21 Facts About Syriac Orthodox Church

1.

Syriac Orthodox Church, officially known as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and informally as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox church that branched from the Church of Antioch.

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2.

Classical Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the church.

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3.

Syriac Orthodox Church is not ethnically exclusive, but two main ethnic groups in the community contest their ethnic identification as "Assyrians" and "Arameans".

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4.

That was done in opposition to the government-backed Patriarchate of Antioch held by the pro-Chalcedonian believers leading to the Syriac Orthodox Church being known popularly as the "Jacobite" Church, while the Chalcedonian believers were known popularly as Melkites—coming from the Syriac word for king, an implication of the Chalcedonian Church's relationship to the Roman Emperor .

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5.

The mother church and official seat of the Syriac Orthodox Church are now situated in Bab Tuma, Damascus, capital of Syria.

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6.

Syriac Orthodox Church explained that unlike the Chalcedonian Christians, Miaphysite Jacobites never traded their Orthodoxy to win the favor of the Byzantine emperors, as the Melkites had done .

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7.

Supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is named Patriarch of Antioch, in reference to his titular pretense to one of the five patriarchates of the Pentarchy of Byzantine Christianity.

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8.

Syriac Orthodox Church is the general administrator to Holy Synod and supervises the spiritual, administrative, and financial matters of the church.

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9.

Syriac Orthodox Church governs external relations with other churches and signs agreements, treaties, contracts, pastoral encyclicals, pastoral letters related to the affairs of the church.

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10.

Syriac Orthodox Church's can read scriptures, Holy Gospel in a public gathering.

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11.

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.

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12.

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.

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13.

In terms of Christology, the Oriental Syriac Orthodox Church understanding is that Christ is "One Nature—the Logos Incarnate, of the full humanity and full divinity".

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14.

Fathers of the Syriac Orthodox Church gave a theological interpretation to the primacy of Saint Peter.

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15.

Clergy of the Syriac Orthodox Church has unique liturgical vestments with their order in the priesthood: the deacons, the priests, the chorbishops, the bishops, and the patriarch each have different vestments.

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16.

Syriac Orthodox Church's members are divided into 26 Archdioceses, and 13 Patriarchal Vicariates.

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17.

Today, the Syriac Orthodox Church has several archdioceses and patriarchal vicariates in many countries covering six continents.

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18.

Malankara Marthoma Syrian Syriac Orthodox 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.

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19.

Knanaya Syriac Orthodox Church is an archdiocese under the guidance and direction of Archbishop Severious Kuriakose with the patriarch as its spiritual head.

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20.

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.

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21.

Since 1998, representatives of SOC, together with representatives of other Oriental Orthodox Churches, participate in the Ecumenical dialogue, and in various forms of the Interfaith dialogue.

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