Mar Ignatius Andrew 'Abdul-Ghal Akijan (or Akhidjan, Akidjian, 1622–1677) was the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church from 1662 to 1677. His election as Patriarch marked the first separation of the hierarchy between the Syriac Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church.
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👉 Ignatius Andrew Akijan in the context of Syriac Catholic Church
The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic, is the liturgical language used by the Church. There are about 160,000 Syriac Catholics, with the majority in Syria and Iraq, along with a smaller community in Lebanon and an overseas diaspora. It is one of the smaller Eastern Catholic churches based in the Middle East.
The Syriac Catholic Church traces its history and traditions to the Church of Antioch established by Saint Peter. The Diocese of the East under the Patriarch of Antioch included the western Middle East along the Mediterranean. The Church of Antioch was split following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 over disagreements on Christology, with the Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian churches becoming part of Oriental Orthodoxy after rejecting the outcome of the council. A decree of unity between the Syriac Orthodox Church and Rome was made at the Council of Florence in 1444 but it was quickly annulled by the Syriac hierarchy. After missionary work led to conversions to Catholicism among Syriac Christians in the 17th century, one of them, Andrew Akijan, was elected as the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch in 1662. After his death in 1677, rival Catholic and Orthodox Syriac patriarchs were elected between then and 1702. The current line of Syriac Catholic patriarchs of Antioch began in 1782, when Michael Jarweh declared himself in communion with the pope of Rome after being elected by the Syriac Orthodox Holy Synod.
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Ignatius Andrew Akijan in the context of Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch
The Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch is the head of the Syriac Catholic Church. According to tradition, the patriarchate of Antioch was established by Saint Peter in the 1st century AD, but split into two separate lines of patriarchs after the deposition of Patriarch Severus of Antioch in 518 over the issue of the Council of Chalcedon of 451. The non-Chalcedonian supporters of Severus went on to form what is now known as the Syriac Orthodox Church, whilst the Chalcedonians developed the church now known as the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
The office was established with the election of Ignatius Andrew Akijan in 1662 as patriarch of Antioch, thereby creating a separate line of patriarchs in full communion with the Catholic Church, in opposition to the Syriac Orthodox Church. Despite initial success, after the death of Ignatius Gregory Peter VI Shahbaddin in 1701 or 1702, most Syriac Catholics returned to the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the office lay vacant until the election of Ignatius Michael III Jarweh in 1782, from which a permanent line of Syriac Catholic patriarchs sprang.