Syriac Orthodox Christians

Syriac Orthodox Christians

The Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (Syriac: ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܬܪܝܨܬ ܫܘܒܚܐ) is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. It employs the oldest surviving liturgy in Christianity, the Liturgy of St. James the Apostle, and uses Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic spoken by Jesus Christ and his Apostles, as its official and liturgical language. The church is led by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. The Syriac Orthodox Church traces its history to one of the first Christian communities, described in the Acts of the Apostles (New Testament, Acts 11:26) and established by the Apostle St. Peter.

The Church belongs to the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, which has been a distinct church body since the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. The precise differences in theology that caused the split, "arose only because of differences in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter", according to a joint declaration by the current head of the Syriac Orthodox church, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, and Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II in 1984 (see: History of Oriental Orthodoxy). The Syriac Orthodox Church continues to lead ecumenical discussions through its membership in the World Council of Churches since 1960, where Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I Iwas serves as a president, and in the the Middle East Council of Churches since 1974.

The Church has twenty-six archdioceses and eleven patriarchal vicariates. In 1959, the Patriarchate was moved to Damascus, modern-day Syria. Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas was enthroned head of the church on 14 September 1980, on the Feast of the Cross. Syriac Orthodox faithful around the world took part in the silver jubilee celebrations of his patriarchate in 2005.