Eastern Church
Eastern Christianity is Christianity as it developed from the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire ( Greece , Middle East , Egypt ). Its rites were extended to include the Middle East , in Eastern Europe , in Armenia , in India , South Ethiopia ... It is characterized (as opposed to Western Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism ) by a non-centralized, the role of culture and the Greek language and the multiplicity of denominations and practices.
Summary |
Historical origin
Christianity was born and first developed in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. Next to Rome (which makes up the foundation of his Church to the Apostle Peter ), the cities of Jerusalem , of Antioch and Alexandria play the role of ecclesiastical capitals. In 330 , Emperor Constantine I transferred the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople (renamed Nea Roma, "New Rome"), which became a major intellectual center. The First Council of Constantinople in 381 places the siege of Constantinople the second place, just after that of Rome.
This leads to what is known of Pentarchy : five historic centers of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (in order of precedence and primacy). Outside the Roman Empire, Christians were free to organize into independent churches. This was particularly the case of the Armenian Church and the Georgian Church.
The Christian East will know more later Christological controversies and crises and ideological and political upheavals, which explain the situation today.
- 301 (or 314 ): conversion of Armenia to Christianity. Thus, this country becomes the first country officially Christian.
- 424 : Christian churches of the Persian Empire proclaimed themselves independent, never to be suspected of supporting the Roman Empire.
- 431 : theses Nestorian heretics are recognized as the Council of Ephesus.
- 451 : The Council of Chalcedon declared that the only person of Christ is both divine and human. This dogma, accepted in the West and the Hellenized peoples of the East (as well as the Georgian Church), is rejected by many Orthodox Christians. This schism is at the origin of the Churches of the three councils. We will call the Chalcedonian or Melkite supporters dogmas of the council and Monophysite opponents.
- 484 : Christians of the Persian Empire adopted the Nestorian doctrine as official (that is the origin of the two councils of churches and the Chaldean Catholic Church ).
- VII - VIII centuries : Three of the centers of Eastern Christianity (Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) fell to the Muslims : there are only Constantinople and Rome.
- 687 : the Maronite Church (Chalcedonian) broke with Constantinople.
- Ninth century : Evangelization of Peoples Eastern Slavic (around Kiev ) which relate to Constantinople rather than Rome.
- 1054 : during the great Schism or Schism of Rome , Constantinople and Rome s'excommunient another. Churches remained in communion with Constantinople constitute what is called the " Orthodox Church "( Church of the Seven Councils ).
- 1182 : The Maronite Church enters into communion with Rome during the Crusades.
- 1204 : destruction of Constantinople by the armies crossed (Roman Catholic).
- 1439 - one thousand four hundred and forty-five : the Council of Florence , the Catholic Church decided to grant freedom to the liturgical churches of the East in exchange for their recognition of the pope.
- 1453 : conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, Muslims who renamed it Istanbul.
- 1551 : Rome was able to assert his authority in some of the faithful of the Church of Persia ( Chaldean Catholic Church ).
- 1589 : creation of the Moscow Patriarchate , which proclaims itself the "third Rome" and new center of orthodoxy.
- 1596 : by the union of Brest , a part of the Ukrainian Orthodox united with Rome while retaining the Byzantine rite. They are the first Eastern Catholic community Uniate.
- Seventeenth century : thanks to the efforts of the Maronites, the authority of Rome was recognized by some of the Orthodox Church of Antioch (Chalcedonian), the Syriac Orthodox Church (Monophysite) and Catholicosate Armenian Cilicia ( miaphysite ). And it creates the Melkite Greek Catholic Church , Syriac Catholic and Armenian Catholic.
Families of the Eastern Churches
The Eastern Christians today have a common cultural and historical heritage, but they also had many divisions and reconstructions, often more political than religious.
The Eastern Churches may be grouped into four sets, each forming a "communion"
- the two councils of churches : the Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East ( Orthodox Church Malabar ), Ancient Church of the East ;
- the three Councils of Churches (Eastern Orthodox churches):
- Coptic Orthodox Church ( Orthodox Church UK ), Ethiopian Orthodox Church , Eritrean Orthodox Church ;
- Syriac Orthodox Church ( Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ), Malankara Orthodox Church , Malabar Independent Church ( Syro-Orthodox French );
- Armenian Apostolic Church ( Catholicosate of All Armenians , Catholicosate of Cilicia );
- the councils of the seven churches (the Orthodox Churches "Byzantine-Slav"):
- Autocephalous churches: Constantinople , Alexandria , Antioch , Jerusalem , Russia , Georgia , Serbia , Romania , Bulgaria , Cyprus , Greece , Albania , Poland , Czech Republic, Slovakia , America *;
- Autonomous churches (the asterisk means that the autocephalous or autonomy is not universally recognized): Sinai , Finland , Estonia (Ecumenical Patriarchate) *, Estonia (Moscow Patriarchate) * Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate) * Moldova (Moscow Patriarchate) * Latvia (Moscow Patriarchate) *, Belarus (Moscow Patriarchate) *, Bessarabia * Ohrid , * Japan * China *, Russian Orthodox Church outside borders ;
- Independent churches noncanonical: Ukraine (Kiev Patriarchate) , Ukraine (autocephalous church) , Macedonia , Montenegro , Belarus (autocephalous Church) , Old Orthodox Church Russian ritualistic ;
- the Eastern Catholic Churches or "Uniate" united with the Roman Catholic Church (somehow, the Church of the twenty-one councils), which we can associate the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem :
- Alexandrian tradition / Abyssinian: Coptic Catholic Church , Ethiopian Catholic Church ;
- Syriac tradition: the Syriac Catholic Church (Middle East), the Maronite Church (Lebanon), Chaldean Catholic Church (Iraq), Catholic Church Syro-Malabar (Kerala, India) Catholic Church Syro-Malankara (Kerala, India);
- Armenian tradition: Armenian Catholic Church ;
- Byzantine tradition: Melkite Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Greek Catholic Church Romanian , Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church , Byzantine Catholic Church , Church Slovak Greek Catholic , Greek Catholic Church Czech , Hungarian Greek Catholic Church , Church Bulgarian Greek Catholic , Greek Catholic Church Croatian , Greek-Catholic Church Serbo-Montenegrin , Macedonian Greek Catholic Church , Russian Church, Greek Catholic , Greek Catholic Church Belarusian , Albanian Greek Catholic Church , Greek Catholic Church Italo-Albanian , Hellenic Greek Catholic Church , Greek Catholic Community of Georgia.
Some Eastern Churches also relate to all Protestant churches , particularly in India (for example, the Malankara Mar Thoma Church ).
Recent developments
Near and Middle East
The trend in recent decades is that of an emigration of Christians from the Middle - and the Middle East to Western Europe, North America, Australia. Today, some Eastern Churches can almost be considered "diaspora churches" in the example of the Assyrian Apostolic Church of the East with the primate and most Catholics are now installed in the West.
These departures from traditionally Christian areas may have different causes, economic, political or religious.
Communities once established in the West can experience very different developments: the assimilation and loss of cultural identity and religious reaffirmation and renewal of identity.
Eastern Europe
The end of the Soviet Union and the Russian-Soviet domination in Central and Eastern Europe has a new religious freedom and a revival of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches in this region. This is not without conflicts.
The situation is particularly complex in Ukraine including the restoration of the Greek Catholic Church (which was liquidated in 1946 for the benefit of the Russian Orthodox Church ) and the creation of several Orthodox churches. The tension is often keen because of disputes over restitution award-places of worship. The Russian Orthodox Church, to which Ukraine is part of its canonical territory traditional and considers himself the only legitimate heir of the ancient Kievan Rus', following this development with interest and concern. Similar developments can be observed in Belarus (where religious freedom is very relative), in Moldova and the Baltics.
The Russia itself has many debates and conflicts (role and positioning of the official Orthodox Church and its leaders during the Soviet period, relations with the Russian Orthodox Church outside borders , development of the Russian Greek Catholic Church Output from the underground of the "Church of the Catacombs", framing the Russian diaspora in the West ...).
Western Europe and rest of the western world
The arrival of new immigrants from Eastern Near and Middle East or Eastern Europe has strengthened and renewed the Eastern Christian communities already established and often well integrated. Two trends are discernible, particularly in Orthodox communities: keep and transmit the cultural and linguistic heritage or adapt to the new situation. It is thus seen to multiply the parishes of French or English. Similarly, we see the development experiences of Westernization ritual. Finally, always among the Orthodox, it receives a judicial determination to clarify (organization of churches on a principle of "territorial" and not "national").
See also
Internal Links
- Alphabetical list of articles on Eastern Christians
- Thematic index of articles on Eastern Christians
- Eastern Christians
- Synod of Bishops for the Middle East
Bibliography
- Julius Assfalg and Paul Kruger, Little Dictionary of the Christian East, Brepols, Turnhout , 1991 ( ISBN 2503500625 )
- Ghislain Brunel (ed.), The Latin presence in the East during the Middle Ages, Historical Center of the National Archives / Champion (col. unpublished documents from the National Archives), Paris, 2000 ( ISBN 2745304097 )
- Alain Ducey, Byzantium and the Orthodox world, Armand Colin (col. U), Paris, 1997 (3rd ed.) ( ISBN 2200015216 )
- Alain Ducey, Eastern Christians and Islam in the Middle Age VII - XV century, Armand Colin (col. U), Paris, 1999 ( ISBN 2200014481 )
- Anne-Marie Edde, Franoise Micheau and Christophe Picard, Christian Communities in Islamic countries from the early seventh century to the mid-eleventh century, Sedes, Paris, 1997 ( ISBN 2718190353 )
- Bernard Heyberger, Christians in the Arab world: an archipelago in the land of Islam, other (col. Memoirs), Paris, 2003 ( ISBN 2746703904 )
- Bernard Heyberger, Christians in the Middle East at the time of the Reformation, French School of Rome, Rome, 1994 ( ISBN 2728303096 )
- Raymond Janin, Churches and the Eastern rites, Letouzey & Ane, Paris, 1997 ( ISBN 2706302062 ) (5th ed. with additional bibliographic, 1st ed. 1922)
- Pierre Maraval , Lieux saints and pilgrimages from the East: history and geography from its origins to the Arab conquest, Cerf, Paris, 1985 ( ISBN 2204022144 )
- Pierre Maraval, Christianity of Constantine to the Arab conquest, Press Universitaire de France, Paris, 2001 ( ISBN 2130515959 ) (1st ed. in 1997)
- John Meyendorff , Unity of the Empire and Christian Divisions: The Church from 450 to 680, Cerf, Paris, 1993 ( ISBN 2204046469 )
- John Meyendorff and Aristeidis Papadakis, The Christian East and the rise of the papacy, the Church from 1071 to 1453, Cerf, Paris, 2001 ( ISBN 2204066710 )
- Frdric Pichon, Travel among Eastern Christians, Presses de la Renaissance, Paris, 2006 ( ISBN 2750900913 )
- Jean Richard, The Papacy and the missions of the East in the Middle Ages (XIII - XV centuries), French School of Rome, Rome, 1998 ( ISBN 2728305196 )
- Jean-Pierre Valognes Life and Death of the Christian Orient, Fayard, Paris, 1994 ( ISBN 2213030642 )
- Mahmoud Zibawi, Christian East, Descle de Brouwer, Paris, 1995 ( ISBN 2220036006 )
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