Syriac Orthodox Church: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 17:24, 1 December 2004

The Syriac Orthodox Church (also Syrian Orthodox Church) is an autocephalous Christian church of Syria, Iraq, and India, recognizing the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch as its spiritual head. It is in communion with the Coptic Church and other Oriental Orthodox churches. It is sometimes also called the Jacobite Orthodox Church after Jacob Baradaeus, a 6th century monophysite bishop.

The Syriac Orthodox Church is held to be the first church of the Christianity established by the Apostle St. Peter in 34 AD.

The head of this Syrian Orthodox Church is the Patriarch H.H. Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, who resides in Damascus, the capital of the Arameans. The Church has about 26 archdioceses and 11 Patriarchal Vicariates. Some estimate that the church has about four million members globally.

The Syrian orthodox divine liturgy is performed in Syriac.

Both it and the chalcedonian Antiochian Orthodox Church claim to be the sole legitimate church of Antioch and successor of the Apostle St. Peter. There are also three uniate churces headed by Patriarchs of Antiocha: The Syrian Catholic Church, the Maronites and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. There is also an unrelated (so called nestorian) Assyrian Church of the East.