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Meeting the
Relatives:
Making Sense of
the Christian
East
by Thomas Ryan,
C.S.P.
Can you name
one Oriental
Orthodox Church?
The term is
generally used
to describe a
group of six
ancient eastern
churches, a
"confessional
family." They
are the Armenian
Apostolic
Church; the
Coptic Orthodox
Church; the
Ethiopian
Orthodox Church;
the Syrian
Orthodox Church;
the Malankara
Syrian Orthodox
Church; and the
Eritrean
Orthodox Church.
They are all in
communion with
one another, but
each is fully
independent and
possesses a
distinctive
tradition. They
are to be
distinguished
from the
Orthodox Church
(described in a
previous
article), which
is a communion
of national or
regional
churches all of
which recognize
the Patriarch of
Constantinople
as "first among
equals".
The common
element among
the Oriental
Orthodox
churches is
their rejection
of the
christological
definition of
the Council of
Chalcedon (451)
which asserted
that Christ is
one person in
two natures,
undivided and
unconfused. To
their mind, to
say that Christ
has two natures
was to
overemphasize
the duality in
Christ and to
compromise the
unity of his
person. They
preferred to
speak in terms
of "the one
incarnate nature
of the Word of
God."
These churches
have sometimes
also been called
the Ancient
Oriental
Churches or the
non-Chalcedonian
churches. Today,
however, it is
widely
recognized by
church leaders
and theologians
that the
christological
differences
between the
Oriental
Orthodox and
those who
accepted
Chalcedon were
only verbal, and
that in fact
both parties
profess the same
faith in Christ
in using
different
formulas. Here
follows a few
identifying
notes for each
one.
The Armenian
Apostolic Church
Ancient Armenia
was the first
country to adopt
Christianity as
its state
religion.
Preparations are
underway to
celebrate the
1700th
anniversary in
2001.
Today the
Armenian
Apostolic Church
is centered in
the Republic of
Armenia which
declared its
independence in
1991. The holy
see of
Etchmiadzin is
near Yerevan,
the capital. The
collapse of
Soviet communism
has provided
conditions for a
renaissance of
this ancient
church in its
homeland. New
dioceses and
parishes are
being opened,
new
organizations
founded, and
religious
instruction
introduced into
the schools.
The Supreme
Patriarch and
Catholicos of
All Armenians,
Karekin I,
resides in
Etchmiadzin. The
Catholicosate of
Etchmiadzin has
jurisdiction
over Armenians
throughout the
former USSR and
much of the
diaspora
(countries of
immigration),
including Iraq,
India, Egypt,
Syria, Sudan,
Ethiopia,
Europe,
Australia and
the Americas. A
second
Catholicosate (Cilicia),
in full
communion with
Etchmiadzin but
administratively
independent, is
based in
Antelias,
Lebanon. It has
jurisdiction in
Lebanon, Cyprus,
Iran, and
separate
jurisdiction
from Etchmiadzin
in North
America, Greece,
and Syria. All
told, there are
about 6 million
members. There
are 65 parishes
in the USA and 5
in Canada.
The Coptic
Orthodox Church
The foundation
of the church in
Egypt is closely
associated with
St. Mark the
Evangelist who,
according to
tradition, was
martyred in
Alexandria in 63
AD. Eventually
Egypt became a
Christian
nation,
nourished by the
teachings of the
desert fathers.
Today it is
recognized that
rejection of
Chalcedon by
much of the
Egyptian
hierarchy and
faithful was
influenced by
politics and
expressed their
resistance to
Byzantine
domination.
Coptic
(Egyptian)
Orthodox are the
largest
Christian
community in the
Middle East. The
recent rise of
Islamic
fundamentalism
in Egypt has
created new
problems for the
Coptic Church,
with increasing
incidence of
attacks against
Copts by Islamic
militants.
Today Coptic
Christian
communities are
found in Europe,
Africa,
Australia, and
the Americas.
The Copts have
more than 70
parishes in the
USA and 15
parishes in
Canada. Their
spiritual leader
is Pope Shenouda
III in
Alexandria,
Egypt. Total
Coptic
membership,
difficult to
ascertain
because of the
tense situation
in Egypt, is
between four to
eight million.
The Ethiopian
Orthodox Church
Christianity was
introduced as
the state
religion in
Ethiopia around
330. The
Ethiopian Church
reached its
zenith in the
15th century
when much
theological and
spiritual
literature was
produced and the
church was
engaged in
extensive
missionary
activity. A
negative
experience in
the 16th century
with Portuguese
Roman Catholic
missionaries,
who tried to
latinize the
Ethiopian
Church, resulted
in centuries of
lessened
vitality from
which the church
is only now
emerging.
It nonetheless
remained the
state religion
until the 1974
Marxist
revolution which
overthrew the
emperor,
formally
separated church
and state,
nationalized
most church
land, and
initiated a
campaign against
religious groups
in the country.
Following the
collapse of the
communist regime
in 1994, the
Holy Synod
elected Abune
Paulos as
Patriarch of the
Ethiopian
Orthodox Church,
whose adherents
make up about
60% of the
country's total
population of 55
million, putting
church
membership
around 30
million.
The Syrian
Orthodox Church
The Syrian
Church traces
its origins back
to the early
Christian
community at
Antioch, which
is mentioned in
the Acts of the
Apostles. In the
6th century, one
of their
bishops, Jacob
Baradai,
ordained many
bishops and
priests to carry
on the faith of
those who
rejected
Chalcedon-resistance
to imperial
pressure again
figured in the
situation.
Consequently,
this church
became known as
"Jacobite", with
its own
Antiochene
liturgy and
other traditions
using the Syriac
language spoken
by the common
people.
Syrian Orthodox
Christians are
concentrated in
Syria, Lebanon,
Turkey, Israel,
India, and are
found as well in
diaspora in the
West. There are
18 Syrian
parishes in the
USA and 5 in
Canada. The
spiritual head
of the Church is
Patriarch
Ignatius Zakka
Iwas, who
resides in
Damascus, Syria.
Their total
membership is
about 1,250,000.
The Malankara
Orthodox Syrian
Church
An equal number
of Oriental
Orthodox
Christians in
India belong to
the Malankara
Orthodox Syrian
Church as belong
to the Syrian
Orthodox Church.
The Malankara
Church was
created in 1912
when a
significant
number of the
Syrian Orthodox
faithful
expressed the
desire to
re-establish the
ancient
Catholicosate of
the East in
India and
declared
independence.
They are
basically
located in
India, have a
membership of
about one
million, and
their spiritual
head, Baselius
Mar Thoma
Matthews II,
resides in
Kottayam, Kerala
State, India.
The Eritrean
Orthodox Church
Eritrea is
located along
the southwest
coast of the Red
Sea. Site of the
ancient
Christian
kingdom of Aksum
, it began to
decline in the
7th century in
the wake of
Muslim
invasions. More
recently,
Eritrea was an
Italian colony
from 1890 to
1941, when it
was captured by
the British. It
entered a
federation with
Ethiopia in
1952, and was
annexed as a
province in
1962. A lengthy
struggle for
self-rule
culminated with
the country's
declaration of
independence in
1993.
In 1994, an
agreement was
signed in Addis
Ababa that
reaffirmed the
autocephalous
(independent)
status of both
the Ethiopian
and Eritrean
churches, and
recognized a
primacy of honor
of the Coptic
Orthodox Church
among the
Oriental
Orthodox
Churches in
Africa. In 1998,
Abba Philipos
was chosen as
the first
Patriarch of the
Eritrean
Orthodox Church,
which has a
membership of
about 1,700,000.
Fr. Thomas Ryan
is the
coordinator of
the Paulist
North American
Office for
Ecumenical and
Interfaith
Relations in New
York City.
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