ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

118 centration in Syria and Lebanon, small but influential minorities in the rest of the Arab world and a diaspora for 50% in Eu- rope, the Americas and Australia. There is a Melkite ecclesiastical organization in the Diaspora with dioceses and parishes. The Melkite Church has always made it- self a paladin to create a bridge betwe- en East and West, the first step towards union between the Arab, Orthodox and Catholic faithful, each maintaining its au- tonomy. https://melkite.org/faith/faith-worship/ the-melkites https://www.mliles.com/melkite/ Maronite Church: Origin: in the fourth century a group of disciples gathered around San Marone, who later founded a monastery betwe- en Antioch and Aleppo; the monastery, although within the patriarchate of An- tioch developed its own traditions, and in the fifth century was a strong proponent of Chalcedonese Christology as were the Melkites. To escape the persecution of churches contrary to Chalcedonese doctrine, two natures in Christ, and la- ter the Muslim invaders, withdrew in the seventh century to the mountains of Le- banon. Its mountains, already known in antiquity for their valuable forests, proved to be a safe haven for ethnic and religious minorities from the years immediately fol- lowing the Arab conquest of Syria. From this period of isolation they became an autonomous church: they began to elect their own bishop. In 1182, on the occasion of renewed contacts with Latin Catholics during the Crusader period, the Maroni- tes confirmed their union with the Chur- ch of Rome, saying that they had never renounced their communion with it. And that an Eastern Catholic church that was not born of separation from an Orthodox church. Seat of the Patriarchate: Bkérké (Lebanon). Patriarchal title: Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Maronites. Liturgy: Antiochene rite in Syrian and Arabic. Presence in the Middle East: about 800,000 concentrated in Lebanon. The constitutional order of the Lebanese re- public provides that the office of president is reserved for a Maronite Christian. Diaspora: about 3 million in the Americas, Australia and Europe. There is an eccle- siastical organization in the diaspora with dioceses and parishes. The Syrian (Jacobite) church of Anta- kya Syrian Orthodox Church: Syria was the battleground of Christolo- gical controversy, the origin of religious division in the East. In fact, in 451 the Ecu- menical Council of Chalcedon condemned monophysism (Christ would have only one nature) and proclaimed the official doctrine and the human, in one person. The majority of the Syrian population did not accept the Council's decisions, preferring a Christological formulation of Alexandrian tradition which affirmed, with Cyril of Alexandria, the unique incarnated nature of the Word of God, more out of misunderstanding of words than theolo- gical differences, and separated from the Church of Constantinople. They were thus considered monophysites of the Chalce- don-Orthodox churches and were called the Jacobite Church. The Jacobite Church experienced an extraordinary monastic flourishing in the early centuries. After a moderate expansion in the East, the Jacobite church was hit hard by the Mongol invasion of Tamerlane in the 14th century, and its greater presence was concentrated in the area of Middle Ea- stern Origin. Since the 17th century, the Malankarian Syrian Orthodox Church, present today in India with over a million faithful, has been under the control of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch. In 1984 the Patriarch signed with the Roman Pontiff of the Catholic Church a document affirming the common