzaferan P1030983 20080424115008.JPG|alt=patriarchal throne of the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch in Mor Hananyo monastery turkey, it was made during the 6th century|thumb|Patriarchal throne of the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch in Mor Hananyo Monastery, Turkey. It was made during the 6th century.
In 1293, the patriarchal seat was moved from the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery, where the patriarchs had resided since 1166, to the Mor Hananyo Monastery in southeastern Anatolia near Mardin, where it remained until 1933 before it was re-established in Homs, Syria, due to the adverse political situation in the new Turkish Republic. As the Mongols took control of Baghdad in 1258, and declared Islam the state religion in 1294, continuous persecution was rampant against the Christian populations of cities such as Mosul and Erbil. The effect that these persecutions made it difficult to enforce ecclesiastical laws amongst church hierarchy, and made communal division more frequent among church adherents.