Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church (Classical Syriac: ܥܺܕܬܳܐ ܣܽܘܪܝܳܝܬܳܐ ܬܪܺܝܨܰܬ݂ ܫܽܘܒܚܳܐ, romanized: ʿIdto Sūryoyto Trīṣath Shubḥo), informally known as the Jacobite Church is an Oriental Orthodox church that developed from the Church of Antioch. The church has around 1.4–1.7 million followers. The church upholds the Miaphysite doctrine in Christology and employs the Liturgy of Saint James, associated with James the Just. Classical Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the church.
The supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is the Patriarch of Antioch, a bishop who, according to sacred tradition, continues the leadership passed down from Saint Peter. Since 2014, Ignatius Aphrem II has served as the Patriarch of Antioch. Mor Hananyo Monastery was the headquarters of the church from c. 1160 until 1932. Since 1959, The current see of the church is the Cathedral of Saint George in Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria.
The Syriac Orthodox Church comprises 26 archdioceses and 13 patriarchal vicariates. It also has an autonomous maphrianate based in India, the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.
The Syriac Orthodox Church became distinct in 512 when Severus the Great, a leader who opposed the Council of Chalcedon, was chosen as patriarch after a synod was held at Laodicea, Syria. This happened after Emperor Anastasius I removed the previous patriarch, Flavian II, who supported Chalcedon. Severus's later removal in 518 was not recognized by some and this led to the establishment of an independent Miaphysite patriarchate headed by Severus. In the 6th century, a bishop named Jacob Baradaeus helped strengthen this independant patriarchate. Meanwhile, those who supported Chalcedon formed what later became the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the Maronite Church.
Syriac-speaking Christians have referred to themselves as "Ārāmāyē/Āṯūrāyē/Sūryāyē " in native Aramaic terms based on their ethnic identity. In most languages, a unique name has long been used to distinguish the church from the polity of Syria. In Arabic (the official language of Syria), the church is known as the "Kenissa Suryaniya" as the term "Suryani" identifies the Syriac language and people. Chalcedonians refer to the church as "Jacobite" (after Jacob Baradaeus) since the schism that followed the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. English-speaking historians identified the church as the "Syrian Church". The English term "Syrian" was used to describe the community of Syriacs in ancient Syria. In the 15th century, the term "Orthodox" (from Greek: "orthodoxía"; "correct opinion") was used to identify churches that practiced the set of doctrines believed by the early Christians. Since 1922, the term "Syrian" started being used for things named after the Syrian Federation. Hence, in 2000, the Holy Synod ruled that the church be named as "Syriac Orthodox Church" after the Syriac language, the official liturgical language of the church.
The church is not ethnically exclusive, but two main ethnic groups in the community contest their ethnic identification as Assyrians and Arameans. "Suryoye" is the term used to identify the Syriacs in the diaspora. The Syriac Orthodox identity included auxiliary cultural traditions of the Assyrian Empire and Aramean kingdoms. Church traditions crystallized into ethnogenesis through the preservation of their stories and customs by the 12th century. Since the 1910s, the identity of Syriac Orthodoxy in the Ottoman Empire was principally religious and linguistic.
In recent works, Assyrian-American historian Sargon Donabed has pointed out that parishes in the US were originally using Assyrian designations in their official English names, also noting that in some cases those designations were later changed to Syrian and then to Syriac, while several other parishes still continue to use Assyrian designations.
The church claims apostolic succession through the pre-Chalcedonian Patriarchate of Antioch to the Early Christian communities from Jerusalem led by Saint Barnabas and Saint Paul in Antioch, during the Apostolic era, as described in the Acts of the Apostles; "The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" ( Acts 11:26). Saint Peter was selected by Jesus Christ ( Matthew 16:18) and is venerated as the first bishop of Antioch in c. 37 AD after the Incident at Antioch.
Saint Evodius was Bishop of Antioch until 66 AD and was succeeded by Saint Ignatius of Antioch. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Greek: Χριστιανισμός) was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD. In A.D 169, Theophilus of Antioch wrote three apologetic tracts to Autolycus. Patriarch Babylas of Antioch was considered the first saint recorded as having had his remains moved or "translated" for religious purposes, a practice that was to become extremely common in later centuries. Eustathius of Antioch joined Athanasius of Alexandria in opposing the followers of the condemned doctrine of Arius (Arian controversy) at the First Council of Nicaea. During the time of Meletius of Antioch the church split due to his being deposed for Homoiousian leanings which became known as the Meletian Schism and saw several groups and several claimants to the See of Antioch.
Given the antiquity of the Bishopric of Antioch and the importance of the Christian community in the city of Antioch, a commercially significant city in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire, the First Council of Nicaea recognized the Bishopric as one of the main regional primacies in Christendom, with jurisdiction over the administrative Diocese of the Orient, thus laying the foundation for the creation of the "Patriarchate of Antioch and All of the East". Because of the significance attributed to Ignatius of Antioch in the church, most of the Syriac Orthodox patriarchs since 1293 have used the name of Ignatius in the title of the Patriarch preceding their own Patriarchal name.
Christological controversies that followed the Council of Chalcedon resulted in a long struggle for the Patriarchate between those who accepted and those who rejected the council. In 512, pro-Chalcedonian patriarch Flavian II of Antioch was deposed by Emperor Anastasius I, and on 6 November 512, at the synod of Laodicea in Syria, Severus of Antioch, a notable Miapyhsite theologian, was elected and later consecrated on 16 November at the Great Church of Antioch. In 518, he was exiled from Antioch, by new emperor, Justin I, who tried to enforce a uniform Chalcedonian orthodoxy throughout the empire. Those who belonged to the pro-Chalcedonian party accepted newly appointed patriarch Paul, who took over the see of Antioch. The Miaphysite patriarchate was thus forced to leave Antioch, with Severus the Great taking refuge in Alexandria. The non-Chalcedonian community was divided between "Severians" (followers of Severus), and Aphthartodocetae, a division that remained unresolved until 527. Severians continued to recognize Severus as the legitimate Miaphysite Patriarch of Antioch until his death in 538, and then proceeded to follow his successors.
Bishop Jacob Baradaeus is credited for ordaining most of the miaphysite hierarchy while facing heavy persecution in the sixth century. In 544, Baradeus ordained Sergius of Tella, continuing the non-Chalcedonian succession of patriarchs of the Church of Antioch. This was done in opposition to the government-backed Patriarchate of Antioch held by the pro-Chalcedonian believers leading to the Syriac Orthodox Church becoming popularly known as the 'Jacobite' Church, while the Chalcedonian believers were known popularly as Melkites, derived from the Syriac word for king, malka(an implication of the Chalcedonian Church's relationship to the Roman Emperor, later emphasised by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church). Due to numerous historical upheavals and hardships, the patriarchate of the Syriac Orthodox Church was relocated to various monasteries in Mesopotamia for centuries. John III of the Sedre was elected and consecrated Patriarch after the death of Athanasius I Gammolo in 631 AD, followed by the fall of Roman Syria and the Muslim conquest of the Levant. John and several bishops were summoned before Emir Umayr ibn Sad al-Ansari of Hims to engage in an open debate regarding Christianity and represent the entire Christian community, including non-Syriac Orthodox communities, such as Greek Orthodox Syrians.
The 8th-century hagiography Life of Jacob Baradaeus provides evidence of a definite denominational and social differentiation between the Chalcedonians and Miaphysites (Syriac Orthodox). The longer hagiography indicates that the Syriac Orthodox (referred to as "Syriac Jacobites" in the work: suryoye yaquboye) identified more closely with Jacob's story than with those of other saints. The Coptic historian and Miaphysite bishop Severus ibn al-Muqaffa discusses the origins of the Jacobites and their veneration of Jacob Baradaeus. He asserted that, unlike the Chalcedonian Christians (referred to as "Melkites"), Miaphysite Jacobites never compromised their Orthodoxy to win the favor of the Byzantine emperors, as the Melkites had done.
In the 10th century, after the Byzantine reconquest of Cappadocia, Cilicia and Syria, the Byzantine emperor encouraged Syriac settlement of these newly conquered frontier lands leading to a period of economic and intellectual flourishing for Syriac Orthodox communities from 950 to 1020. The Syriac Patriarch John VII Sarigta and his two successors resided at the Monastery of Bārid close to Melitene, one of many newly founded monasteries at the time, and Syriac Orthodox Christians were granted access to imperial positions. The wealth and influence of the Syriac Orthodox communities then sparked conflicts with the Byzantine church, which began to persecute Syriac Orthodox Christians, forcing Patriarch Dionysius IV to relocate the seat to the Arabic Amida.
Before the advent of the Crusades in the 11th century, the Syriacs occupied much of the hill country of Jazirah (Upper Mesopotamia). In Antioch, after the 11th-century persecutions by the Byzantines, the Syriac Orthodox population was almost extinguished. Only one Jacobite church is recorded in Antioch in the first half of the 12th century, leading Dorothea Weltecke to conclude that the Syriac Orthodox population was very low in this period in Antioch and its surroundings.
This changed during the 12th century when the Crusader states were established. Scholars agree generally that relations between the Syriac Orthodox and Latins in Outremer were positive. The Syriac population in the Principality of Antioch grew, partly due to the influx of refugees, which was also reflected in the construction of two additional churches. During this period, several Syriac Orthodox patriarchs visited Antioch, with some even establishing temporary residences there, and the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy in Antioch was open to accepting Latin supervision. Nevertheless, they stayed officially independent, though they also engaged in talks with the Byzantines and Latins regarding church union.
In 1293, the patriarchal seat was moved from the Mor Bar Sauma Monastery, where the patriarchs had resided since 1166,to the Mor Hananyo Monastery (Deir al. Zaʿfarān) in southeastern Anatolia near Mardin where it remained until 1933, when it was re-established in Homs, Syria, due to the adverse political situation in Turkey.
Among the notable churchmen of the period, Moses of Mardin (fl. 1549–d. 1592) was a diplomat who represented the Syriac Orthodox Church in Rome during the 16th century.
By the early 1660s, 75% of the 5,000 Syriac Orthodox people of Aleppo had converted to Catholicism after the arrival of mendicant missionaries. The Catholic missionaries sought to install a Catholic Patriarch among the Jacobites and consecrated Andrew Akhijan as the Patriarch of the newly founded Syriac Catholic Church. The Propaganda Fide and foreign diplomats pushed for Akhijan to be recognized as the Jacobite Patriarch. The Porte consented and warned the Syriac Orthodox that they would be considered enemies if they refused to recognize him. Despite warnings and gifts to priests, frequent conflicts and violent disputes continued between the Catholic and Orthodox Syriacs.
In 1662, the vacant Syriac Patriarchate aligned with the Catholic Church, but after Gregory Peter VI's death in 1702, the Catholic patriarchal line temporarily lapsed. It resumed in 1782 with Michael III Jarweh, leading to the formal establishment of the Syriac Catholic Church, while the non-Catholic faction maintained its separate patriarchate.
Around 1665, many Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India, committed themselves in allegiance to the Syriac Orthodox Church, which established the Malankara Syrian Church. The Malankara Church consolidated under Mar Thoma I welcomed Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, who regularised the canonical ordination of Mar Thoma I as a native, democratically elected bishop of the Malabar Syrian Christians.
In 1836, the reformation faction of the Saint Thomas Christians in India split from the Syriac Orthodox Church and formed the Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
In the 19th century, the various Syriac Christian denominations did not view themselves as part of a single ethnic group. During the Tanzimat reforms (1839–78), the Syriac Orthodox Church was granted independent status by gaining recognition as their own millet in 1873, apart from Armenians and Greeks.
In the late 19th century, the Syriac Orthodox community of the Middle East, primarily from the cities of Adana and Harput, began the process of creating the Syriac diaspora, with the United States being one of their first destinations in the 1890s. Later, the first Syriac Orthodox Church in the United States was built in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The 1895–96 massacres in Turkey affected the Armenian and Syriac Orthodox communities when an estimated 105,000 Christians were killed. By the end of the 19th century, 200,000 Syriac Orthodox Christians remained in the Middle East, primarily concentrated around Saffron Monastery, the Patriarchal Seat.
In 1870, there were 22 Syriac Orthodox settlements in the vicinity of Diyarbakır. In the 1870–71 Diyarbakır salnames, there were 1,434 Orthodox Syriacs in that city. Internal rivalry within the Syriac Orthodox Church in Tur Abdin resulted in many conversions to the Syriac Catholic Church (the Uniate branch).
On 10 December 1876, Ignatius Peter IV consecrated Geevarghese Gregorios of Parumala as metropolitan.
The Ottoman authorities killed and deported Orthodox Syriacs, then looted and seized their properties. Between 1915 and 1916, the Orthodox Syriac population in Diyarbakır province declined by 72%, and in the Mardin province by 58%.
In 1924, the patriarchate of the church was transferred to Homs after Kemal Atatürk expelled the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, who took the library of Deir el-Zaferan and settled in Damascus. The Syriac Orthodox villages in Tur Abdin suffered from the 1925–26 Kurdish rebellions and massive exodus to Lebanon, northern Iraq and especially Syria ensued.
In the early 1920s, the city of Qamishli was built mainly by Syriac Orthodox refugees, fleeing the Syriac genocide.
In 1959, the seat of the Syriac Orthodox Church was transferred to Damascus in Syria. In the mid-1970s, the estimate of Syriac Orthodox living in Syria was 82,000. In 1977, the number of Syriac Orthodox followers in diaspora dioceses was: 9,700 in the Diocese of Middle Europe; 10,750 in the Diocese of Sweden and surrounding countries.
On 20 October 1987, Geevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala was declared a saint by Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, allowing additions to the diptychs.
The supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is titled the Patriarch of Antioch, in reference to his titular pretense to one of the five patriarchates of the Pentarchy of Byzantine Christianity. He possesses apostolic succession through Saint Peter, according to sacred tradition. Considered the "father of fathers", he must be an ordained bishop. He is the general administrator to Holy Synod and supervises the spiritual, administrative, and financial matters of the church. The Patriarch oversees the church's external relations with other churches and signs documents related to church affairs—such as agreements, treaties, contracts, and pastoral communications such as encyclicals, (also known as bulls) and pastoral letters.
The word Maphrian comes from the Syriac word mafriano, meaning "one who fructifies". The Maphrian or the Catholicos of India is the second highest rank in the Syriac Orthodox Church after the Patriarch. He is an important functionary in guiding the church when the patriarchate falls vacant after the death of a Patriarch, overseeing the election of the next Patriarch and leading the ceremony for the ordination of the Patriarch. The Maphrian's see is in India, serving as the head of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, and remains under the authority of the Patriarch. In joint councils, the Maphrian is seated on the right side of the Patriarch and heads the church's regional synod in India with the Patriarch's sanction.
The title bishop comes from the Greek word episkopos, meaning "the one who oversees". A bishop is a spiritual leader in the Church and holds different ranks. In the Syriac Orthodox Church, the hierarchy includes metropolitan bishops (or archbishops), with auxiliary bishops serving under them. The local head of an archdiocese is an archbishop. He is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch and is accountable to the Holy Synod.
The priest (Kasheesho) is the one duly appointed to administer the sacraments. Unlike in the Catholic Church, Syriac deacons may marry before being ordained as priests; they cannot marry after ordained as priests.
Corepiscopos is the highest honorary rank given to married priests. A Corespiscopos has the privileges of being the "first among the priests". The ranks above the Corepiscopos are unmarried. The title of "Arch-Corepiscopos" is rare and has been awarded only to Curien Kaniamparambil.
In the Syriac Orthodox tradition, different ranks among the deacons are specifically assigned with particular duties. The seven ranks of the diaconate are:
The Sub-deacon ensures only the baptized remain in the church from the chanting of the Nicene Creed until Communion. Historically, catechumens attended the sermon but left before the Creed. The Sub-deacon maintains this practice and church discipline.
Only a Full deacon can take the censer during the Divine Liturgy to assist the priest. In the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, because of the lack of deacons, altar assistants who do not have a rank of the diaconate may assist the priest.
Each archdiocese may have one archdeacon who is referred to as "the right hand of the bishop". Only qualified and learned deacons are elevated to this office.
Historically, in the Malankara Church, the local chief was called as Archdeacon, who was the ecclesiastical authority of the Saint Thomas Christians in the Malabar region of India.
An ordained deaconess is entitled to enter the sanctuary only for cleaning, lighting the lamps and is limited to give Holy Communion to women and children who are under the age of five. She can read scriptures and the Holy Gospel in a public gathering. The title of deaconess can also be given to a choirgirl. The ministry of the deaconess assists the priest and deacon outside the altar including in the service of baptizing women and anointing them with holy chrism.
Syriac Orthodox churches uses the Peshitta (Syriac: ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ, trans: simple, common) as its Bible. The New Testament books of this Bible are estimated to have been translated from Koine Greek to Syriac between the late first century to the early third century AD. The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated from Hebrew, probably in the second century. The New Testament of the Peshitta, which originally excluded certain disputed books, had become the standard by the early fifth century, replacing two early Syriac versions of the gospels.
The Syriac Orthodox Church theology is based on the Nicene Creed. The Syriac Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, that its metropolitans are the successors of Christ's Apostles, and that the Patriarch is the successor to Saint Peter on whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ. The church accepted the first three synods held at Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), and Ephesus (431), shaping the formulation and early interpretation of Christian doctrines. The Syriac Orthodox Church is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, a distinct communion of churches claiming to continue the patristic and apostolic Christology before the schism following the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In terms of Christology, the Oriental Orthodox (Non-Chalcedonian) understanding is that Christ is "One Nature—the Logos Incarnate, of the full humanity and full divinity". Just as humans are of their mothers and fathers and not in their mothers and fathers, so too is the nature of Christ according to Oriental Orthodoxy. The Chalcedonian understanding is that Christ is "in two natures, full humanity and full divinity". This is the doctrinal difference that separated the Oriental Orthodox from the rest of Christendom. The church believes in the mystery of Incarnation and venerate Virgin Mary as Theotokos or Yoldath Aloho (Meaning: 'Bearer of God').
The Fathers of the Syriac Orthodox Church gave a theological interpretation to the primacy of Saint Peter. They were fully convinced of the unique office of Peter in the early Christian community. Ephrem, Aphrahat, and Maruthas unequivocally acknowledged the office of Peter. The different orders of liturgies used for sanctification of church buildings, marriages, ordinations etc., reveal that the primacy of Peter is a part of faith of the church. The church does not believe in Papal Primacy as understood by the Roman See, rather, Petrine Primacy according to the ancient Syriac tradition. The church uses both the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar based on their regions and traditions they adapted.
The liturgical service is called Holy Qurobo in the Syriac language meaning "Eucharist". The Liturgy of Saint James is celebrated on Sundays and special occasions. The Holy Eucharist consists of Gospel reading, Bible readings, prayers, and songs. The recitation of the Liturgy is performed according to with specific parts chanted by the presider, the lectors, the choir, and the congregated faithful, at certain times in unison. Apart from certain readings, prayers are sung in the form of chants and melodies. Hundreds of melodies remain preserved in the book known as Beth Gazo, the key reference to Syriac Orthodox church music.
In 1983, the French ethnomusicologist Christian Poché produced audio recordings of the liturgical music of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In his liner notes for the UNESCO Anthology of Traditional Music, he described the liturgical music of communities in Antioch, Tur ‘Abdin, Urfa, Mardin in modern Turkey, as well as in Aleppo and Qamishli in modern Syria.
Syriac Orthodox clergy and laity follow a regimen of seven prayers a day that are said at fixed prayer times, in accordance with Psalm 119 (cf. Shehimo). According to the Syriac tradition, an ecclesiastical day starts at sunset and the Canonical hours are based on West Syriac Rite:
The seven Holy Sacraments of the church are:
The clergy of the Syriac Orthodox Church has unique liturgical vestments with their order in the priesthood, there are overlaps with each building on each other.
The priest usual dress, worn when not performing sacraments, is a black robe. In India, due to the hot weather, priests usually wear white robes except during prayers in the church, when they wear a black robe over the white one. A priest also wears a phiro (black cap), which he must wear for the public prayers.
A Corepiscopos is given a chain with a cross and are also required to wear a black cassock and a traditional violet zoonoro (girdle) made of cloth. Monks or rambans wear a masnapso, a hood.
Bishops usually wear a black or a red robe along with a red belt. They should not wear a red robe in the presence of the patriarch, who wears a red robe. Bishops visiting a diocese outside their jurisdiction also wear black robes in deference to the bishop of the diocese, who would wear red robes.
A Mawdyono Deacon wears a white robe called kutino, symbolizing purity. Mzamrono and ascending ranks of deacons wear the kutino and a uroro (Orarion) in their respective shapes. The deaconess wears a uroro hanging down from the shoulder in the manner of an archdeacon.
Priests have ceremonial shoes which are called msone. Without wearing these shoes, a priest cannot distribute Eucharist to the faithful. The priest also wears the Hamniko or stole which is worn over the white robe. Then he wears a girdle called zoonoro, and zende, meaning sleeves. A cope called phayno is worn over these vestments.
If the celebrant is a bishop, he wears a veil-mitre over the masnapso. Batrashil, or pallium, is worn over the phayno by bishops and corepiscopas wear a half cope over the phayno, like hamnikho worn by priests. They carry a crosier stylised with serpents representing the staff of Moses during sacraments.
The patriarchate was originally established in Antioch (in present-day Syria, Turkey, and Iraq) but later relocated due to persecutions by the Romans, followed by Muslim Arab rule. It was based at Mor Hananyo Monastery, Mardin, within the Ottoman Empire (1160–1933), then moved to Homs (1933–1959), and has been seated in Damascus, Syria, since 1959. Historically, the followers of the church are mainly ethnic Assyrians/Syriacs who constitute the indigenous pre-Arab populations of modern Syria, Iraq and southeastern Turkey. A diaspora has also spread from the Levant, Iraq, and Turkey throughout the world, notably in Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, France, United States, Canada, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.
It is estimated that the church has 600,000 Syriac adherents, in addition to 2 million members of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church and their own ethnic diaspora in India. There is also a large Syriac community among Mayan converts in Guatemala and South America numbering up to 1.5 million. According to scholar James Minahan around 26% of the Assyrian people belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Syriac population in Turkey is growing due to refugees from Syria and Iraq fleeing ISIS, as well as members of the diaspora returning to rebuild their homes after leaving during the Turkey-PKK conflict (1978). The village of Kafro has been repopulated by Syriacs from Germany and Switzerland.
In the Syriac diaspora, there are approximately 250,000 members in the United States, 80,000 in Sweden, 100,000 in Germany, 15,000 in the Netherlands, 200,000 members in Brazil, Switzerland, and Austria.
The Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch originally covered the whole region of the Middle East and India. In recent centuries, its parishioners started to emigrate to other countries over the world. Today, the Syriac Orthodox Church has several archdioceses and patriarchal vicariates (exarchates) in many countries covering six continents. The church's members are divided into 26 Archdioceses, and 13 Patriarchal Vicariates.
The presence of the Syrian Orthodox faithful in the Americas dates back to the late 19th century.
In 1952, the Patriarchal Vicariate for the U.S. and Canada was created, and in 1995, it was divided in three regional vicariates, Eastern America, Western America, and Canada.
In 1993, Ignatius Zakka I formed the Malankara Archdiocese of North America for the Indian adherents living in North America. The Archdiocese is under the jurisdiction of the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch.
There are approximately 250,000 members of the three Vicariates and more than 1,000,000 members in the Malankara Archdiocese.
In Guatemala, a Charismatic movement emerged in 2003 and was excommunicated in 2006 by the Roman Catholic Church. They later joined the Syriac Orthodox Church in 2013. Members of this archdiocese are Mayan in origin and live in rural areas, and display charismatic-type practices.
The Syriac Orthodox Church in the Middle East and the diaspora numbering between 150,000 and 200,000 people reside in their indigenous area of habitation in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey according to estimations. The community formed and developed in the Middle Ages. The Syriac Orthodox Christians of the Middle East speak Aramaic.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, one of the Saint Thomas Christian churches in India, is an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church, with the Patriarch of Antioch as its supreme head. The local head of the church in Malankara (Kerala) is Baselios Joseph I, ordained by Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II on March 25, 2025. The headquarters of the church in India is at Puthencruz, Ernakulam, Kerala in South India. Simhasana Churches and the Honavar Mission are under the direct control of Patriarch.
Historically, the St. Thomas Christians were part of the Church of the East, based in Persia which was under the Patriarch of Antioch. After the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon(410 AD.), they were reunited with Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch c. 1652. Syriac monks Mar Sabor and Mar Proth arrived at Malankara between the eighth and ninth centuries from Persia. They established churches in Quilon, Kadamattom, Kayamkulam, Udayamperoor, and Akaparambu.
The Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church is an independent reformed church under the jurisdiction of Marthoma Metropolitan and its first Reforming Metropolitan Mathews Athanasius was ordained by Ignatius Elias II in 1842. Maphrianate was re-established in Malankara in 1912 by Ignatius Abded Mshiho II by the consecration of Paulose I as first Catholicos.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church accepts the Patriarch of Antioch only as its spiritual Father as stated by the constitution of 1934.
The Knanaya Syriac Orthodox Church is an archdiocese under the guidance and direction of Archbishop Severious Kuriakose with the patriarch as its spiritual head. They are the followers of the Syrian merchant Knāy Thoma (Thomas of Cana) who arrived in Kerala in the year 345 AD, while another legend traces their origin to Jews in the Middle East.
E.A.E Arch Diocese is the missionary association of the Syriac Orthodox Church founded in 1924 by Geevarghese Athunkal Cor-Episcopa at Perumbavoor. This archdiocese is under the direct control of the patriarch under the guidance of Chrysostomos Markose. It is an organization with churches, educational institutions, orphanages, old age homes, convents, publications, mission centers, gospel teams, care missions, and a missionary training institute. It is registered in 1949 under the Indian Societies Registration Act. XXI of 1860 (Reg. No. S.8/1949ESTD 1924). Honnavar Mission is a spiritual and charitable organization based in Honnavar, Karnataka, under the E.A.E Arch Diocese. The mission serves under the guidance of Metropolitan Anthonios Yaqu'b.
Earlier in the 20th century many Syrian Orthodox immigrated to Western Europe, located in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries for economic and political reasons. Dayro d-Mor Ephrem in the Netherlands is the first Syriac Orthodox monastery in Europe established in 1981. Dayro d-Mor Awgen, Arth, Switzerland and Dayro d-Mor Ya`qub d-Sarug, Warburg, Germany are the other monasteries located in Europe.
The Patriarchal Vicariate of Australia and New Zealand is under Archbishop Malatius Malki Malki.
The vicariate is headquartered in the Saint Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church.
The church has various seminaries, colleges, and other institutions. Patriarch Aphrem I Barsoum established St. Aphrem's Clerical School in the year 1934 in Zahlé, Lebanon. In 1946, the school was moved to Mosul, Iraq. It provided the church with a selection of graduates, the first among them being Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and many other church leaders.
In 1990, the Order of St. Jacob Baradaeus was established for nuns. Seminaries have been instituted in Sweden and in Salzburg, Austria for the study of Syriac theology, history, language, and culture. The church has an international Christian education center for religious education. The Antioch Syrian University was established on 8 September 2018 in Maarat Saidnaya, near Damascus. The university offers engineering, management and economics courses. The Happy Child House project inaugurated in 2022 provides childcare services in Damascus, Syria.
The Syriac Orthodox Church is active in ecumenical dialogues with various churches, including the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Anglican Communion, Syriac Church of the East, and other Christian denominations. The Church is an active member of the World Council of Churches since 1960 and Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas was one of the former presidents of WCC. It has also been involved in the Middle East Council of Churches since 1974. Since 1998, representatives of Syriac Orthodox Church, together with representatives of other Oriental Orthodox Churches, participate in the Ecumenical dialogue, and also in various forms of the Interfaith dialogue.
There are common Christological and pastoral agreements with the Catholic Church. By the 20th century as the Chalcedonian schism was not seen with the same relevance, and from several meetings between the authorities of the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodoxy, reconciling declarations emerged in the common statements of the Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III and Pope Paul VI in 1971, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and Pope John Paul II in 1984:
The precise differences in theology that caused the Chalcedonian controversy is said to have arisen "only because of differences in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter", according to a common declaration statement between Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III and Pope Paul VI on Wednesday 27 October 1971. In 2015, Pope Francis addressed the Syriac Orthodox Church as "a Church of Martyrs " welcoming the visit of Ignatius Aphrem II to Holy See.
In 2015, Ignatius Aphrem II visited Patriarch Kirill of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church(ROC) and discussed prospects of bilateral and theological dialogue existing since the late 1980s. The two leaders discussed various contemporary issues, including the situation of Christians in the Middle East and the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in addressing these concerns at international forums. They also explored ways to strengthen relations between their respective churches and coordinate their positions on matters related to conflict and violence.
Ecumenical relations with the Catholic Church
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Relating to Syriac Orthodox Church
Relating to Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church