Eastern Non-Chalcedonian and
Eastern Catholic Churches
There are four major Churches in Jordan and Palestine. These are the Greek Orthodox, Latin, Greek Catholic Melchite and Anglican. Most Christians in Palestine and Jordan are followers of these Churches. These Churches could be called the Arab Churches, not necessarily because of their ecclesiastical heads or origins, but because their general environment and rites have been arabized throughout the ages. In other words, Jordanian and Palestinian Christians do not find themselves alien to the four major Churches in terms of nationality and language, because one might be a follower of one of them and adapt himself to its congregations even if he was originally a Syrian, Armenian or Copt. In the understanding of the local Christians in the Holy Land, these Churches have no specific national character at the present time, such as the Armenian Church.
The remaining Churches in Palestine and Jordan are small Churches with followers of no more than a few thousand faithful. All of them have eastern roots and apostolic origin. These are the Maronite, Chaldean, Syrian, Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopian Churches.
There were internal splits in these Eastern Churches when some of their leaders and followers joined the Catholic Church. Therefore, these Churches are classified into two groups, namely, non-Chalcedonian Eastern Churches and Eastern Churches that split from their mother Churches and united with Rome. These Churches have the following aspects in common:
- Their followers in Palestine and Jordan are few compared with the four major Churches.
- They share the phenomenon of split and duplicity, because there are similar sister-Churches of the ancient Eastern Churches that are united with the Catholic Church, but are maintaining their eastern liturgy, as for example the Syrian Orthodox Church and the Syrian Catholic Church.
- They have old eastern roots and apostolic foundations.
- They share the phenomenon of uniqueness and nationalism. The followers of these Churches belong usually to a specific ethnic group, such as the Armenian or Chaldo-Assyrian. They use a national non-Arabic language in the liturgy, such as the Syriac, Armenian or Coptic languages. It is difficult for the followers of these Churches to leak from one of them to another. It is also difficult for the followers of the four major Churches to leak to these Churches. For example, it is very rare for a Syrian, Greek Orthodox, or Latin of a Palestinian or Jordanian origin to join the Armenian Church. The obstacle here is nationalism and the Armenian language. However, the followers of these Churches could easily leak to the four major Churches. What encourages this leakage is the background of the language and the common Arab nationality among the followers of the four major Churches. Among the followers of the Latin Church, one may find a significant number of Armenians, Syrians and Chaldo-Assyrian.
- The heads of the non-Chalcedonian and the Eastern Catholics do not reside in Palestine, with the exception of the Armenian Orthodox. Their leaders’ residences (the patriarchates) are in the adjoining countries of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia and Lebanon. Meanwhile, the heads of the major four Churches have their official residence in Jerusalem, the three patriarchates; Greek, Latin and Armenian, with the exception of the Greek Catholic Melchite. In other words, the presence of these Churches in Palestine, from the point of view of territorial jurisdiction of their patriarchs and ethnic origin of their faithful, is an extension of their original historical presence in the areas adjoining the Holy Land.
- The non-Chalcedonian Churches are sometimes known as Nestorian, Monophysite, and Jacobite Churches. Orthodoxy in the sense of being the right faith is a relative matter, which each Church claims for itself and rejects for others. Therefore, it is preferable to call these Churches “non-Chalcedonian.” Calling them so is based on historical, not on ideological or theological factors because these Churches rejected the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon held in 451.
- According to the Status Quo system, the Eastern Catholic Churches have no rights in the Holy Places.
- In the nineteenth century, the local leadership of the non-Chalcedonian and Eastern Catholic Churches and their congregations were concentrated in Jerusalem. These Churches often moved not outside Jerusalem, through pastorates and institutions to the Palestinian countryside or across the Jordan. The major concern of these Churches was to protect their rights in the Holy Places and to settle their followers around the holy shrines. So, they hardly expanded beyond the hemisphere of Jerusalem, while the four major Churches spread to the various parts of Palestine and East Jordan.
- Non-Chalcedonian and Catholic Eastern Churches grew in the nineteenth century in the same way in which the major Churches did, but to a lesser degree. There is a multi-faceted background and diversified aspect of this development. It was an extension of the development of the mother Churches outside Palestine, or was linked with the domestic Palestinian circumstances and with the attitude of the Churches existing in Palestine toward these circumstances.
This part is divided into two chapters: the first is the Eastern non-Chalcedonian Churches, and the second is the Eastern Catholic Churches.