Syrian Catholic Church
| Syriac Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founder | Traces ultimate origins to Apostle St. Peter. Patriarchs Ignatius Andrew Akijan (1662) and Ignatius Michael III Jarweh (1782) |
| Independence | Apostolic Era |
| Recognition | 1662 with the Catholic Church |
| Primate | Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians Ignatius Joseph III Yonan |
| Headquarters | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Territory | Near-East |
| Possessions | Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, United States, Canada, France, Sweden, Venezuela, Brazil and Australia |
| Language | Syriac, Aramaic |
| Members | 205,440 |
| Website |
syr-cath |
The Syriac Catholic Church (or Syrian Catholic Church) (Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ,(ʿīṯo suryaiṯo qaṯolīqaiṯo), (also known as Aramean Catholic Church), is a Christian church in the Levant and a wide diaspora using the Syrian Rite, which has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church has full autonomy and is a self-governed sui iuris Church, while in full communion with the Holy See of Rome. Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan became patriarch in 2009.
The Patriarch of Antioch of this church has the title of Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians. and resides in Beirut, Lebanon.
Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries began to work among the Syriac Orthodox in Aleppo in 1626. So many of them were received into communion with Rome that in 1662, when the Patriarchate had fallen vacant, the Catholic party was able to elect one of its own, Andrew Akijan, as Patriarch of the Syriac Church. This provoked a split in the community, and after Akijan’s death in 1677 two opposing patriarchs were elected, one being the uncle of the other, representing the two parties (one pro-Catholic, the other anti-Catholic). But when the Catholic Patriarch died in 1702, this very brief line of Catholic Patriarchs upon the Syriac Church's See of Antioch died out with him.
Later, in 1782, the Syriac Orthodox Holy Synod elected Metropolitan Michael Jarweh of Aleppo as Patriarch. Shortly after he was enthroned, he declared himself Catholic and in unity with the Pope of Rome. Since Jarweh there has been an unbroken succession of Syriac Catholic Patriarchs.
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Wikipedia