Maronite Church
Monastery of Saint Maron, Phoenicia, Roman Empire | |
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Separated from | The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in 685 AD |
Members | 3,498,707[8] |
Official website | bkerki |
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The Maronite Church (
The early development of the Maronite Church can be divided into three periods, from the 4th to the 7th centuries. A
Although reduced in numbers today, the distinct but related Maronite ethno-religious group remains a principal grouping in Lebanon,[14] with smaller minorities of Maronites in Syria, Cyprus, Israel, and Jordan. Emigration since the 19th century means that about two-thirds of the Maronite Church's roughly 3.5 million members in 2017[15] were located outside "The Antiochian's Range", where they are part of the worldwide Lebanese diaspora.
Overview
The six major traditions of the Catholic Church are
The Maronite Patriarchal Assembly (2003–2004) identified five distinguishing marks of the Maronite Church:
- It is Antiochene.
- It is Chalcedonian, in that the Maronites were strong supporters of the Council of Chalcedon of 451.
- It is Patriarchal and Monastic.
- It is faithful to the See of Peter in Rome.
- It has strong ties to Lebanon.[16]
History
Following Maron's death in 410 AD, his disciples built Beth-Maron monastery at
The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when St. Maron's first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus, who was called the "Apostle of Lebanon", set out to convert the non-Christians by introducing them to St. Maron.[20]
The
An outbreak of civil war during the reign of Emperor
In the aftermath of the war, the Emperor Heraclius propagated a new Christological doctrine in an attempt to unify the various Christian churches of the East, who were divided over accepting the Council of Chalcedon. This doctrine, called Monothelitism, held that Christ had two natures (one divine and one human) but only one will (not a divine will and also a human will) and was meant as a compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as the Jacobites. The doctrine was endorsed by Pope Honorius I to win back the Monophysites but problems soon arose[vague] (see his anathematization). Monothelitism failed to settle the schism, however, and was declared a heresy at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680–681. The Council condemned both Honorius and Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople but did not explicitly mention the Maronites.[19]
Contemporary Greek and Arab sources suggest the Maronites rejected the
First Maronite Patriarch
The Patriarch of Antioch Anastasius II died in 609, and Constantinople began to appoint a series of titular patriarchs, who resided in Constantinople. In 685, the Maronites elected Bishop John Maron of Batroun as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.[19]
In 687, as part of an agreements with
John Maron established himself in the remote Qadisha Valley in Lebanon. In 694, Justinian sent troops against the Maronites in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Patriarch.[30] John Maron died in 707 at the Monastery of St. Maron in Lebanon. Around 749 the Maronite community, in the Lebanon mountains, built the Mar-Mama church at Ehden. Meanwhile, caught between the Byzantines and the Arabs, the monastery at Beth-Maron struggled to survive.[31]
Islamic rule
After they came under Arab rule following the
To eliminate internal dissent, from 1289 to 1291 Egyptian Mamluk troops descended on Mount Lebanon, destroying forts and monasteries.[32]
Crusades
Following the Muslim conquest of Eastern Christendom outside
The Maronites assisted the crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with the
Peter Hans Kolvenbach notes, "This contact with the Latin Church enriched the intellectual world of Europe in the Middle Ages. Maronites taught Oriental languages and literature at the universities of Italy and France."[31]
Ottoman rule
In the Ottoman Empire, indigenous concentrated religious communities dealt mainly with the provincial administration. Officially, Maronites had to pay the jizya tax as non-Muslims, but sometimes the monks and clergy were exempt because they were considered to be "poor".[36]
The Khāzin sheikhs subsequently increased in power and influence. In 1662, with the mediation of
Bachir Chehab II was the first and last Maronite ruler of the Emirate of Mount Lebanon.[39]
The relationship between the Druze and
The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early Eighteenth Century, through a governing and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.[43]
French rule
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Independent Lebanon
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Synod of Mount Lebanon (1736)
Maronite orientalist Joseph Simon Assemani presided as papal legate for Pope Clement XII. The synod drafted a Code of Canons for the Maronite Church and created the first regular diocesan structure.[34] The Council of Luwayza led to a more effective church structure and to gradual emancipation from the influence of Maronite families.[44]
Latinization
Due to closer ties with the Latin Church, the Maronite Church is among the most Latinized of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Contacts between the Maronite monks and Rome were revived during the Crusades. The Maronites introduced to Eastern Churches Western devotional practices such as the rosary and the Stations of the Cross.[31] Late in the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII sent Jesuits to the Lebanese monasteries to ensure that their practice conformed to decisions made at the Council of Trent.[32] The Maronite College in Rome was established by Gregory XIII in 1584.[37] The Maronite missal (Qurbono) was first printed between 1592 and 1594 in Rome, although with fewer anaphoras.
Patriarch
The Synod of Mount Lebanon sought to incorporate both traditions. It formalized many of the Latin practices that had developed, but also attempted to preserve ancient Maronite liturgical tradition. The Synod did not sanction the exclusive use of the Roman ritual in the administration of Baptism. However, in the Eastern tradition, the oil of catechumens is blessed by the priest during the baptismal rite. This blessing was now reserved to the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday. A practice common among all the Eastern Churches is to administer Baptism and First Communion together. Unlike in other Eastern Catholic churches and similar to the Latin Church, Holy Communion is to be given only to those who have attained the age of reason; priests were forbidden to give Communion to infants.[45]
In Orientale lumen, the Apostolic Letter to the Churches of the East, issued 2 May 1995, Pope John Paul II quotes Orientalium Ecclesiarum, the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches:
It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have "the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own unique disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls."[46]
Cardinal Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992 he published a new Maronite Missal.[35] This represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy, removing the liturgical Latinization of past centuries. There are six Anaphoras.
Patriarch Sfeir stated that
Organization
Patriarchate of Antioch
The head of the Maronite Church is the
There are four other claimants to the Patriarchal succession of Antioch:
- two other Eastern Catholic, also in full communion with the Papal Holy Seeof Rome :
- the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite)
- the Antiochian Rite)
- the
- two Orthodox :
- Antiochian Orthodox Church, in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
- Oriental Orthodoxy, the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church
Episcopates
The Maronite church has twenty-six eparchies and patriarchal
Middle East
- Worldwide Immediately subject to the Patriarch
- In Lebanon:
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Antelias
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Batroun
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Jbeil
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh (sole Suffragan of the Patriarch of Antioch)
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Sidon
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh
- In the Holy Land:
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land, in Israel whose Archeparch holds the offices of Patriarchal Vicar of:
- Patriarchal Exarch of the Palestinian Territoriesand
- Maronite Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jordan in (Trans)Jordan
- Patriarchal Exarch of the
- Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land, in Israel whose Archeparch holds the offices of Patriarchal Vicar of:
- In Syria:
- In Cyprus: Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus in Nicosia
- In Egypt: Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Cairo
Elsewhere
- Exempt, i.e. immediately subject to the Holy See:
- In
- In South America: Maronite Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Colombia, with pro-cathedral see being Church of Our Lady of Lebanon, in Bogotá, in Colombia
- Subject to the Synod in matters of liturgical and particular law, otherwise exempt, i.e. immediately subject to the Holy See and its Dicastery for the Eastern Churches:
- In Europe:
- In North and Central America:
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Montreal, in Canada
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles in the United States[51] (Central US, US West Coast)
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn in the United States[52] (US East Coast)
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon in Mexico in Mexico
- In Oceania:
- Suffragan Eparchies in the ecclesiastical provinces of Latin Metropolitan Archbishops; both in South America:
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of San Charbel in Buenos Aires in Argentina, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of São Paulo in Brazil, suffragan of the Archdiocese of São Paulo
Titular sees
- Four Nisibis of the Maronites
- Nine Sarepta of the Maronites, Tarsus of the Maronites.
Religious institutes (orders)
- Lebanese Maronite Order[53]
- Antonin Maronite Order[54]
- Mariamite Maronite Order[55]
- Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries[56]
Population
In the 12th century, about 40,000 Maronites resided in the area around Antioch and modern-day Lebanon.[34] By the 21st century, estimates suggest that the Maronite diaspora population may have grown to more than twice the estimated 2 million Maronites living in their historic homelands in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.[57]
According to the official site of the Maronite church, approximately 1,062,000
Diaspora
Immigration of Maronite faithful from the Middle East to the United States began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. When the faithful were able to obtain a priest, communities were established as parishes under the jurisdiction of the local Latin bishops. In January 1966, Pope Paul VI established the Maronite Apostolic Exarchate for the Maronite faithful of the United States. In a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Bishop Francis Mansour Zayek was appointed the first exarch. The see, in Detroit, Michigan, with a cathedral under the patronage of Saint Maron, was suffragan to the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1971, Pope Paul VI elevated the Exarchate to the status of an Eparchy, with the name of Eparchy of Saint Maron of Detroit. In 1977, the see of the Eparchy of Saint Maron was transferred to Brooklyn, New York, with the cathedral under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon. The name of the Eparchy was modified to Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn.[18]
In 1994, the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon was established with the cathedral at Los Angeles, California, under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon.[18] John George Chedid, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, was ordained as the first Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Los Angeles, California, where he served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80. In December 2000, Robert Joseph Shaheen succeeded Chedid as eparch.
Eparchies operate in
Former Brazilian president
Other
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- The Maronite Church awards medals,[64] Great Crosses,[65] and the Golden Order of the Maronite General Council of the Maronite Church.[66]
See also
- Charbel Makhlouf
- Cross of All Nations
- Kitab al-Huda
- Our Lady of Lebanon
- Phoenicianism
- Saint George in devotions, traditions and prayers
- St Thomas Christians
References
- ^ Assemani, Maronite Light from the East for the Church and the World
- ^ Studia Humana Volume 2:3 (2013), pp. 53—55
- ^ Synod of the Maronite Church Patriarchal Synod
- ^ Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, head of the Maronite Church who steered a difficult course between factions in the Middle East – obituary
- ^ Maronite patriarch elevates St. Maron pastor to chorbishop during Detroit visit
- ^ Maronite liturgy draws from Eastern and Western traditions, Catholics and cultures
- ^ The Maronite Divine Liturgy, By Dr Margaret Ghosn, Our Lady of Lebanon parish Australia
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Richard P. Mc Brien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: Harper One, 2008), 450. O'Brien notes: The Vatican II document, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, "acknowledged that the Eastern Catholic communities are true Churches and not just rites within the Catholic Church."
- ^ Book of Offering: According to the Rite of the Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church. Bkerke, Lebanon: Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. 2012.
- ^ History of the Maronites, Maronite Heritage.com, 13 April 2016.
- ^ Beggiani, Seely. "Aspects of Maronite History—Monastery of St. Maron". Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn. Archived from the original on 2 March 2001. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ No'man 1996, p. 22.
- ISBN 9781443870948.
The Maronites are an ethnoreligious group in the Levant.
- ^ "Eastern Catholic Churches Worldwide 2017" (PDF). Catholic Near East Welfare Association. 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ a b c "Maronite Church". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "About the Maronite Rite - Our Lady's Maronite Catholic Church". Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ a b c "MARONITE HISTORY & SAINT MARON - St. Anthony Maronite Catholic Church". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9780888448095– via books.google.com.
- ^ "There are 3,198,600 Maronites in the World". Maronite-heritage.com. 3 January 1994. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
- ^ Attwater, Donald; The Christian Churches of the East
- JSTOR 1454219.
- ^ a b Moosa 1986, pp. 195–216.
- ^ "The Story of the Maronite Catholics - The Maronite Monks of Adoration". Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- S2CID 163021809.
- ^ Donald Attwater (1937). Joseph Husslein (ed.). The Christian Churches of the East: Volume I: Churches in Communion With Rome. Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company. pp. 165–167.
- ^ Bury, J.B., A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, Vol. II, MacMillan & Co., 1889, p. 321
- ISBN 0-8047-3163-2,
- ISBN 0-8135-0599-2
- ^ a b "PureHost". www.stmaron.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.
- ^ a b c "Maronites Between Two Worlds – Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn". www.stmaron.org. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9781136787164– via Google Books.
- ^ "THE EASTERN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES". www.maryourmother.net. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
- ^ CNEWA. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9780195138863.
- ^ ISBN 9004099786– via Google Books.
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- ^ Moosa 1986, p. 283.
- ^
- Hazran, Yusri (2013). The Druze Community and the Lebanese State: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation. Routledge. p. 32. ISBN 9781317931737.
the Druze had been able to live in harmony with the Christian
- Artzi, Pinḥas (1984). Confrontation and Coexistence. Bar-Ilan University Press. p. 166. ISBN 9789652260499.
.. Europeans who visited the area during this period related that the Druze "love the Christians more than the other believers," and that they "hate the Turks, the Muslims and the Arabs [Bedouin] with an intense hatred.
- CHURCHILL (1862). The Druzes and the Maronites. Montserrat Abbey Library. p. 25.
..the Druzes and Christians lived together in the most perfect harmony and good-will..
- Hobby (1985). Near East/South Asia Report. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. p. 53.
the Druzes and the Christians in the Shuf Mountains in the past lived in complete harmony..
- Hazran, Yusri (2013). The Druze Community and the Lebanese State: Between Confrontation and Reconciliation. Routledge. p. 32.
- ISBN 9780520087828. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ISBN 0-903983-92-3.
- ISBN 9780817916664.
the Maronites and the Druze, who founded Lebanon in the early eighteenth century.
- ISBN 9780520954717– via Google Books.
- ^ "PureHost". www.stmaron.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014.
- ^ "CIN - Orientale Lumen Pope John Paul II". www.cin.org.
- ^ "Sacrosanctum concilium". www.vatican.va. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-4443-3361-9.
- ^ "First married man ordained priest for U.S. Maronite Catholic Church". National Catholic Reporter. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ^ Church website Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 20 March 2011
- ^ Soumen. "MARONITE EPARCHY OF OUR LADY OF LOS ANGELES". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn". Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "Home". Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "OAM - Accueil". Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ Mariamite Maronite Order (O.M.M.) Archived 28 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Arabic
- ^ "Congregation Of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries". Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- Infobase, 2009), p. 446.
- ^ a b c d Annuario Pontificio : The Eastern Catholic Churches 2008 Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ Maria Tsiapera, A Descriptive Analysis of Cypriot Maronite Arabic, 1969, Mouton and Company, The Hague, 69 pages
- ^ "Cyprus Ministry of Interior : European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages : Answers to the Comments/Questions Submitted to the Government of Cyprus Regarding its Initial Periodical Report" (PDF). 28 July 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ M. Ghosn, Maronite institutional development across Australia, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 31/2 (2010/11) Archived 15 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, 15-26.
- ^ "Son of Lebanese immigrants, Brazil's new president is friend to Jewish community". Times of Israel. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
- ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (2016). "The enduring success of Latin American politicians of Arab origin". Washington Post.
- ^ "The Maronite Central Council Medal, About Us - Central Council of the Maronite Societies". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "Great Cross of the Maronite Central Council, About Us - Central Council of the Maronite Societies". Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ^ "The King of Morocco Mohamad VI Awards Prince Alwaleed His 60th Honorary Medal - Kingdom Holding Company". Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
Bibliography
- Moosa, Matti (1986). The Maronites in History. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781593331825.
- No'man, Paul (1996). The Yesterday of the Maronite Church and it's Tomorrow (in Arabic). Ghosta: Books.
Further reading
- Michael Breydy: Geschichte der syro-arabischen Literatur der Maroniten vom VII. bis XVI. Jahrhundert. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1985, ISBN 3-531-03194-5
- Moosa, Matti, The Maronites in History, Gorgias Press, Piscataway, New Jersey, 2005, ISBN 978-1-59333-182-5
- R. J. Mouawad, Les Maronites. Chrétiens du Liban, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-53041-3
- Kamal Salibi, A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (University of California Press, 1990).
- Maronite Church. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 2003.
- Riley-Smith, Johnathan. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995)
- Suermann, Harald. Histoire des origines de l'Eglise Maronite, PUSEK, Kaslik, 2010, ISBN 978-9953-491-67-7
- Barber, Malcolm. Letters from the East: Crusades, Pilgrims and Settlers in the 12th–13th centuries, Ashgate Press, Reading, United Kingdom, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4724-1393-2