Antiochian Orthodox Church

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The Antiochian Orthodox Church claims to be one of the five churches that composed the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church before the Great Schism. As an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, it claims to be the sole legitimate successor to the Christian community founded in Antioch by the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.

In the Bible, Acts 11:19-26 states that the Christian community at Antioch began when (a) Christians who were scattered fom Judea because of persecution went to Antioch and (b) Christians from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also.

The seat of the patriarchate was formerly Antioch, in what is now Turkey, but is now Damascus, Syria, on the "Street called Straight." Its North American branch is autonomous, although the Holy Synod of Antioch still appoints its head bishop. Its Australasia and Oceania branch is the largest in terms of area.

His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV founded the University of Balamand, Lebanon, in 1988. This includes the St John of Damascus Faculty of Theology.

The claim is disputed by the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, part of Oriental Orthodoxy. The schism between the two occurred over the Christology enunciated by the Council of Chalcedon. After it the Oriental Orthodox Syriacs retained their own West Syrian Rite, while those faithful to the Council of Chalcedon and the Byzantine Emperor came to adopt the Byzantine Rite, which the Antiochian Orthodox Church still uses for Divine Liturgy. The Syriac Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, all of them in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, also claim to hold the patriarchate. The Roman Catholic Church also claimed the patriarchate and appointed titular Latin rite patriarchs for many centuries, until it renounced those claims in 1964.

[edit] See also

List of Patriarchs of Antioch - to 518
List of Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch - 518 to present day
Antiochian Greeks
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America

[edit] External links

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East - Official site
Church of Antioch (OrthodoxWiki article)
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand, and All Oceania
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Autocephalous and Autonomous Churches of Eastern Orthodoxy

Autocephalous Churches

Autonomous Churches

The * designates a church whose autocephaly or autonomy is not universally recognized.

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