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Revision as of 09:30, 16 April 2004 by Henrygb (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch is held to be the first church of the Christianity established by the Apostle St. Peter in 34 AD. The name is used by a member of the Oriental Orthodox Communion, and it is sometimes also called the Jacobite Orthodox Church after Jacob Baradaeus, a 6th century monophysite bishop.
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 Aramaeans. 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. Other distinct donominations with similar names are the uniate Syrian Catholic Church and the nestorian Assyrian Church of the East.