Melkite usage

In Brief

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is the Byzantine Church of Antioch: a patriarchal Church — of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, residing in Damascus — praying the Byzantine rite in Arabic and Greek. About 1.7 million faithful, in Syria, Lebanon and the Holy Land, and across a diaspora that runs from Brazil to Australia.^1,2

Its union with Rome is 300 years old: in 1724 the pro-union bishops of Antioch elected Cyril VI Tanas, and in 1729 Benedict XIII recognized him — after a contested election, two patriarchs, and an expulsion to a Lebanese monastery. The Church celebrated the tercentenary in 2023–2024, opening in Damascus under Patriarch Youssef Absi.^1,3

And its rite is de-Latinized: the 18th century loaded the Melkite liturgy with Latin devotions, and after Vatican II — where Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh was "the principal spokesman on issues of concern to the East," in Athenagoras's words "our voice" — the Church stripped them away. The books were reorganized into a four-volume seasonal set in 1997–2000, binding from Pascha 1997.^4,5,6

Where to Experience It

Damascus first — the Patriarch's see since the Ottomans recognized the Church in 1848 — then Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Egypt: the old territory of the three patriarchates, placed under the Greek-Catholic Patriarch in 1772. Then the emigration: Brazil and Argentina above all, then the United States, Canada and Australia — the Eparchy of Newton covers America.^2,3

Come to a parish and you will hear Arabic first, Greek beside it: the two liturgical languages. The name on the door is the old one — malkaya, "royal, imperial," the Chalcedonians of Antioch, the emperor's party — adopted by the Greek-Catholic Patriarch around 1772, when "Melkite" stopped meaning the Orthodox and started meaning the Catholics.^1,3

Find a parish

• Melkite Eparchy of Newton (find a parish)

Your First Visit

The Shape of the Liturgy

The order is the Byzantine order, and the Melkite shape is in the language, the books, and the Communion.

The preparation: the priest vests and prepares the gifts — the lamb from the leavened prosphora, the chalice mixed with wine and water. The Liturgy of the Word: the antiphons, the Little Entrance, the Trisagion, the readings and the homily, in Arabic and Greek. The Liturgy of the Faithful: the Great Entrance, the kiss of peace, the Creed, and the anaphora — St John Chrysostom's ordinarily, St Basil's on the appointed days — in the de-Latinized text of the 1997–2000 books. Then the Lord's Prayer, the elevation — "Holy things for the holy" — and Communion: by intinction, from the priest's hand, not by spoon.^6,8

The de-latinization is the shape's history made visible. Fortescue in 1923 could still describe a Byzantine rite in Syria heavy with Latin accretions; Patriarch Gregorios III's 2011 Letter on the Liturgy describes the books that replaced them — the four seasonal volumes, binding from Pascha 1997 by Maximos V's 1996 decree. What you see is the Byzantine rite prayed straight.^4,6

The order of the Melkite Divine Liturgy

1. The preparation (proskomidija)
   The priest vests and prepares the gifts in the Byzantine order — the lamb from the leavened prosphora, the chalice mixed with wine and water.⁸
2. The Liturgy of the Word
   The antiphons, the Little Entrance, the Trisagion, the readings and the homily — in Arabic and Greek, from the 1997–2000 books.^6,8
3. The Liturgy of the Faithful
   The Great Entrance, the kiss of peace, the Creed, and the anaphora of St John Chrysostom — St Basil's on the appointed days — in the de-Latinized text.^6,8
4. Communion and dismissal
   The Lord's Prayer, the elevation — 'Holy things for the holy' — Communion by intinction from the priest's hand, the thanksgiving and the dismissal.⁸

What makes it distinctive

• Arabic and Greek: the liturgical languages — Arabic first in the Middle East, Greek beside it.¹
• De-Latinized: the 18th century's Latin accretions removed after Vatican II; the Byzantine rite prayed as the Byzantine rite.^4,5,6
• The 1997–2000 books: the liturgical books reorganized into a four-volume seasonal set, binding from Pascha 1997 by Maximos V's 1996 decree.⁶
• Communion by intinction from the priest's hand, not by spoon.⁸
• Maximos IV at the Council: the Melkite Patriarch 'the principal spokesman on issues of concern to the East' at Vatican II — 'You were our voice,' said Athenagoras.⁵

History

The Church begins in a schism within a schism. In 1724 the bishops of Antioch leaning toward union with Rome elected Seraphim Tanas as Patriarch Cyril VI; the anti-Roman bishops in Aleppo elected the Cypriot monk Sylvester, whom the Patriarch of Constantinople consecrated and the Ottomans recognized. Cyril was expelled and made his seat in a Lebanese monastery. Five years later, in 1729, Pope Benedict XIII recognized Cyril's election as "valid and free" — and in 1744 Benedict XIV gave him the pallium. From then the Melkite Greek Catholic Church has existed in parallel with the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.^1,3

The 18th century made the Church grow — converts fleeing, the faithful said, Orthodox patriarchs too close to the Ottomans — and made it Latin: in 1772 all Byzantine-rite Catholics of the three old patriarchates came under the Greek-Catholic Patriarch, and the Latin religious orders' devotions settled deep into the rite. The Ottomans recognized the Church in 1848.^3,4

Vatican II made the Church the East's spokesman. Maximos IV was "the principal spokesman on issues of concern to the East"; afterward he told Athenagoras "every time I spoke, I thought of you," and Athenagoras answered "you were our voice." The council's decree on the Eastern Churches gave the de-latinization its charter, and the Church carried it through to the 1997–2000 books.⁵

The boldest ecumenical act came in 1995–1996: Archbishop Elias Zoghby's Profession of Faith — "I believe everything which Eastern Orthodoxy teaches; I am in communion with the Bishop of Rome as the first among the bishops, according to the limits recognized by the Holy Fathers of the East during the first millennium" — subscribed by 24 of 26 bishops, and the 1996 synod's declaration that worship in common with the Antiochian Orthodox is "possible today." Both Rome (1997) and the Antiochian Orthodox Synod (1996) said not yet: intercommunion is the last step, not the first.⁵

Milestones

1. 1724The pro-union bishops of Antioch elect Cyril VI (Tanas); the anti-Roman bishops elect Sylvester, who is consecrated by Constantinople and recognized by the Ottomans — Cyril is expelled to a Lebanese monastery³
2. 1729Benedict XIII recognizes Cyril VI as the legitimate Patriarch of Antioch; his followers are in full communion with Rome — the beginning of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church³
3. 1744Benedict XIV awards Cyril VI the pallium, the sign of unity with Rome³
4. 1772All Byzantine-rite Catholics of the three patriarchates — Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem — are placed under the Greek-Catholic Patriarch, who adopts the name 'Melkite'³
5. 1848The Ottomans officially recognize the Melkite Church; the Patriarch resides in Damascus³
6. 1962–1965Vatican II: Patriarch Maximos IV Saigh is 'the principal spokesman on issues of concern to the East' — the council that begins the Melkite de-latinization⁵
7. 1995–1996Archbishop Elias Zoghby's Profession of Faith (1995), subscribed by 24 of 26 bishops; the 1996 synod declares that communicatio in sacris with the Antiochian Orthodox is 'possible today'⁵
8. 1997The reorganized liturgical books — four seasonal volumes (1997–2000) — become binding from Pascha 1997⁶
9. 2023–2024The 300th anniversary of the union (1724–2024): the celebrations open in Damascus under Patriarch Youssef Absi¹

Texts & Books

The books are the four seasonal volumes of 1997–2000 — the reorganized liturgical library, binding from Pascha 1997 — and Patriarch Gregorios III's 2011 Letter on the Liturgy, the Patriarch's own account of what the books are and why. The Eparchy of Newton's Explanation of the Divine Liturgy walks through the rite as prayed, in English.^6,8

Family & Relations

The Melkite usage belongs to the Byzantine family, and its nearest Catholic kin is the Ukrainian usage: the other great Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite — but Arabic and Greek where the UGCC is Ukrainian and Slavonic, Antiochene where it is Kyivan, a union of 1724 where it is a union of 1596.^1,10

In the Middle East the family's other half is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch: the two Churches divided since 1724, and the partner in the reunion initiative — the joint synodal commissions of Maximos V and Ignatius IV, the 1996 declaration, the 1997 Roman reply — that both Rome and Antioch judged premature.⁵

Compare with

• Ukrainian usage (Kyivan tradition): the other great Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite — but Arabic and Greek where the UGCC is Ukrainian and Slavonic, Antiochene where it is Kyivan, a union of 1724 where it is a union of 1596^1,3,10

The Rite Today

The Church celebrated 300 years of union in 2023–2024 — "The Greek-Catholic Melkite Church: The Ecumenical Journey 1724–2024" — opening in Damascus under Patriarch Youssef Absi with liturgies, lectures, publications and exhibitions of the communities' spiritual heritage. About 1.7 million faithful, the books of 1997–2000 in the pews, the de-latinized rite prayed in Arabic and Greek from Damascus to São Paulo to Newton.¹

As of 20 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

The sources for this page are the Church's own and the closest witnesses. PRO ORIENTE gives the straight 1724 history. The 1996 press release — with the Antiochian Orthodox response and Rome's 1997 letter printed on the same page — is the primary record of the reunion initiative. Patriarch Gregorios III's 2011 letter is the books' own account. The Eparchy of Newton's explainer is the rite as prayed.^3,5,6,8

One caution: Fortescue's 1923 book is used here only as a witness to how Latinized the rite had become by his day — its terminology for the Eastern Churches is a century old, and the Index does not repeat it. The translations in this entry are the Index's own.

On Domus Dei

• The Byzantine RiteThe rite this usage belongs to: the order, the anaphoras, the chant systems
• The Ukrainian usageThe other great Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite: the Kyivan tradition

Official resources

• The Melkite Eparchy of Newton — An Explanation of the Divine Liturgy

Recommended reading

• PRO ORIENTE, The Melkite Greek Catholic Church.The straight telling of 1724: the contested election, the two patriarchs, Rome's 1729 recognition Read online
• Gregorios III, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, “Letter on the Liturgy”, reproduced on byzcath.org, 2011.The Patriarch's own Letter on the Liturgy: the 1997–2000 books Read online
• Melkite Greek Catholic Church (press release), The Melkite Initiative with the Antiochian Orthodox Church.The Church's own 1996 press release: Zoghby's profession, the synod's declaration, Maximos IV at the Council Read online
• Raczka, Philip, “An Explanation of the Divine Liturgy”, Melkite Eparchy of Newton.The Eparchy of Newton's walk through the Divine Liturgy as prayed Read online

Sources

1. ReferenceFSSPX News, The Melkite Greek Catholic Church Will Celebrate 300 Years of Union With Rome. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: the 300th anniversary of the union (1724–2024) opened in Damascus in November 2023 under Patriarch Youssef Absi; about 1.7 million Melkite Catholics; Arabic and Greek as liturgical languages
2. ReferenceGCatholic.org, Byzantine Churches sui iuris and their jurisdictions, 2026, Melkite rite page; Melkite diocese pages, summed. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · rite pages read; each Byzantine diocese page summed, 14 Sep 2026 (totals undated)
3. ReferencePRO ORIENTE, The Melkite Greek Catholic Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: 1724 election of Cyril VI (Tanas); anti-Roman bishops elected Sylvester, consecrated by Constantinople, recognized by the Ottomans; Cyril expelled, Lebanon monastery; 1729 recognized by Benedict XIII; 1744 pallium from Benedict XIV; 1772 the Byzantine-rite Catholics of the three patriarchates placed under the Greek-Catholic patriarch, who adopted the term 'Melkite'; Ottoman recognition 1848; patriarch resides in Damascus
4. ScholarshipFortescue, Adrian, The Uniate Eastern Churches: The Byzantine Rite in Italy, Sicily, Syria and Egypt, ed. George D. Smith, London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1923. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. 32-34 and 182 (running head) read
5. Primary textMelkite Greek Catholic Church (press release), The Melkite Initiative with the Antiochian Orthodox Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read in full: September 1996 press release on the July 1996 Rabweh synod — declared communicatio in sacris 'possible today'; Zoghby's February 1995 Profession of Faith quoted verbatim (subscribed by 24 of 26 bishops at the 1995 synod) as 'the major force for reopening dialogue with the Orthodox brothers'; the October 1996 Antiochian Orthodox Synod response ('inter-communion is the last step in the quest for unity and not the first'); Rome's June 1997 letter (Ratzinger, Silvestrini, Cassidy) — appreciates the motivation, rejects the profession's sufficiency, warns against 'premature, unilateral initiatives'; includes a byzcath note on Maximos IV Saigh as 'the principal spokesman on issues of concern to the East' at Vatican II ('You were our voice' — Athenagoras)
6. Magisterial / canonicalGregorios III, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, “Letter on the Liturgy”, reproduced on byzcath.org, 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read (a reproduction): §3, the four volumes of 1997–2000; ch. 4 no. 1, Maximos V's 1996 decree, binding from Pascha 1997
7. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990, can. 28 §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · URL repointed 18 Sep 2026 to the Latin text on vatican.va (part 1; cann. 656–657 are in part 2, codex-can-eccl-orient-2), because the caedm.ca English extract (616A) carries cc. 27–38 only; cann. 28, 40 §1, 656, 657 read there in the Latin, 18 Sep 2026. English translation: cann. 27–28 read in the caedm.ca PDF; cann. 671, 697, 707, 710, 713 read in the IntraText English edition; can. 881 §1 in IntraText, 2026-09-14
8. ReferenceRaczka, Philip, “An Explanation of the Divine Liturgy”, Melkite Eparchy of Newton. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read
9. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 923, 1248 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
10. Primary textUkrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC Head Proclaims New Service Book, 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · read on ugcc.ua (in use from 25 March 2024)