Athanasius III Dabbas

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This article is about Athanasius Dabbas who died in 1724. For the other Patriarch of Antioch, see Athanasius II Dabbas.
Athanasius III Dabbas
Melkite Church
SeePatriarch of Antioch
Term ended5 August 1724
PredecessorCyril V Zaim
SuccessorSylvester of Antioch (Orthodox)
Cyril VI Tanas (Melkite)
Orders
Consecration5 July 1685 (bishop)
by Leonce of Saidnaya[1]
Personal details
Born
Paul Dabbas

1647
Damascus
Died5 August 1724 (aged 76–77)
Aleppo

Patriarch Athanasius III Dabbas (1647–1724), sometimes known also as Athanasius IV,

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.[3] He was shortly, from 1705 to 1707, also regent Archbishop of Cyprus, where he is known as Athanasios II.[4]

Life

Boulos (Paul) Dabbas was born in

Mar Saba monastery where at his priestly ordination he took the name of Procopius. Later he was appointed superior of a monastery in Bethlehem.[5] He later moved to Syria and tried to be appointed bishop of Aleppo, but without success.[6]

The situation of the hierarchy of the Melkite Church was actually unstable in such a time. After the death of Patriarch

Franciscan friars (who opposed Cyril Zaim, charged of simony) and by his maternal uncle Michael Khayat, very influential with the Sublime Porte. In 1685 Michael Khayat succeeded to get from the Ottoman Empire a firman that appointed Paul Dabbas as Patriarch of the Melkite Church. Thus on July 5, 1685[7] Paul Dabbas was consecrated bishop by Leonce of Saidnaya[1] and other two bishops, and he was enthroned as Patriarch with the name of Athanasius III.[8]
The next nine years were marked by the conflict between him and the previous claiming Patriarch, Cyril V Zaim.

On April 10, 1687, Athanasius III Dabbas made a

Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith confirmed his Patriarchal election.[6] The congratulations of Pope Innocent XI followed on August 10. Since this date the Vatican
considered him as the legitimate Patriarch of the Melkite Church.

The fight with Cyril V Zaim ended in October 1694 when the two rivals came to an agreement after the arbitration of Salmon, an Aleppian

Patriarch Gabriel III of Constantinople had him elected as regent (proedros) Archbishop of Cyprus, an office Athanasius kept till early 1707.[9] When back to Aleppo, with the help of Abdallah Zakher he established a printing press.[5]

In 1716 the reigning Patriarch Cyril V Zaim made he too a Roman Catholic profession of faith and was received in communion with Rome on May 9, 1718. After Cyril's decision, Athanasius declared himself Orthodox,[5] leading the Orthodox party to which he remained faithful to his own death.

On 16 January 1720[10] Cyril V Zaim died and, after a try of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to appoint an own bishop as Patriarch, Athanasius was finally proclaimed Patriarch of Antioch, winning also over the candidature, in Damascus, of the pro-Catholic Euthymios Saifi, a friend of Cyril Zaim. During his four years of patriarchate, he preferred to live in Aleppo rather than in Damascus where there was the Patriarchal See. He died in Aleppo on 13 July 1724.[11] Following his death, there wouldn’t be another ethnically Arab Patriarch of Antioch until Meletius II in 1899.

Athanasius Dabbas’ succession laid bare the divisions in the Melkite Church: between the pro-Catholic and the pro-Orthodox parties, and also between the communities of Damascus (that supported Cyril V Zaim) and of the Aleppo (tied to Athanasius). Athanasius Dabbas on his deathbed chosen as his own successor the priest

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church
.

Works

Athanasius Dabbas was a prolific writer and publisher. His masterwork, History of the Patriarchate of Antioch from Saint Peter to 1202 was written in

Liturgicon in 1701 (which was used by Melkite Greek Catholic Church till 1839) and an Horologion
in 1702.

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    Macarios III Zaim
    (ref: Zayat, Histoire de Saidnaya)
  2. ^ He is known as Athanasius III in the patriarchal lists of Korolevski, and Skaff, as Athanasius IV in the inaccurate list of Costantius.
  3. ^ Dick, Iganatios (2004). Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem. Boston: Sophia Press. pp. 33–34.
  4. ^ "Αθανάσιος Β' Αρχιεπίσκοπος". Polignosi. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Skaff, Elias (1993). The place of the Patriarchs of Antioch in Church History. Boston: Sophia Press. pp. 307ss.
  6. ^ a b c Levenq, G. (1930). "Athanase III". Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 4. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. pp. 1369–1376.
  7. ^ on June 25 according to the Julian calendar
  8. ^ Korolevsky, Cyril (1924). "Antioche". Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 3. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. p. 644.
  9. ISBN 978-1-108-02065-7
    .
  10. ^ on January 5 according to the Julian calendar
  11. ^ on July 24 according to the Julian calendar
Preceded by Melkite Patriarch of Antioch
1707-1724 		Succeeded by
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