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Cyril VI Tanas

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Cyril VI Tanas
Patriarch of Antioch
ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic Church
SeePatriarch of Antioch
InstalledSeptember 24, 1724
Term endedJanuary 10, 1760
PredecessorAthanasius III Dabbas[1]
SuccessorMaximos II Hakim
Orders
ConsecrationOctober 1, 1724 (Bishop)
byNeophytos Nasri
Personal details
Born
Seraphim Tanas

1680
Damascus
DiedJanuary 10, 1760 (aged 79–80)

PatriarchCyril VI Tanas,also known asCyril VI of Antioch(born in 1680,Damascus– died on January 10, 1760), became the firstPatriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalemof theMelkite Greek Catholic Churchfollowing the schism of theGreek OrthodoxPatriarchate of Antiochin 1724.[2]Cyril re-establishedfull communionwith theCatholic Church.

Life

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Seraphim Tanas was born inDamascusin 1680, and he was the nephew ofEuthymios Saifi,bishop ofSidon.On August 3, 1701, he arrived inMarseille,France, and from 1702 to 1710 he studied in theCollege of the Propagandain Rome. Returned inSyriahe was ordainedpriestby his uncle, and he was distinguished for his sermons. He was appointed "Preacher of the Patriarchate of Antioch" by PatriarchCyril V Zaim.[3]: 67 

Like many of his fellow clerics, Seraphim Tanas favored re-establishing full communion with theRoman Catholic Church.He was elected on September 24, 1724,[4]by theMelkitesof Damascus as the newPatriarch of Antioch,and was consecrated as Cyril VI in the patriarchal cathedral of Damascus on October 1, 1724,[5][6][7]byNeophytos Nasri,eparch ofSaidnaya,assisted by Basile Finas, eparch of Baniyas, and byEuthymius Fadel,eparch ofZahle and Forzol.[3]As Cyril was a prominent pro-Westerner, the OrthodoxPatriarch Jeremias III of Constantinoplefelt his authority was challenged. Jeremias declared Cyril's election to be invalid, excommunicated him, and appointedSylvester of Antioch[8](1696–1766), a young Syrianmonk,to the patriarchal See of Antioch. Jeremias consecrated bishop Sylvester inIstanbulon October 8, 1724.[6][9]

ThesultanAhmed IIIwithdrew the recognition initially conferred on Cyril, who was forced to flee as emissaries of Sylvester arrived from Constantiople with a mandate for his arrest. Cyril took refuge at theHoly Savior MonasterynearSidon,located in modern-dayLebanon.Cyril's safety there was guaranteed by theShehab emirs.Sylvester unleashed a hard persecution against all who elected or supported Cyril: many people were exiled and all churches were taken by Sylvester's party. This persecution strengthened the faith of the Catholic Melkites who, even without a formal hierarchy, continued to increase in number meeting in secret places and celebrating theDivine Liturgyin homes at night.[10]: 327–328 

Although the populace of Aleppo was mainly pro-Catholic in sentiment, the people initially supported Sylvester. However, Sylvester exacerbated divisions with his heavy-handed rule of the church, and many Melkites chose to acknowledge Cyril VI as patriarch instead. The people united against Sylvester, forcing him to flee Aleppo.[2]: 33–34 The Greek domination over the Byzantine Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch lasted until 1899.

Notwithstanding the many requests by Cyril for recognition, thePapacymoved with great caution and took six years to recognize Cyril as the legitimate Patriarch of Antioch. The decision was made byPope Benedict XIIIand communicated, almost unofficially, to the Melkites in the synod held on April 25, 1730.[11]From this time onwards, theMelkite Greek Catholic Churchhas existed separately from and in parallel to theGreek Orthodox Church of Antiochin the Middle East. Thepallium,formal recognition of the patriarchal authority, was granted by Rome to Cyril only on February 3, 1744, about twenty years after the 1724 election.[12]

The reasons for this caution and delay by Rome to recognize Cyril as patriarch can be summarized as follows:

  • The election of Cyril had been not planned by Rome, and Rome already had Catholic professions of faith by the previous patriarchsAthanasius III Dabbas(in 1687) andCyril V Zaim(in 1716). Rome didn't want to split the Melkite hierarchy, hoping for a complete union. Only the persecutions by Sylvester and the incoming Greek domination over the Byzantine Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch left no other choice.
  • Cyril followed Euthymios Saifi in introducing manyliturgical Latinisations,dividing thus the Catholic Melkites between those who kept theByzantine riteuntouched and those who mixed the rites. For this reason, many Catholic Melkite monks were initially very suspicious of Cyril. As already happened for Euthymios Saifi, the Pope took a strong position against Cyril's latinisations, and his recognition in 1729 was subject to his renouncing any changes to the Byzantine rite and uses.[3]: 76 The latinisations, supported by many Latin missionaries (particularly by theFranciscans), continued to be a problem in the Melkite Church until the final position taken by the Pope on December 24, 1743, with the issue of theencyclicalDemandatamthat put an end to the mix of rites. This same document forbade Latin missionaries to accept the faithful of Byzantine Rites into theLatin Rite.

Cyril VI Tanas summoned synods in 1736, 1751 and 1756 in order to give a structure to the Melkite Church, but without a full success. Cyril had failed to unite two Melkite Basilian Orders, theBasilian Salvatorian OrderandBasilian Chouerite Order of Saint John the Baptist.He renounced in 1759 and died on January 10, 1760,[13]leaving a complicated succession.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^dink (2004), p. 33. Athanasius III was the last Orthodox patriarch of Antioch prior to the schism.
  2. ^abdink, Iganatios (2004).Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem.Boston: Sophia Press. pp. 33–34.
  3. ^abcNasrallah, Joseph (1963).Sa Beatitude Maximos IV et la succession apostolique du siege d'Antionche.Paris.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^catholic-hierarchy.org
  5. ^on September 24, according to theJulian calendar
  6. ^abKorolevsky, Cyril (1924). "Antioche".Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques.Vol. 3. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. p. 647.
  7. ^books.google.de
  8. ^books.google.de
  9. ^on September 27, according to theJulian calendar
  10. ^Foskolos, Markos (1973). "L'unione parziale del Patriarcato di Antiochia (1724)". In Metzler J. (ed.).Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide Memoria Rerum.Vol. II. Herder.ISBN3-451-16352-7.
  11. ^Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Melchites".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  12. ^books.google.de
  13. ^on December 30, 1759, according to theJulian calendar

References

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  • Descy, Serge (1993).The Melkite Church.Boston: Sophia Press.
  • dink, Iganatios (2004).Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem.Boston: Sophia Press.
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Preceded by Bishop of Antioch
1724–1760 		Succeeded by
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