Currently, world Orthodoxy includes fifteen autocephalous (independent) churches. Among them, according to the diptychu adopted in the Russian Orthodox Church - the order of commemoration of the liturgy of their primates, the third place is occupied by the Church of Antioch, which is one of the oldest in the world. Her story and the problems of modern life will be the subject of our conversation.
Legacy of the Holy Apostles
According to legend, it was founded in 37 by the holy apostles Peter and Paul, who visited the city of Antioch, located on the territory of Ancient Syria. Today it is called Antakya and is part of modern Turkey. It should be noted that it was in this city that the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. This is evidenced by the lines of the 11th chapter of the New Testament book of Acts.
Like all Christians of the first centuries, members of the Church of Antioch immediately suffered severe persecution by the Gentiles. Only the co-rulers of the Roman Empire put an end to this - the emperors Constantine the Great and Licinius, who in 313 legitimized religious freedom in all territories subject to them, including Antioch, as a special edict.
The first ascetic monks and the beginning of the patriarchate
It is known that after the Church of Antioch left the underground, monasticism was widespread in it, which at that time was still a religious innovation and existed until that time only in Egypt. But, unlike the monks of the Nile Valley, their Syrian brothers led a less closed and divorced way of life. Their usual activities included missionary work and charity.
This picture changed significantly in the next century, when a whole galaxy of hermits who entered the history of the church appeared, practicing such a form of ascetic feat, as aethnism. The monks, who became famous in this way, for a long time said a continuous prayer, choosing its place as the open top of a tower, pillar or just a high stone. The founder of this movement is considered to be a Syrian monk, canonized in the face of the saints - Simeon Stolpnik.
The Antioch Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Patriarchates, that is, independent local churches led by its own patriarch. Its first leader was Bishop Maxim who ascended the patriarchal throne in 451 and remained in power for five years.
Theological disagreements causing a split
Throughout the 5th and 7th centuries, the Church of Antioch experienced a period of sharp confrontation between representatives of two theological trends that were at war with each other. One group was made up of the followers of the doctrine of the dual nature of Jesus Christ, his Divine and human essence, embodied in him not together and not separately. They are called diophysites.
Their opponents - myaphysites - held a different point of view. In their opinion, the nature of Jesus Christ was one, but it embodied both God and man. This concept was rejected and recognized heretical at the Chalcedon Cathedral in 451. Despite the fact that it was supported by the emperor Justin I, who ruled in those years, the supporters of the Miaphysitic doctrine eventually managed to unite and win over most of the people of Syria. As a result, a parallel patriarchy was formed, which later became the Syrian Orthodox Church. To this day, she remains Miaphysitic, and her former opponents became part of the Greek Church.
Under the rule of the Arab conquerors
In May 637, Syria was captured by the Arabs, which became a real disaster for the Greek Orthodox communities living in it. Their situation worsened by the fact that the conquerors saw in them not only infidels, but also potential allies of their main enemy - Byzantium.
As a result, the Antiochian patriarchs, beginning with Macedonia, who left the country in 638, were forced to move their chair to Constantinople, but after the death of George in 702, the patriarchate was completely stopped. The Church of Antioch regained its head only forty years later, when Caliph Hisham, who ruled in those years, gave permission to elect a new patriarch, but at the same time established tight control over his loyalty.
The invasion of the Seljuk Turks and the invasion of the Crusaders
In the XI century, Antioch was subjected to a new invasion of conquerors. This time they turned out to be Seljuk Turks - one of the branches of the Western Türks, named after the name of their leader Seljuk. However, they were not destined to hold on to their conquests for a long time, because after a dozen years they were knocked out by the crusaders that appeared in these parts. And again, the Church of Antioch was forced to go through extremely difficult times for her, as she was under the rule of Catholics, who everywhere tried to establish the rule of their denomination.
To this end, they expelled Patriarch John, who ruled in those years, and in his place was put the Roman prelate Bernard. Very soon, all Orthodox bishops in the territories under the control of the Crusaders were replaced by Catholic hierarchs. In this regard, the Antioch Orthodox Department again shifted to Constantinople, where it was until 1261, when the position of European conquerors greatly weakened.
Moving to Damascus and the Ottoman yoke
At the end of the XIII century, the crusaders were forced to leave their last possessions in the East, but by this time the Orthodox, two hundred years ago, half the population of Syria, were almost completely exterminated and made up only small scattered groups. In 1342, the patriarchal chair of the Church of Antioch was moved to Damascus. There it is located today. This, incidentally, is the answer to the frequently asked question about where the Church of Antioch is located today.
In 1517, Syria was captured by the Ottoman Empire, and as a result, the Patriarch of Antioch became subordinate to his fellow Constantinople. The reason was that Byzantium had long been under Turkish rule, and the Patriarch of Constantinople enjoyed a certain patronage of the authorities. Despite the fact that the Orthodox Church was taxed heavily, no significant deterioration occurred in the position of its rank-and-file members. Attempts to violently Islamize them were also not noted.
The recent past and today
In recent history, the Church of Antioch enjoyed the patronage of the Russian government. It was with his support in 1899 that the Orthodox Arab Meletius (Dumani) occupied the patriarchal throne. The tradition of the choice of Arabs for this position remains to this day. In the future, Nicholas I repeatedly supplied the church with cash subsidies.
Today, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, headed by the hundred and sixty-seventh in a row, Patriarch John X (Yaziji), includes twenty-two dioceses, and the number of parishioners, according to various estimates, varies within two million people. As mentioned above, the patriarchal residence is located in Damascus.
Church conflict in the Middle East
In 2013, a conflict arose between the two oldest churches in the world. The reason for it was a mutual disagreement over the rights to a confessional presence in Qatar. The Antiochian Patriarch John X expressed dissatisfaction with his Jerusalem counterpart regarding his claims to the dioceses located in this Middle Eastern emirate. He received the answer in a form that does not tolerate objection. Since then, the conflict between the Jerusalem and Antioch churches has taken on such an irreconcilable character that even the Eucharistic (liturgical) communion was interrupted between them.
Such a situation, of course, damages the integrity and unity of all world Orthodoxy. In this regard, the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate has repeatedly expressed the hope that the churches of Antioch and Jerusalem will be able to overcome differences and find an acceptable solution.
Refusal to participate in the Ecumenical Council
This year, from June 18 to 26, the Pan-Orthodox (Ecumenical) Cathedral was held in Crete. However, it took place without four autocephalous local churches, for various reasons rejecting the invitation to participate. Among them was the Church of Antioch. The pan-Orthodox cathedral was being prepared in the midst of heated discussions on many issues that aroused disagreement among its potential participants.
But as a result of the long and multifaceted work carried out by the representatives of the churches, it was not possible to reach an agreement on most of the most important issues. This, in particular, is the reason for the rejection of the Cathedral of Antioch. It was explained in a statement by the representative of their Synodal Department, voiced in May of this year. A similar decision was made by the leadership of the Bulgarian, Georgian and Russian Orthodox churches.