Middle East Information Resource
Religions/Belief Systems - Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is a Christian community with its religious center in Syria. It has about 1.5 million adherents worldwide, with 700,000 in the Middle East, mostly in Lebanon and Syria. The Melkite Church is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, through the Eastern Rite Churches, and maintains many of its own traditions.
The Patriarch of the Church is in Damascus, and only the Pope in Rome supercedes his religious authority. There are seven archdioceses: Aleppo, Homs, and Latakia in Syria; Beirut and Tyre in Lebanon; Basra, Iraq; Amman, Jordan; and 6 dioceses: Acre, Israel; and Lebanon: Baalbek, Banyias, Sayda, Tripoli and Zahle, Lebanon.
The word `Melkite` has Semitic origins and means `king.` It denotes the alignment of the Melkites with the position of the emperor of Byzantine in the 5th century on the most divisive issue in early Christianity, the nature of Jesus. The term was at first used by the non-Melkites, but was soon adapted by the sect.
In 451 the Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus had a dual nature, one divine and one human. The communities in the Middle East that accepted this stance theology were the beginnings of the Melkite Church. In 1054 the Christian World was divided between Constantinople and Rome; the Melkites followed the patriarch of Constantinople. However, in 1724 the Melkite changes its allegiance and follows the Pope in Rome.
The Melkites of the Middle East come from Greek immigrants. They use the Byzantine rite and the liturgy of the Church is performed in Arabic. The priests of the Melkite Church are allowed to marry.