Melkite Greek Catholic Church

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church,[a] or Melkite Byzantine

Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full
communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Melkite Greek Catholic
Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered Church
at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus,
Arabic: ‫كنيسة الروم الملكيين الكاثوليك‬
Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace
their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of
Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where
Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.[3]

The Melkite Church, like many other Eastern Catholic particular

churches, shares the Byzantine Rite with the Greek Orthodox
Church of Antioch and other Eastern Orthodox churches. It is
mainly centered in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and
Palestine.[4] Melkite Greek Catholics are present, however, Cathedral of Our Lady of the
throughout the world by migration due to persecution of Dormition
Christians. Outside the Near East, the Melkite Church has also Damascus, Syria
grown through intermarriage with, and the conversion of, people
Type Antiochian
of various ethnic heritages as well as transritualism. At present
there is a worldwide membership of approximately 1.6 Classification Eastern
million.[2][5] Catholic
Orientation Melkite
While the Melkite Catholic Church's Byzantine liturgical
traditions are shared with those of Eastern Orthodoxy, the church Theology Catholic
has officially been part of the Catholic Church since re-entering Theology
communion with the Holy See under Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas in Polity Episcopal
1724. Those who rejected this move formed the extant Greek
Pope Francis
Orthodox Church of Antioch.[6]
Primate Patriarch
Youssef Absi
Name
First autocephalous Cyril VI Tanas
Melkite, from the Syriac word malkā for "King" and the Arabic Patriarch
word Malakī (Arabic: ‫ملكي‬, meaning "royal", and by extension,
Region Egypt,
"imperial"),[7] was originally a pejorative term for Middle
Eastern Christians who accepted the authority of the Council of Palestine,
Chalcedon (451) and the Byzantine Emperor, a term applied to Israel,
them by non-Chalcedonians.[7] Of the Chalcedonian churches, Jordan,
Greek Catholics continue to use the term, while Eastern Lebanon,
Orthodox do not. Sudan, Syria,
Turkey, Iraq,
The Greek element signifies the Byzantine Rite heritage of the Argentina,
church, the liturgy used by all the Eastern Orthodox churches.[8] Australia,
Belgium,
Brazil,
The term Catholic acknowledges communion with the Church of Canada,
Rome and implies participation in the universal Christian church. France,
According to Church tradition, the Melkite Church of Antioch is Mexico, New
the "oldest continuous Christian community in the world".[9] Zealand,
United States,
In Arabic, the official language of the church,[4] it is called ar-
United
Rūm al-Kāṯūlīk (Arabic: ‫)الروم الكاثوليك‬. The Arabic word Rūm
means "Romans", from the Greek word Romaioi by which the Kingdom,
Greek-speaking Eastern Romans (called "Byzantines" in modern Venezuela
parlance) had continued to identify themselves even when the and Sweden
Western Roman empire had ceased to exist. The name literally Language Arabic
means "Roman Catholic", confusingly for the modern English-
Diaspora:
speaker, but that refers not to the Latin Church but to the Greek-
speaking Eastern Orthodox "Byzantine" Roman heritage, the French,
centre of gravity of which was the city of "New Rome" (Latin: English,
Nova Roma, Greek: Νέα Ρώμη), Constantinople. Portuguese,
Spanish
History Liturgy Byzantine
Rite
According to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, its origins go Headquarters Cathedral of
back to the establishment of Christianity in the Near East.[10] As Our Lady of
Christianity began to spread, the disciples preached the Gospel
the Dormition,
throughout the region and were for the first time recorded to be
Damascus,
called "Christians" in the city of Antioch (Acts 11:26), the
Syria
historical See of the Melkite Catholic Patriarchate.[11] Scholars
attribute the actual writing of the gospels in Koine Greek to the Founder Apostles
Hellenized Christian population of Antioch, with authors such as Peter and
St. Luke and others. By the 2nd century, Christianity was Paul, by
widespread in Antioch and throughout Syria. Growth of the Melkite
church did not stop during periods of persecution, and by the end tradition
of the 4th century Christianity became the official state religion.
Origin 1724, with
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church traces its origins to the tradition
Christian communities of the Levant and Egypt. The church's tracing its
leadership was vested in the three apostolic patriarchates of the origin to the
ancient patriarchates: Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. 1st-century
Church of
Fallout of the Fourth Ecumenical Council Antioch[1]
Branched from Church of
After the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon Antioch[1]
in AD 451, fifth-century Middle-Eastern Christian society
Members 1,568,239[2]
became sharply divided between those who did and those who
did not accept the outcome of the council. Those who accepted Other name(s) Melkite
the decrees of the council, the Chalcedonians, were mainly Church
Melkite Greek
Church
Melkite
Catholic
Church
Greek-speaking city-dwellers, and were called Melkites Catholic Rūm
(imperials) by the anti-Chalcedonians—who were predominantly Official website melkitepat.org
Armenian or Coptic-speaking provincials.[12] (http://www.m
elkitepat.org/)
Fusion with Arabic language and culture

The Battle of Yarmuk (636) took the Melkite homeland out of Byzantine control and placed it under the
occupation of the Arab invaders.[13] Whereas the Greek language and culture remained important,
especially for the Melkites of Jerusalem, Antiochene Melkite tradition merged with the Arabic language and
culture. Indeed, there was Arabic Christian poetry before the arrival of Islam, but the Antiochene blending
with Arabic culture led to a degree of distancing from the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Despite the Arab invasion, the Melkites continued to exercise an important role in the Universal Church.
The Melkites played a leading role in condemning the iconoclast controversy when it re-appeared in the
early 9th century, and were among the first of the Eastern churches to respond to the introduction of the
filioque clause in the West.[13]

Communion with the Catholic Church

In 1724, Cyril VI Tanas was elected new Patriarch of Antioch. As

Cyril was considered to be pro-Western, the Patriarch Jeremias III
of Constantinople feared that his authority would be compromised.
Therefore, Jeremias declared Cyril's election to be invalid,
excommunicated him, and ordained the Greek hierodeacon
Sylvester of Antioch as a priest and bishop so as to take Jeremias'
place.[6]
Pope Pius XI and Patriarch
Sylvester exacerbated divisions with his heavy-handed rule of the Demetrios I Qadi in 1923
church as many Melkites acknowledged Cyril's claim to the
patriarchal throne. Jeremias and Sylvester began a five-year
campaign of persecution against Cyril and the Melkite faithful who supported him, enforced by Ottoman
Turkish troops.

Five years after the election of Cyril VI, in 1729, Pope Benedict XIII recognized him as Patriarch of
Antioch and recognized his followers as being in full communion with the Catholic Church and the Pope
of Rome.[14] From this time onwards, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church has existed separately from and
in parallel to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Western Asia; the latter is no longer referred to as
Melkite.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church has played an important role in the leadership of Arabic Christianity. It
has always been led by Arabic-speaking Christians, whereas its Orthodox counterpart had Greek patriarchs
until 1899. Indeed, at the very beginning of her separate existence, around 1725, one lay leader, theologian
Abdallah Zakher of Aleppo (1684–1748) set up the first printing press in the Arab world.[15] In 1835,
Maximos III Mazloum, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, was recognized by the Ottoman
Empire as the leader of a millet, a distinctive religious community within the Empire. Pope Gregory XVI
gave Maximos III Mazloum the triple-patriarchate of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem, a title that is still
held by the leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Expansion and participation at the First Vatican Council

 In 1806, Germanos Adam, the Archbishop of Aleppo,
convened the Synod of Qarqafe which adapted and
ratified propositions of the 1786 Synod of Pistoia. It
was formally accepted by the Melkite church, but was
formally condemned in 1835 by Pope Gregory XVI in
the bull Melchitarum Catholicorum Synodus.[16]

In 1847, Pope Pius IX (1846–1878) reinstituted the

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the person of the 34-
year-old Giuseppe Valerga (1813–1872), whom the
indigenous hierarchy nicknamed "The Butcher"
because of his fierce opposition to the Eastern
Orthodox churches of the Holy Land. When he
Stained glass window at the Annunciation Melkite
arrived in Jerusalem in 1847, there were 4,200 Latin
Catholic Cathedral in Roslindale, Massachusetts
Catholics and when he died in 1872, the number had
depicting Christ enthroned in regalia of a Byzantine
doubled.
emperor
Under pressure from the Roman curia to adopt Latin
Church practices, Patriarch Clement Bahouth
introduced the Gregorian calendar used by the Latin and Maronite Churches in 1857; that act caused
serious problems within the Melkite church, resulting in a short-lived schism.[17] Conflicts in the Melkite
church escalated to the point where Clement abdicated his position as patriarch.

Clement's successor, Patriarch Gregory II Youssef (1864–1897), worked to restore peace within the
community, successfully healing the lingering schism. He also focused on improving church institutions.
During his reign Gregory founded both the Patriarchal College in Beirut in 1865 and the Patriarchal
College in Damascus in 1875 and re-opened the Melkite seminary of Ain Traz in 1866.[17][18] He also
promoted the establishment of Saint Ann's Seminary, Jerusalem, in 1882 by the White Fathers for the
training of the Melkite clergy.[19]

Following the Hatt-ı Hümayun of 1856, decreed by Sultan Abdülmecid I, the situation of Christians in the
Near East improved. This allowed Gregory to successfully encourage greater participation by the Melkite
laity in both church administration as well as public affairs.[17] Gregory also took an interest in ministering
to the growing number of Melkites who had emigrated to the Americas. In 1889 he dispatched Father
Ibrahim Beshawate of the Basilian Salvatorian Order in Saida, Lebanon, to New York in order to minister
to the growing Syrian community there. According to historian Philip Hitte, Beshawate was the first
permanent priest in the United States from the Near East from among the Melkite, Maronite, and
Antiochian Orthodox churches.[20]

Gregory was also a prominent proponent of Eastern ecclesiology at the First Vatican Council. In the two
discourses he gave at the Council on May 19 and June 14, 1870, he insisted on the importance of
conforming to the decisions of the Council of Florence, of not creating innovations such as papal
infallibility, but accepting what had been decided by common agreement between the Greeks and the
Latins at the Council of Florence, especially with regard to the issue of papal primacy.[21] He was keenly
aware of the disastrous impact that the dogmatic definition of papal infallibility would have on relations
with the Eastern Orthodox Church and emerged as a prominent opponent of the dogma at the Council.[22]
He also defended the rights and privileges of the patriarchs according to the canons promulgated by earlier
ecumenical councils. Speaking at the Council on May 19, 1870, Patriarch Gregory asserted:
 The Eastern Church attributes to the pope the most complete and highest power, however in a
manner where the fullness and primacy are in harmony with the rights of the patriarchal sees.
This is why, in virtue of an ancient right founded on customs, the Roman Pontiffs did not,
except in very significant cases, exercise over these sees the ordinary and immediate
jurisdiction that we are asked now to define without any exception. This definition would
completely destroy the constitution of the entire Greek church. That is why my conscience as a
pastor refuses to accept this constitution.[23]

Patriarch Gregory refused to sign the Council's dogmatic declaration on papal infallibility. He and the seven
other Melkite bishops present voted non placet at the general congregation and left Rome prior to the
adoption of the dogmatic constitution Pastor Aeternus on papal infallibility.[24] Other members of the anti-
infallibilist minority, both from the Latin church and from other Eastern Catholic churches, also left the
city.[24]

After the First Vatican Council concluded an emissary of the Roman Curia was dispatched to secure the
signatures of the patriarch and the Melkite delegation. Patriarch Gregory and the Melkite bishops
subscribed to it, but with the qualifying clause as used at the Council of Florence attached: "except the
rights and privileges of Eastern patriarchs.".[22][25] He earned the enmity of Pius IX for this. According to
one account, during his next visit to the pontiff, Gregory was cast to the floor at Pius' feet by the papal
guard while the pope placed his foot on the patriarch's head.[22][25] This story, however, has been cast into
doubt by more recent studies of the First Vatican Council. John R. Quinn cites Joseph Hajjar in his book
Revered and Reviled: A Re-Examination of Vatican Council 1,: "We have been unable to find any
document to provide historical verification for such treatment by the Pope." [26] Orthodox historian A.
Edward Siecienski reports that the historicity of this story "is now deeply suspect."[27] Despite this,
Patriarch Gregory and the Melkite Church remained committed to their union with the Church of Rome.
Relationships with the Vatican improved following the death of Pius IX and the subsequent election of Leo
XIII as pontiff. Leo's encyclical Orientalium dignitas addressed some of the Eastern Catholic Churches'
concerns on latinization and the centralizing tendencies of Rome.[28] Leo also confirmed that the limitations
placed on the Armenian Catholic patriarch by Pius IX's 1867 letter Reversurus would not apply to the
Melkite Church; further, Leo formally recognized an expansion of Patriarch Gregory's jurisdiction to
include all Melkites throughout the Ottoman Empire.[28]

Vatican II conflicts over Latin and Melkite traditions

Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh took part in the Second Vatican

Council where he championed the Eastern tradition of Christianity,
and won a great deal of respect from Orthodox observers at the
council as well as the approbation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, Athenagoras I.

Following the Second Vatican Council the Melkites moved to

restoring traditional worship. This involved both the restoration of
Melkite practices such as administering the Eucharist to infants
following post-baptismal chrismation as well as removal of
Latinized elements such as communion rails and confessionals. In
the pre-conciliar days, the leaders of this trend were members of
Church of Saint Andrew, Acre.
"The Cairo Circle", a group of young priests centered on the
Patriarchal College in Cairo. This group included Fathers George
Selim Hakim, Joseph Tawil, Elias Zoghby, and former Jesuit Oreste Kerame; they later became bishops
and participated in the Second Vatican Council, and saw their efforts vindicated.

These reforms led to protests by some Melkite churches that the de-latinisation had gone too far. During the
Patriarchate of Maximos IV (Sayegh), some Melkites in the United States objected to the use of the
vernacular in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, a movement that was spearheaded by the future
archbishop of Nazareth, Father Joseph Raya of Birmingham, Alabama. The issue garnered national news
coverage after Bishop Fulton Sheen celebrated a Pontifical Divine Liturgy in English at the Melkite
National convention in Birmingham in 1958, parts of which were televised on the national news.

Resolution

In 1960, the issue was resolved by Pope John XXIII at the request of Patriarch Maximos IV in favour of
the use of vernacular languages in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. Pope John also consecrated a
Melkite priest, Father Gabriel Acacius Coussa, as a bishop, using the Byzantine Rite and the papal tiara as a
crown. Bishop Coussa was almost immediately elevated to the cardinalate, but died two years later. His
cause for canonization was introduced by his religious order, the Basilian Alepian Order.

Further protests against the de-latinisation of the church occurred during the patriarchate of Maximos V
Hakim (1967–2000) when some church officials who supported Latin traditions protested against allowing
the ordination of married men as priests. Today the church sees itself as an authentic Orthodox church in
communion with the Catholic Church. As such it has a role as a voice of the East within the western
church, a bridge between faiths and peoples.[29]

Attempts to unite the Melkite diaspora

Due to heavy emigration from the Eastern Mediterranean, which

began with the Damascus massacres of 1860 in which most of the
Christian communities were attacked, the Melkite Greek Catholic
Church today is found throughout the world and no longer made
up exclusively of faithful of Eastern Mediterranean origin.

The Patriarchate of Maximos V saw many advances in the

worldwide presence of the Melkite Church, called "the Diaspora":
Eparchies (the Eastern equivalent of a diocese) were established in
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal
the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Argentina and Mexico
Cathedral in Damascus
in response to the continued emptying of the Eastern Mediterranean
of her native Christian peoples. Some historians state that after the
revolution in Egypt in 1952, many Melkites left Egypt due to the
renewed Islamic, nativist and socialist policies of the Nasser
regime. In 1950, the richest Melkite community in the world was in
Egypt.[30] In 1945 the most populous single diocese was Akko,
Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee.

In 1967, a native Egyptian of Syrian-Aleppin descent, George

Selim Hakim, was elected the successor of Maximos IV, and took
the name Maximos V. He was to reign until he retired at the age of
92 in the Jubilee Year of 2000. He reposed on the feast of Saints
Iconostasis at Saint George Greek-
Peter and Paul, June 29, 2001. He was succeeded by Archbishop Melkite Church in Sacramento,
Lutfi Laham, who took the name Gregory III. California
Melkite Greek Catholic Church is the largest Catholic community in Syria and Israel,[31] and the second
largest in Lebanon. As of 2014 the Melkite Greek Catholic Church was the largest Christian community in
Israel, with roughly 60% of Israeli Christians belonging to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.[32]

Due to the Christian emigration from the Middle East, São Paulo is now home to the largest Melkite
community in the diaspora (estimated around 433,000),[33] followed by Argentina (302,800). Other large
Melkite communities can be found in Australia (52,000), Canada (35,000), Venezuela (25,400), the United
States (24,000), and other countries.[34] According to figures by the Holy See in 2008, Lebanon is now
home to the largest Melkite community in the Middle East (425,000), followed by Syria (234,000).[35]
There are more than 80,000 Greek Melkite Catholics in Israel and Palestine, and 27,600 Greek Melkite
Catholics in Jordan.[34] The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is by far the largest Catholic church in Israel.

Organization
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is in full communion with the Holy See (the Latin Catholic Pope of
Rome and his Roman Congregation for the Eastern Churches), where the Patriarch is represented by his
Procurator at Rome, but fully follows the traditions and customs of Byzantine Christianity.[36] The
traditional languages of worship are Arabic and Greek, but today, services are held in a variety of
languages, depending on the country where the church is located.

The Melkite Synod of Bishops, composed of all of the church's bishops, meets each year to consider
administrative, theological and church-wide issues.[37] The vast majority of the Melkite diocesan priests in
the Middle East are married.[38]

Patriarchate

The current Patriarch is Youssef Absi who was elected on 21 June 2017.[39] The patriarchate is based in the
Syrian capital Damascus, but it formally remains one of the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs claiming the
apostolic succession to the Ancient see of Antioch, and has been permanently granted the styles of Titular
Patriarch of Alexandria and Jerusalem, two other patriarchates with multiple Catholic succession.

The patriarchate is administered by a permanent synod, which includes the Patriarch and four bishops, the
ordinary tribunal of the patriarch for legal affairs, the patriarchal economos who serves as financial
administrator, and a chancery.[37]

Current dioceses and similar jurisdictions

In the Arab World and Africa, the church has dioceses in:

Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan, where the Patriarch of Antioch has the style of Titular
Patriarch of Alexandria:
Melkite Catholic Territory Dependent on the Patriarch of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan,
administered by a Patriarchal Vicar or Protosyncellus, titular Archeparchy of Alexandria.

The Holy Land, where the Patriarch of Antioch has the style of Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem:
Israel: Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka (including Haifa, Nazareth and all
Galilee)
Palestinian territories: Melkite Catholic Territory Dependent on the Patriarch of
 Jerusalem
Transjordan: Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of
Petra and Philadelphia in Amman and all
Transjordan
Iraq:
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Iraq
Arabian Peninsula:
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of
Kuwait
Lebanon: St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa: the
cathedral of the Melkite Greek
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baalbek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka.
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baniyas and
Marjeyoun (suffragan of Tyre)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos (nominally Metropolitan)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon and Deir el-Kamar (suffragan of Tyre)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli (suffragan of Tyre)
Metropolitan Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre (with three Lebanese
archiepiscopal suffragans)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol and all the Bekaa

Syria:
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Damascus,
Patriarchal See of Antioch
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo
(nominally Metropolitan)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Bosra and
Hauran (Archeparchy of Khabab) (nominally
metropolitan)
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs (united Virgin Mary Cathedral of Aleppo: the
with titular sees Hama and Yabroud) (nominally cathedral of the Melkite Greek
metropolitan) Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo.
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Latakia and
the Valley of the Christians

Throughout the rest of the world, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church has dioceses and exarchates for its
diaspora in:

Australia and New Zealand (Oceania):

Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Saint Michael Archangel in Sydney
Turkey (Eurasia):
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Istanbul
Europe:
Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of Saint Julien the Poor (Paris, France)
Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of Saint Nicolas of Myra (Marseille, France)
Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of St. John Chrysostom in Brussels (Belgium)
 Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of St. John Chrysostom in Great Britain (United Kingdom)
Melkite Greek Catholic Parish of Stockholm (Sweden)
Melkite Greek Catholic parish community of Vienna (Austria)
Melkite Greek Catholic community of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin in Rome
(Italy)

North America:
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Saint-Sauveur in
Montréal (Canada)
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora
del Paraíso in Mexico City (Mexico)
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton (United
States of America)
South America:
Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of
Argentina
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nossa Senhora
do Paraíso em São Paulo ( Brazil, suffragan of the
Latin Metropolitan of São Paulo)
Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of
Venezuela, Caracas Porta Coeli Church (now the Melkite
Greek Catholic Cathedral of Mexico
Furthermore, one of the Ordinaries is appointed Apostolic visitor City)
for the countries without proper ordinariate in Western Europe,
while in some countries the Melkite diaspora is served pastorally by
Ordinariates for all the Byzantine Rites or – for all Eastern Catholics.

Titular sees
Four Metropolitan Titular archbishoprics: Apamea in Syria, Cesarea in Palæstina, Edessa in
Osrhoëne, Pelusium
Six other Titular archbishoprics: Adana, Cesarea in Cappadocia, Damiata, Hama (united
with current Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs), Hierapolis in Syria, Myra, Tarsus
Two Episcopal Titular bishoprics: Jabrud (united with current Melkite Greek Catholic
Archeparchy of Homs), Laodicea in Syria, Palmyra

Religious institutes (regular orders)

Basilian Aleppian Order
Basilian Chouerite Order
Basilian Salvatorian Order
Melkite Paulists (fr)

Other

There are also several patriarchal organizations with offices and chapters throughout the world, including:
 the Global Melkite Association, a group which networks eparchies, monasteries, schools
and Melkite associations
Friends of The Holy Land, a lay charitable organization active in the diaspora which
provides clothing, medicine and liturgical items for churches and communities in the Holy
Land (Israel, Palestine, Jordan), Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria.

Ecclesiastical decorations
Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, a
honorific lay order founded in 1979, with the Patriarch of
Antioch as Grand Master, which promotes religious,
cultural, charitable and social works of concern to the
Church
Order of Saint Nicholas, a regional lay order founded in
1991 by Bishop Ignatius Ghattas of the Melkite Greek
Catholic Eparchy of Newton[40]

Other
Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (OSLJ), a Christian
ecumenical lay order under protection of the Patriarch of
Antioch since 1910 (some sources claim since 1841)[41]
Ordo Militiae Christi Templi Hierosolymitani (OMCTH), a Cross of the Patriarchal Order of the
Christian ecumenical organisation with Holy Cross of Jerusalem.
Generalkommandantur (general command) in Cologne,
Germany, and a seat in Jerusalem, under protection of
the Patriarch of Antioch since 22 September 1990. The Grand Priory of Poland of the
OMCTH was granted the Autonomous Statute General on 12 December 2018 by Patriarch
Youssef Absi. Grand Priory of Poland was established as the sole Catholic Chivalric Order
with the Grand Prior of Poland as the Vicar General of the Order.[42]

See also
Christianity portal

Melkite
List of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Eastern Catholic Churches
Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton

Notes
a. Arabic: ‫كنيسة الروم الملكيين الكاثوليك‬, Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk; Greek:
Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία; Latin: Ecclesiae Graecae Melchitae Catholicae

References
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6. Parry & Melling 1999, p. 312.
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12. Tawil 2001, p. 21.
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_(1913)/Melchites). In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert
Appleton Company.
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External links
Official website (http://www.melkitepat.org/)
Eparchy of Newton, the Melkite Church in the USA (http://www.melkite.org)
Melkite Catholic Web Ring (http://www.mliles.com/melkite/index.shtml)
Melkite Ambassadors Young Adult Website (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927005449/h
ttp://www.melkite.org/Ambassadors/retreat_files/slide0001.htm)
 Article on the Melkite Catholic Church by Ronald Roberson on the CNEWA website (https://c
newa.org/eastern-christian-churches/toc/the-catholic-eastern-churches/from-the-orthodox-ch
urch/the-melkite-catholic-church/)
Melkite Greek Catholic Chant in Greek, English, and Arabic (http://steliasmelkite.org/music/)

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