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 SYRIA

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SYRIA

all Jews and Christians, especially at Jerusalem, to be branded on the neck and forehead. A short- lived union between the Syrians and Armenians (726) was followed by persecution at the hands of the Greeks (750), who took away many S>Tian and Armenian slaves from Mesopotamia to the West. Two cen- turies later Nicephorus Phocas, anxious to unite Christendom against the .A.rabs, caused John Sarighta, the Patriarch of the Syrians, to be brought to Con- stantinople, there to discuss with Polyeuctus, Patri- arch of that city, the differences that divided them. In the letter written by John to Mennas of Alexan- dria we perceive how much the controversy had become a mere matter of verbal exjjression, and how the Syrians clung to the words which Greek tyranny had made the badge of a rival party. The imprison- ment of John, added to other acts ot tyranny, con- firmed their hatred of the Greeks, and made them prefer even the domination of the Moslem. From the eighth and ninth centuries down to our own times the history of Christianity in Syria is the history of Nestori- anism and of the Nestorian Church, of Eutychianism and the Monophysite or Jacobite SjTiac Church, of the Monophysite Armenian Church of Syria, of the Greek Schism and of the Byzantine, Russian, and Greek, or the so-called Orthodox Eastern Church; the Schismatic and Melchite (Catholic) Greek Patriarchates of Antioch; the Syrian, Mono- physite, and Catholic Patriarchates of Antioch, the Latin Patriarchate of Antioch, and the Maronite Church, for all which see respective articles.

Statistics of the Various Christian Sects and Churches. — The Christians of Modern Syria, schis- matic as well as Catholic, are divided into the follow- ing sects and churches: —

Greek Orthodox, i. e. the Syrian Greek Schismatic Church. — The Greek Orthodox of Syria are under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox of Antioch, whose residence is at Damascus and who has under his jurisdiction 2 suffragan or auxiliary bishops attached to him personally, and 13 eparchies, or archdioceses, 50,000 famiUes, or about 250,000 subjects, most of whom dwell in Syria proper. Of these thirteen eparchies eleven are in Syria, one in Northern Mesopotamia, one in Armenia and Asia Minor. The Greek Orthodox of Syria have 5 schools with 810 pupils in Beirut; 2-4 in Damascus and .surrounding villages, with 2215 pupils and 60 teachers; and 12 in Northern Syria with 2400 pupils and 65 teachers. The liturgy of the Syrian Greek Orthodox is that of the Greek Church, and the litur- gical language, Greek with a great deal of Arabic, which is the vernacular of all the Christians of Syria.

Greek-Melchites, i. c. Roman Catholic Syrians of the Greek Rite. — These are under the jurisdiction of the Greek-Melchite Patriarch of Antioch, whose residence is at Damascus, and who has under his patriarchal jurisdiction 4 archdioceses, 8 dioceses, 2 patriarchal vicariates (at Jerusalem and Alexandria), with a total of about 125,000 souls, divided as follows: (1) Archdiocese of Aleppo, 6 churches and chapels, 10,000 souls, 86 colleges superintended by Franciscan, Capuchin and Jesuit missionaries; (2) Archdiocese of Bostra and Hauran with 12,000 souls, 4 churches, 8 chapels, 15 priests and 4 schools; (3) Archdiocese of Homs and Hamah, with 8000 souls, 20 churches and chapels, 20 priests and 18 schools, residence at Homs;

(4) Arclidiocese of Tyre, with 6200 souls, 11 churches and chapels, 20 priests, of which 15 are Basilian monks, and 13 schools, residence at Sur (Tyre);

(5) Diocese of Beirut and Djebatl, with 15,000 souls, one sciTiinary at Ain-Traz, 150 parislies, 195 churclics and chapels, and 19 schools, residence at Beirut;

(6) Diocese of Cajsarea-Philippi, or Baneas, with 4500 souls, 15 parishes, 9 churches and cliapels, 17 priests, and 19 schools, residence at Gemaidat-Marjoun; (7) Diocese of Damascus, of which the patriarch himself

is the ordinary, with one suffragan bishop, with 12,000 souls, 9 parishes, and 9 churches; (8) Diocese of Heliopolis or Ba'albek, with 5000 souls, 9 parishes, 10 churches, 15 priests, and 8 schools, residence at Ba'albek; (9) Diocese of Ptolemais or Saint John of Acre, witih 9000 souls, 24 stations, 25 churches, 34 priests, and 8 schools, residence at Akka; (10) Dio- cese of Sidon, with 18,000 souls, 38 churches and chapels, 41 priests, 34 schools, residence at Sayda; (11) Diocese of Tripoli, erected in 1897; (12) Diocese of Zahle and Furzoul, with 17,000 souls, 30 churches and chapels, 35 priests, 12 schools, residence at Zahle.

The two patriarchal vicariates at Jerusalem and Alexandria have a dozen parishes in the latter and four or five parishes in the former. The Greek- Melchites have also a parish with a church in Mar- seilles, another in Paris (since 1889), and several in the United States. In Jerusalem they ha\-e the Seminary of St. Anne, founded in 1n^2 liy Cnnlinal Lavigerie under the direction of the White Fathers. The number of these average between 125 and 150. They have also a seminary in Rome founded for them in 1577 by Gregory XIII, under the name of College of St. Athanasius; also a small seminary in Beirut, and a larger one at Ain-Traz. Three indigenous religious orders, for men and women alike, are still in existence among the Greek-Melchites in Syria, viz: The Aleppine, with 40 monks and 18 nuns; the Baladites of the Order of St. John, with 96 monks and 42 nuns; and the Mokhallasites, or Salvatorians, with 200 monks and 25 nuns. The rules followed by these three orders are either those of St. Basil or St. George. From the time of Gregory XVI (1831-46) the patriarch of the Greek-Melcliites is allowed to assume the official title of "Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem".

The Syrian Jacobites, i. e. Monophysites. — They are under the jurisdiction of the Syrian Jacobite Patri- arch of Antioch, whose residence is at Der-el-Za- faran near Mardin in Northern Mesopotamia. The SjTian Jacobites were formerly very numerous and scattered all over Western Asia, Egj-pt, and India, having had in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as many as 20 metropolitans and 100 bishops or dio- ceses. At present, they have but 8 archbishops and 3 bishops with a total of about 80,000 souls, not including those of Malabar, in India, who are not under the direct jurisdiction of the Syrian Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. The episcopal sees of this Church, with the exception of that of Jerusalem, whose titular bishop resides at Za'faran near Mardin, are all situated in jSlcsopotamia, and in the extreme north- eastern section of Syria. Their hturgical language is Syriac (see Monophysites).

Catholic Syrians. — These consist mainly of those Syrian Jacobites who in the last five or six centuries have gradually given up their Monophysite heresy, and embraced the Catholic Faith, though retaining their SjTian Rite, customs, and liturgj-. In course of time they have become numerous enough to have a patriarch of their own with several dioceses and bishops. They are to be found mainly in Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Babylonia. Their patriarch, whose official residence is at Mardin, but who lives sometimes in Mosul and sometimes in Aleppo or Beirut, in Syria, is officially entitled the "S\Tian Patriarch of Antioch", having under his jurisdiction nine dioceses with a total of about 40,(X)0 souls, divided as follows: (1) Archdiocese of B.agdad, with 2000 souls, 3 churches, 6 priests, and 1 school, resi- dence Bagdad; (2) Archdiocese of Damascus, with 4000 souls, 6 parishes, 6 churches. 12 priests, and fi schools, residence Damascus: (3) .\rchdiocese of Homs and Hamah, with :30 .souls, 5 jiarishes, and 5 churches, residence Homs; ^4) Diocese of -Vleppo, with 4000 souls, 3 parishes, 3 churches, and 15 priests, residence Aleppo; (5) Diocese of Beirut, with 700