The Syriac Catholic Church

The Syriac Catholic Church

The Syriac Catholic Church stems from the Patriarchate of Antioch, a cosmopolitan city of the ancient world with a refined mix of Aramaic-Semitic and Roman-Hellenistic cultures in the region of today’s Syria and Turkey. There, the expansion of the new faith started in the first century: Antioch was evangelized by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas, and Saint Peter resided in the city in 37 AD. Antioch was recognized as a Patriarchal See with Alexandria, Rome and Jerusalem in 325 AD, and played a very important role in Christianity in the first centuries, fighting the first heresies. At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, a now outdated theological dispute caused the progressive division of the Church of Antioch, both internally and externally, from the Churches of Rome and Byzantium. The Syriac Catholic Church emerged much later from the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, in the 17th century, from the desire of some of the Syriac bishops to be united and in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.  

The Syriac rite and liturgy, using the Aramaic or Syriac language (as well as modern Aramaic and Arabic), was probably formed between 250 and 400 AD, with a clear Jewish influence, and remain very rich of early centuries rituals and liturgical forms. The Syriac Church is also renowned for its tradition of monasticism and practices of great asceticism, simplicity and holiness of life. Its spirituality has retained the intimate character of the community of the first disciples and Apostles, full of a living love for Christ.  The emphasis is put on the mystery of the incarnation of Christ, and on the Holy Trinity. The liturgies are almost entirely sung, with melodies crystallized probably around the 7th century. Saint Ephrem, a Church Father and a poet who lived in the 4th century, is the most famous Syriac musician.

The number of faithful of the Syriac Catholic Church is estimated between 160,000 and 200,000 throughout the world. Because of the intensity of emigration, the faithful are dispersed throughout the Middle East, mostly in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, but also in the diaspora: France, Sweden, North and South America, and Australia. Many faithful in Iraq or Syria speak modern Aramaic in daily life.