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Maronite Church
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Maronites (, , Syriac: ??????, Latin: Ecclesia Maronitarum) are members of one of the Syriac Eastern Catholic Churches, with a heritage reaching back to Maron in the early 5th century. The first Maronite patriarch, John Maron, was appointed in the late 7th century. Although reduced in numbers and estimated to have lost their status as a majority in Lebanon itself, today, Maronites remain one of the principal religious groups in the country and they continue to represent the absolute majority of Lebanese people when the Lebanese diaspora is included.
Before the conquest by Arabian Muslims reached Lebanon, which resulted in the Arabization of both those Lebanese who would become Muslim and the majority which would remain Christian, the Lebanese people, including Maronites, spoke a dialect of Aramaic. Since at least the 15th century, however, the Lebanese people, be they Muslim, Christian, Jew or other, have been Arabic-speaking. Syriac (Christian Aramaic) still remains the liturgical language of the Maronite Church.
Organization
The head of the Maronite Church is the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, who is elected by the bishops of the Maronite church and now resides in Bkirki, north of Beirut (the Maronite Patriarch resides in the northern town of Dimane during the summer months). The current Patriarch (since 1986) is His Beatitude Mar Nasrallah Cardinal Boutros Sfeir. When a new patriarch is elected and enthroned, he requests ecclesiastic communion from the Pope, thus maintaining their communion with the Catholic Church. As an Eastern-Rite patriarch, if invited to join the College of Cardinals, the Maronite Patriarch joins the order of Cardinal Bishops.
Maronites share the same doctrine as other Catholics, but they retain their own liturgy and hierarchy. Strictly speaking, the Maronite church belongs to the Antiochene Tradition and is a West Syro-Antiochene Rite. Syriac is the liturgical language, instead of Latin which was a tradition of the Roman Rite. Nevertheless, they are considered, along with the Syro-Malabar Church, to be among the most latinised of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Cardinal Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, bearing fruit in 1992 with the publication of a new Maronite Missal. This represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy, removing the liturgical latinisation of past centuries. The Service of the Word has been described as far more enriched than in previous Missals, and it features six Anaphoras (Eucharistic Prayers).
Celibacy is not required for deacons and priests with parishes (though they may not re-marry after the death of a spouse); monks must remain celibate, as well as bishops who are normally selected from the monasteries. Due to a long-term understanding with their Latin Rite counterparts in North America, Maronite priests in that area are expected to remain celibate. The bishops who serve as eparchs and archeparchs of the eparchies and archeparchies (the equivalent of diocese and archdiocese in the Roman Catholic Church) are answerable to the patriarch.
PopulationThe exact worldwide Maronite population is not known, although it is at least 8 million according to CNEWA. It is estimated that 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 remain in Lebanon where they constitute up to 25% of the population. According to a Lebanese agreement celebrated among the various religious leaders, the president must be a Maronite. Syrian Maronites total 40,000 and they follow the archdioceses of Aleppo and Damascus and the Diocese of Latakia. There is also a Maronite community in Cyprus which speaks Cypriot Maronite Arabic, They are a recognized religious minority on the island and the community elects a representative to sit in the house of representatives (parliament) to voice their interests. They are probably descended from those Maronites who accompanied the crusaders there. A noticeable Maronite community also exists in northern Israel.
The two residing eparchies in the United States have issued their own "Maronite Census". The Census is designed to estimate approximately how many Maronites reside in the United States due to their emigrations to that country. Many Maronites have been assimilated into American culture, often taking on Roman Catholicism as there were no Maronite parishes or priests available. The Census was designed to locate those people. There is also an eparchy in São Paulo, Brazil.
Modern Maronites, like other Christians in the Levant, often adopt French or other Western European given names (with biblical origins) for their children like Michel, Marc, Marie, Georges, Carole, Charles, Chris, Antoine and Pierre.
Given names of Arabic origins identical with those of their Muslim neighbors are also common, such as Khalil, Samir, Salim, Jameel, or Tawfik. Other common names are strictly Christian and are Aramaic, or Arabic, forms of biblical, Hebrew, or Greek Christian names, such as Antun (Anthony, also Tanios,
Antonios or Tannous), Butros (Peter), Boulos (Paul), Semaan or Shamaoun (Simon), Jergyes (George), Elie (Ilyas or Elias), Iskander (Alexander) and Beshara (literally Good News in reference to the Gospel). Other common names are Sarkis (Sergius) and Bakhos (Bacchus), while others are common both among Christians and Muslims, such as Yousseff (Joseph) or Ibrahim (Abraham).
Some Maronite Christians are named in honour of Maronite saints, including the Aramaic names Maroun (after their patron saint, Maron), Sharbel, Charbel and Rafqa.
See also
Books- Kamal Salibi - A House of Many Mansions - The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (University of California Press, 1990).
- Father AJ Salim - Captivated by Your Teachings - A Resource Book for Adult Maronite Catholics (ET Nedder Publishing, Tucson, Arizona, 2002)
- Maronite Church. New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, 2003.
- Riley-Smith, Johnathan - The Oxford Illustrated History of the Crusades (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995)
- Soffee, Anne Thomas - Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love (Chicago Review Press, Chicago, 2002)
External links- (broken link)
- — Maronite population discussed
- Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection.
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