The Eastern Christian Churches - A Brief Survey

There are fourteen Orthodox churches that are generally accepted as “autocephalous,” which in Greek means “self-headed.” An autocephalous church possesses the right to resolve all internal problems on its own authority and the ability to choose its own bishops, including the Patriarch, Archbishop or Metropolitan who heads the church. While each autocephalous church acts independently, they all remain in full sacramental and canonical communion with one another.

Today these autocephalous Orthodox churches include the four ancient Eastern Patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem), and ten other Orthodox churches that have emerged over the centuries in Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, and the Czech and Slovak Republics. On its own initiative, the Patriarchate of Moscow has granted autocephalous status to most of its parishes in North America under the name of the Orthodox Church in America. But since the Patriarchate of Constantinople claims the exclusive right to grant autocephalous status, it and most other Orthodox churches do not recognize the autocephaly of the American church.

Nine of these autocephalous churches are Patriarchates: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia. The others are headed by an Archbishop or Metropolitan.

The Syrian Orthodox Church traces its origins back to the early Christian community at Antioch, which is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. The Antiochian Church became one of the great centers of Christianity in the early centuries. But the Council of Chalcedon in 451 provoked a split in the community. The council’s teachings were enforced by the Byzantine imperial authorities in the cities, but they were largely rejected in the countryside.

In the 6th century, the Bishop of Edessa, Jacob Baradai, ordained many bishops and priests to carry on the faith of those who rejected Chalcedon in the face of imperial opposition. Consequently, this church became known as “Jacobite,” with its own liturgy (called “West Syrian” or “Antiochian”) and other traditions using the Syriac language spoken by the common people. Some communities were also established outside the Byzantine Empire in Persia.

The conquest of the area by the Persians and later the Arabs ended Byzantine persecution and created conditions favoring further development of the Syrian Church. There was a great revival of Syrian Orthodox scholarship in the Middle Ages, when the community possessed flourishing schools of theology, philosophy, history, and science. At its height, the church included twenty metropolitan sees and 103 dioceses extending as far to the east as Afghanistan. There is also evidence of communities of Syrian Orthodox faithful without bishops as distant as Turkestan and Sinkiang during this period.

But the Mongol invasions under Tamerlane in the late 14th century, during which most Syrian churches and monasteries were destroyed, marked the beginning of a long decline. Terrible losses were suffered again during and after World War I because of persecutions and massacres in eastern Turkey. This led to a widespread dispersion of the community.

Even now the Syrian Orthodox population is shifting. In the 1950s and 1960s many emigrated from Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. Within Iraq, they have been moving from the northern city of Mosul to Baghdad. The most serious erosion of the community has taken place in southeast Turkey, where only a few Syrian Orthodox remain. Earlier in this century many Syrian Orthodox also immigrated to Western Europe and the Americas for economic and political reasons.

The Syrians have a strong monastic tradition, and a few monasteries remain in the Mardin province of Turkey and other parts of the Middle East. There are now three monasteries in the diaspora, located in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.

The Syrian Patriarchs resided in Antioch until 1034. Since that time they have resided in Mar Barsauma monastery (1034-1293), Der ez-Za’faran monastery (1293-1924), Homs, Syria (1924-1959), and finally Damascus (since 1959).

Some theological education is still provided by the monasteries, but St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Seminary is the major theological institute of the Patriarchate. It was founded in Zahle, Lebanon, but moved to Mosul, Iraq, in 1939. It moved back to Zahle in the 1960s, and relocated to Atchaneh, near Beirut, in 1968. The outbreak of civil war in Lebanon forced the removal of the students to Damascus, Syria. New facilities for the seminary at Maarrat Sednaya, near Damascus, were consecrated by the Syrian Patriarch on September 14, 1996. The complex also includes a new patriarchal residence and cathedral, a conference center and central offices of the Syrian Orthodox Church.

In April 2000 the Holy Synod changed the church’s official name from “Syrian” to the “Syriac” Orthodox Church of Antioch in order to avoid confusion with Syrian nationality. This decision applied only to the English language, and was to be adopted gradually over the course of time. In practice, however, the use of the term “Syriac” is mostly limited to North America.

Since the mid-17th century, the Syrian Patriarchate has included an autonomous church in India, now called the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church. The head of that church is Catholicos Mor Baselios Thomas I (born 1929, elected 2002). There are ten dioceses in India with a total of 19 bishops. The church maintains the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary in Vettickal, a town near Ernakulam, in Kerala. It also houses the church’s printing press and ecumenical offices, and serves as one of the church’s most important institutions. The Syrian and Malankara Jacobite churches have overlapping jurisdictions in much of the world. See also the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

A Syrian Orthodox Patriarchal Vicariate was established for the United States and Canada in 1949 with Archbishop Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel at its head. It was raised to the status of Archdiocese in 1957. After Archbishop Samuel’s death in April 1995, the Syrian Holy Synod divided the Archdiocese into three jurisdictions. The Patriarchal Vicariate for the Eastern United States (260 Elm Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666), is headed by Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim (born 1965, elected 1995). It has 18 parishes and missions served by 14 priests. The Patriarchal Vicariate for the Western United States (417 East Fairmount Road, Burbank, California 91502), which has 13 parishes, is under the pastoral care of Mor Clemis Eugene Kaplan (born 1955, elected 1995). The Patriarchal Vicariate of Canada (4375 Henri Bourassa Ouest, St. Laurent, Que. H4L 1A5), where there are seven parishes, is headed by Mor Timotheos Ephrem Aboodi (born 1930, elected 1995). In 1993 the Syrian Holy Synod separated the parishes of Indian faithful in North America from the Syrian Archdiocese and established the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America. It is under the pastoral guidance of Archbishop Mor Titus Yeldho Pathickal (10 Stonehurst Court, Pomona, New York 10970) and includes 33 parishes, served by 42 priests.

The Patriarchal Vicar for the Syrian Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom (one parish) is Metropolitan Touma Hazim Dakkama (5 Canning Road, Croydon, CR0 6QB). Metropolitan Kuriakose Theophilose (resident in the church’s seminary in India) is Patriarchal Vicar for Malankara Syrian Orthodox in Europe and the United Arab Emirates. He oversees 13 parishes in the United Kingdom and four in Ireland. The Malankara Syrian Orthodox contact in the UK is Fr. Eldhose Koungampillil (97 Cadogan Gardens, South Woodford, London E18 1LY).

In September 2003 the Syrian Patriarch ordained Mor Militius Malke Lahdo (born 1971, elected 2003) as the first Patriarchal Vicar for the Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand (82 Joseph Street, Lidcombe, PO Box 257, Sydney, NSW 2141). There are seven parishes in Australia and one in New Zealand.

Location: Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel, India, diaspora
Head: Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas (born 1933, elected 1980)
Title: Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Residence: Maarrat Sednaya (Damascus), Syria
Membership: 500,000, plus 1,200,000 in India

Orthodox Christians consider themselves to be part of one church in the sense that they share the same faith and sacraments, as well as the Byzantine liturgical, canonical, and spiritual tradition. All Orthodox recognize the first seven ecumenical councils as normative for doctrine and church life. A number of later councils are also considered to express the same original faith. Although referred to most commonly as the Orthodox Church, this communion is also frequently called the Eastern Orthodox Church to distinguish it from the Oriental Orthodox churches described in the previous section.

At the level of church government, Orthodoxy is a communion of churches, all of which recognize the Patriarch of Constantinople as primus inter pares, or “first among equals.” Although he does not have authority to intervene in the affairs of local churches outside his own Patriarchate, he is considered first in honor and the symbolic center of all the Orthodox churches. Thus the Patriarchate of Constantinople (also known as the Ecumenical Patriarchate) enjoys a certain priority among the various Orthodox churches. It sees this status as a service that provides a mechanism for promoting conciliarity and mutual responsibility. This role includes convoking the churches and coordinating their activity, and at times intervening in situations in an effort to find solutions to specific problems.

The schism between what are now known as the Orthodox and Catholic churches was the result of a centuries-long process of estrangement. Such events as the excommunications in 1054 between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the papal legate were only high points in this process. Moreover, each Orthodox church has its own history concerning the rift with Rome. There was never, for example, a formal separation between Rome and the Patriarchate of Antioch, although Antioch came to share the common Byzantine perception of the schism. Today it is widely agreed that there were significant non-theological factors at play in this gradual alienation between East and West. These included the interruption of regular communication that resulted from political developments and the loss of the ability to understand the Greek or Latin of the other church. But doctrinal issues were also involved, especially regarding the nature of the Church. The most important of these concerned the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit (related to the addition of the filioque to the Creed by the western church), and the meaning of the role of the bishop of Rome as first bishop in the Church.

Two major attempts to reestablish communion between Catholics and Orthodox took place at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 and the Council of Florence-Ferrara in 1438-1439. Although formal reunions were proclaimed in both cases, they were ultimately rejected by the general Orthodox population. Many centuries of mutual isolation have been ended only in the contemporary period. An official international dialogue between the two churches has been in progress since 1980.

According to an ancient tradition, the first great evangelizer of the Ethiopians was St. Frumentius, a Roman citizen from Tyre who had been shipwrecked along the African coast of the Red Sea. He gained the confidence of the emperor at Aksum and eventually brought about the conversion of his son, who later became Emperor Ezana. Ezana later introduced Christianity as the state religion around the year 330. Frumentius was ordained a bishop by St. Athanasius of Alexandria and returned to Ethiopia to help with the continued evangelization of the country.

Around the year 480 the “Nine Saints” arrived in Ethiopia and began missionary activities. According to tradition they were from Rome, Constantinople and Syria. They had left their countries because of their opposition to Chalcedonian christology and had probably resided for a time at St. Pachomius monastery in Egypt. Their influence, along with the church’s strong links with the Copts in Egypt, probably explains the origin of the Ethiopian Church’s rejection of Chalcedon’s teaching that there are two natures in Christ. Indeed, the word “Tewahedo” that is included in the official name of the church today, means “being made one” or “unified,” and expresses the unity of Christ’s humanity and divinity in a single nature. The Nine Saints are credited with largely wiping out the remaining paganism in Ethiopia, with introducing the monastic tradition, and with making a substantial contribution to the development of Ge’ez religious literature by translating the Bible and religious works into that classical Ethiopian language. Monasteries quickly sprang up throughout the country and became important intellectual centers.

The Ethiopian Church reached its zenith in the 15th century when much creative theological and spiritual literature was produced and the church was engaged in extensive missionary activity.

The very negative experience of contact with Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th century Ethiopian Catholic Church] was followed by centuries of isolation from which the Ethiopian Church has only recently emerged.

This church is unique in retaining several Jewish practices such as circumcision and the observance of dietary laws and Saturday as well as Sunday sabbath. This is probably due to the fact that Christianity arrived in Ethiopia directly from Palestine in a form that was still strongly influenced by its Jewish roots. There is also a tradition that Judaism was practiced by some Ethiopians even before the arrival of Christianity.

The Ethiopian liturgy is of Alexandrian (Coptic) origin and influenced by the Syriac tradition. The liturgy was always celebrated in the ancient Ge’ez language until very recent times. Today a translation of the liturgy into modern Amharic is being used increasingly in the parishes. A strong monastic tradition continues.

From ancient times, all bishops in Ethiopia were Egyptian Copts appointed by the Coptic Patriarchate. Indeed, for many centuries the only bishop in Ethiopia was the Coptic Metropolitan. In the early 20th century the Ethiopian Church began to press for greater autonomy and the election of native Ethiopian bishops. In 1929 four native Ethiopian bishops were ordained to assist the Coptic Metropolitan. With the support of Emperor Haile Selassie (reigned 1930-1974), an agreement was reached with the Copts in 1948 which provided for the election of an ethnic Ethiopian Metropolitan upon the death of Metropolitan Qerillos. Thus when he died in 1951, an assembly of clergy and laity elected an Ethiopian, Basilios, as Metropolitan, and the autonomy of the Ethiopian Church was established. In 1959 the Coptic Patriarchate confirmed Metropolitan Basilios as the first Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

An Ethiopian Orthodox faculty of theology, Trinity College, functioned as part of the University of Addis Ababa until it was closed by the government in 1974. In the same year, the church established St. Paul Theological College in Addis Ababa to provide a theological education for candidates for the priesthood. It has long been common for many Ethiopian Orthodox men to seek ordination; it was estimated in 1988 that there were 250,000 clergymen in the country. In order to provide them with an adequate level of education, six Clergy Training Centers have recently been established in various parts of Ethiopia. Every parish is now expected to have a Sunday School program.

Especially in recent years, the Ethiopian Church has assumed an active role in serving those in need. It has sponsored relief efforts on behalf of refugees and victims of drought, and a number of church-sponsored orphanages have been set up.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was the state religion of the country until the 1974 Marxist revolution, which overthrew the Emperor and placed Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam at the head of government. Soon after the revolution, church and state were officially separated and most church land was nationalized. This signaled the beginning of a campaign against all the religious groups in the country.

Following the collapse of the communist government in May 1991, Patriarch Merkorios (elected in 1988) was accused of collaboration with the Mengistu regime. In September, under pressure, he resigned his duties as Patriarch. On July 5, 1992, the Holy Synod elected Abune Paulos as fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He had been imprisoned for seven years by the Marxist authorities after Patriarch Theophilos (deposed in 1976 and murdered in prison in 1979) ordained him a bishop without government approval in 1975. Paulos was released in 1983 and had spent the intervening years in the United States. Meanwhile, Patriarch Merkorios, who initially took refuge in Kenya and later moved to the United States, refused to recognize the election of Paulos.

In October 1994 Patriarch Paulos presided over the reopening of Trinity Theological College in the Ethiopian capital. The college began functioning again with 50 students in its degree program and 100 studying for diplomas in theology.

Out of a total population of 74 million, between 40 and 45 percent now belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, concentrated in the northern regions of Tigray and Amhara. Approximately 45 percent is Sunni Muslim, centered in the eastern Somali and Afar regions, as well as Oromia. Another 10 percent of the population is Christian Evangelical and Pentecostal, the fastest growing religious group in the country. Catholics number around 750,000.

In Australia there are Ethiopian Orthodox communities in each of the state capitals. Contact Fr. Mangsha Dessie at PO Box 176, Ascot Vale, Victoria 3032. Three parishes in Great Britain are supervised by Archbishop Yohannes of Europe (9 Philip House, Mortimer Place, London NW6 5PB).

In the United States, Ethiopian Archbishop Yesehaq did not recognize the election of Patriarch Paulos and broke communion with the Patriarchate in 1992. The Archbishop, who died in 2005, took a large part of the Ethiopian Orthodox faithful in the western hemisphere with him as he allied himself to former Patriarch Merkorios and a few other Ethiopian exile bishops in the United States. The Ethiopian Holy Synod subsequently suspended Archbishop Yesehaq, and divided the existing Archdiocese of the Western Hemisphere into three jurisdictions (USA and Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe). Canada was later established as a separate diocese under the supervision of Bishop Matthias who resides in London, Ontario. In 2007 the Ethiopian Holy Synod divided the United States into three dioceses, each headed by an archbishop. Abune Kewustos was appointed Archbishop of Washington, DC, with a mandate to promote reconciliation within the divided Ethiopian community. The other two bishops are based in New York City and Berkeley, California. Altogether there are perhaps 100,000 Ethiopian Orthodox in the western hemisphere, including a significant number of converts in the West Indies.