Meletius II of Antioch

File:Патриарх Антиохийский Мелетий.jpg

Patriarch Meletius II Doumani (Arabic: البطريرك ملاتيوس الثاني دوماني al-Baṭriyark Milātiyūs aṯ-Ṯānī Dūmānī (1837 - 1906), was Patriarch of Antioch from 1899 to 1906.

He was born 8 November 1837, in the Old City of Damascus, Syria, district of Joura.

Election and church schism

By 1899, Meletius was Metropolitan of Laodicea. He was nominated to be the next Patriarch and had the support of the Russian and Romanian churches; however, the Greek Phanars were against an Arab taking the post and voted against him. A second election was held a few months later and Meletius was again elected. The Sultan had the final authority and in 1900, Meletius became the first Arab Patriarch.

Meletius II was elected by the members of the Antiochian Holy Synod in 1898, with the exception of 3 Greek bishops who refused to elect him. These 3 Greek bishops soon resigned from their dioceses (Aleppo, Erzurum, Cilicia), and they departed from the Church of Antioch in protest. The protest was joined by Patriarch Sophronius IV of Alexandria and Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. As a consequence of the influence of Patriarch Constantine V (Valiadis) of Constantinople, who also protested, the Ottoman Sultan did not issue the usual decree of recognition. This came only a year later, after the great efforts exerted by Kemal Bak al-Qazh, the Undersecretary of the Antiochian Chair in Constantinople (Istanbul). Thus, the manifest will of the Patriarchate of Antioch was accomplished. He was the first Arab and the first Syrian primate of non-Greek descent in over 170 years.

After his death, the post was taken on by Gregory Hadad, Metropolitan of Tripoli.

Literature

• Mufarrij, Rafeek, «The patriarchal crisis in the See of Antioch and the election of Melatios Doumani: causes, main events and results, 1891—1899» (2000)
• Якушев М. И. Первый Патриарх-араб на Антиохийском престоле // Восточный архив, 2006. - № 14-15. - С. 99-106

External links

• Primates of the Apostolic See of Antioch