Eastern Catholic Churches
Of the Eastern-rite Catholic churches (known as "Uniate" because they united to Rome, although they themselves reject this denomination as pejorative) the oldest is the Maronite, with ties to Rome dating at least from the twelfth century. Their status before then is unclear, some claiming it originally held to the Monothelite heresy up until 1215, while the Maronite Church claims it has alway been in union with Rome. The liturgy is in Syriac.
The Patriarchate of Antioch never recognized the mutual excommunications of Rome and Constantinople of 1054, so it was canonically still in union with both. After a disputed patriarchal election in 1724, it divided into two groups, one in union with Rome and the other with Constantinople. Today the term "Melkite" is in use only among the Greek Catholics. Like the Greek Orthodox Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church uses Greek and Arabic.
Read more about this topic: Christianity In Syria, Origins
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