Katana VentraIP

Patriarch of Antioch

The Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, episkopos, from which the word bishop is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in Pauline Christianity from its earliest period. This diocese is one of the few for which the names of its bishops from the apostolic beginnings have been preserved. Today five churches use the title of patriarch of Antioch: one Oriental Orthodox (the Syriac Orthodox Church); three Eastern Catholic (the Maronite, Syriac Catholic, and Melkite Greek Catholic Churches); and one Eastern Orthodox (the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch).

"Patriarchate of Antioch" redirects here. For other uses, see Patriarchate of Antioch (disambiguation).

Patriarch of Antioch

Saint Peter

Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (Eastern Catholic Churches)

Melkite, Maronite, Syriac Catholic

West Syriac Rite, Byzantine Rite

34 (founded)

451 (granted title of patriarch)

According to the pre-congregation church tradition, this ancient patriarchate was founded by the Apostle Saint Peter. The patriarchal succession was disputed at the time of the Meletian schism in 362 and again after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when there were rival Melkite and non-Chalcedonian claimants to the see. After a 7th-century succession dispute in the Melkite church, the Maronites began appointing a Maronite patriarch as well. After the First Crusade, the Catholic Church began appointing a Latin Church patriarch of Antioch, though this became strictly titular after the Fall of Antioch in 1268, and was abolished completely in 1964. In the 18th century, succession disputes in the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox Churches of Antioch led to factions of those churches entering into communion with Rome under claimants to the patriarchate: respectively the Melkite Greek Catholic patriarch of Antioch and the Syriac Catholic patriarch of Antioch. Their respective Orthodox counterparts are the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and the Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch.

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. He is the Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, which is part of the Oriental Orthodox communion and uses the Antiochene liturgy. His see is based in Damascus.

Ignatius Aphrem II

patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians. Ignace Joseph III is the leader of the Syrian Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church's Holy See at the Vatican and uses the Antiochene liturgy. The see is based in Beirut.

Ignatius Joseph III Yonan

Maronite patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and uses the Maronite liturgy. His see is based in Bkerké, Lebanon.

Bechara Boutros Rahi

was elected Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and All the East on December 17, 2012. John X is the leader of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, and thus is one of the major hierarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His see is based in Damascus and uses the Byzantine liturgy.[11]

John X of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria, and Jerusalem of the Greek Melkites. He is the leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and uses the Byzantine liturgy. His see is based in Damascus.

Joseph Absi

Today, five churches claim the title of patriarch of Antioch;[10] three of these are autonomous Eastern Catholic particular churches in full communion with the pope of Rome. All five see themselves as part of the Antiochene heritage and claim a right to the Antiochene See through apostolic succession, although none are currently based in the city of Antakya. This multiplicity of Patriarchs of Antioch as well as their lack of location in Antioch, reflects the troubled history of Christianity in the region, which has been marked by internecine struggles and persecution, particularly since the Islamic conquest. Indeed, the Christian population in the original territories of the Antiochene patriarchs has been all but eliminated by assimilation and expulsion, with the region's current Christians forming a small minority.


The current patriarchs of Antioch are listed below in order of their accession to the post, from earliest to most recent.


At one point, there was at least nominally a sixth claimant to the Patriarchate. When the Western European Crusaders established the Principality of Antioch, they established a Latin Church church in the city, whose head took the title of Patriarch. After the Crusaders were expelled by the Mamluks in 1268, the pope continued to appoint a titular Latin patriarch of Antioch, whose actual seat was the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The last holder of this office was Roberto Vicentini, who died without a successor in 1953. The post itself was abolished in 1964.

All five churches recognize a until 518. In that year, Severus, who rejected the Council of Chalcedon, was deposed by the Byzantine Emperor Justin I and replaced by the Chalcedonian Paul the Jew, but Severus and his followers did not recognize his deposition. This led to two rival sequences of patriarchs: Severus and his successors, recognized by the two Syriac churches; and Paul and his successors, recognized by the Greek Orthodox, Melkite, and Maronite Churches. It was the successors of Paul who were recognized as legitimate by the Byzantine government.

single sequence of bishops

In 685, , who recognized the legitimacy of Paul the Jew and his successors until Byzantium began to appoint titular patriarchs of Antioch ending with Theophanes (681–687), was elected Patriarch of Antioch by the Maradite army. Byzantine Emperor Justinian II sent an army to dislodge John from the see; John and his followers retreated to Lebanon, where they formed the Maronite Church, whose succession of patriarchs have continued to the present day. The Byzantines appointed Theophanes of Antioch in his stead. Thus there were now three rival patriarchs: those that recognized Severus and his successors, those that recognized John Maron and his successors, and those that recognized Theophanes and his successors. It was the successors of Theophanes who were recognized as legitimate by the Byzantine government.

John Maron

In 1724, the church that recognized Theophanes and his successors elected , who supported re-establishing communion with the Catholic Church that had been broken in the Great Schism, as patriarch of Antioch. However, the ecumenical patriarch declared Cyril's election invalid, and appointed Sylvester of Antioch in his stead. Cyril and Sylvester both had followers, and both continued to claim the patriarchate. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church recognizes Cyril and his successors; the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch recognizes Sylvester and his successors.

Cyril VI Tanas

In 1783, a faction within the church that recognized Severus and his successors elected , a bishop who was already in communion with the Catholic Church, as patriarch of Antioch. Shortly thereafter, another faction, who rejected communion with Rome, elected Ignatius Matthew. Both had followers, and both continued to claim the patriarchate. The Syriac Orthodox Church recognizes Ignatius Mathew and his successors; the Syriac Catholic Church recognizes Ignatius Michael and his successors.

Ignatius Michael III Jarweh

One way to understand the historical interrelationships between the various churches is to examine their chain of episcopal succession—that is, the sequence of bishops that each church regards as having been the predecessors of each church's current claimant to the patriarchate. There were four points in history where a disputed succession to the patriarchate led to a lasting institutional schism, leading to the five churches that exist today.


Thus, the succession recognized by each church is as follows:

37–518

List of patriarchs of Antioch

512–present

List of Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch

1662–present

List of Syriac Catholic patriarchs of Antioch

518–present

List of Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch

1724–present

List of Melkite Catholic patriarchs of Antioch

686–present

List of Maronite patriarchs of Antioch

1098–1964

List of Latin patriarchs of Antioch

Melkite Greek Catholic Church

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch

Syriac Orthodox Church

Syriac Catholic Church

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

; Hainthaler, Theresia (2013). Christ in Christian Tradition: The Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch from 451 to 600. Vol. 2/3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921288-0.

Grillmeier, Aloys

Antioch, Church of. Full history

Catholic Encyclopedia:

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem