The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Arabic: كنيسة الروم الملكيين الكاثوليك, Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk; Greek: Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία; Latin: Ecclesiae Graecae Melkitae Catholicae) or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. It is headed by Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered in Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition, Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.
The Melkite Church is related to the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. It is mainly centered in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. Melkite Greek Catholics are present, however, throughout the world by migration due to persecution. Outside the Near East, the Melkite Church has also grown through intermarriage with, and the conversion of, people of various ethnic heritages as well as transritualism. At present there is a worldwide membership of approximately 1.6 million. While the Melkite Catholic Church's Byzantine rite liturgical traditions are shared with those of Eastern Orthodoxy, the church has officially been part of the Catholic Church since the reaffirmation of its union with the Holy See of Rome in 1724.The term Melkite (/ˈmɛlkaɪt/), also written Melchite, refers to various Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root M-L-K, meaning "royal", and by extension "imperial" or loyal to the Byzantine Emperor. The Melkites accepted the Council of Chalcedon. Originally they used Greek and, to a lesser extent, Aramaic in worship, but later incorporated Arabic in parts of their liturgy.
Today, when used in an ecclesiastical sense it typically refers specifically to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. It can also refer to the church's membership as an ethnoreligious group. The several Greek Orthodox churches formerly known as Melkite are not commonly so called today.
It is headed by the Patriarch of Antioch (resident in Damascus), and has multiple Eparchies serving over a million and a half Catholics.
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