By Konstantinos Holevas, Political Scientist
Syria and Lebanon are countries with a multi-religious character. The civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslims, but also between Muslims among themselves, began in Lebanon in 1975. The country still has difficulty making peace today. In Syria, the civil war between the Assad government and its opponents began in 2011. The Assad family, which was overthrown in December 2024, was supported by the Alawite minority. Turkey still maintains military and political influence in Syria today. Greece has the right and obligation to be concerned about the protection of the Orthodox Christians of the region and to press in every way for the peaceful coexistence of all religious groups in the Middle East.
For a better understanding of the problem, I will list five questions with the corresponding answers
Who does the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East shepherd?
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch is the third in order of the Elder or Ancient Patriarchates and shepherds the Orthodox Christians of Syria, Lebanon, SE Turkey (Alexandretta, Antioch) and many other Arab countries. In historical Antioch, which was founded by descendants of Alexander the Great, for the first time the faithful in Christ were called Christians during the period of the apostolic preaching (Acts of the Apostles 11:26). The Patriarchate had its seat there until the middle of the 14th century, when it was forced to move to Damascus, the current capital of Syria. In French it is called Patriarcat Grec Orthodoxe, that is, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. The term Grec does not have an ethnological meaning, but a cultural one. Since 1939 the city of Antioch (Antakya) has belonged to Turkey. The Patriarch of Antioch, John X, is based in Damascus. The spiritual and scientific center of the Patriarchate is the Balamand Theological School on Mount Balamand in Lebanon.
What language do the Orthodox Christians of Syria and Lebanon speak and how do they identify themselves?
The overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians in Syria and Lebanon speak Arabic and use Greek only to a limited extent for religious and liturgical purposes in churches. They define themselves as Rum Orthodox, that is, Roman Orthodox, Byzantines. Their name comes from the name Romania, which was the actual name of the Byzantine Empire. Roman, Romios and Rum (in Arabic) means subject (then) and cultural heir (now) of Constantinople, New Rome. That is, they are proud bearers and continuers of the Greek Orthodox culture of Romania/Byzantium. Their famous ancestor is Saint John of Damascus, (his secular name is Yūḥana ibn Manṣūr), who was an excellent hymnographer in the Greek language, but also a minister in the government of the Arab Caliph of Damascus. He lived from 676 to 749 AD.
Is it possible that the Orthodox Christians of Lebanon and Syria have Greek origins?
The prominent historian of the early 20th century and successor of Konstantinos Paparrigopoulos, Pavlos Karolidis, wrote in 1909 a scholarly study “On the National Origin of the Orthodox Christians of Syria and Palestine.” There he presents arguments in favor of the Greek origin of these populations, given that in the Middle East Alexander the Great left not only the Greek language and Hellenistic culture, but also many new cities inhabited by Macedonians. Syria and much of the Middle East were ruled after the death of Alexander by the Macedonian Seleucid dynasty, who founded 50 cities and brought thousands of Greek settlers from Macedonia. Even in the time of Jesus Christ, the Macedonian Decapolis existed in the Middle East (mainly in Jordan). However, we cannot with certainty accept the origin of all Orthodox Christians from the Macedonians of the Hellenistic period. Most likely, they are descended from the Greek and Syrian Orthodox, subjects of the Byzantine state, who lived there both before the Arab conquest (mid-7th century) and after. Today, the Patriarchate of Antioch shows its respect for the Hellenistic period and the legacy of Alexander the Great by giving the name Metropolis of Veria, Aleppo and Alexandretta to a large Metropolis with its seat in Aleppo. This Metropolis has close cooperation with the Holy Metropolis of Veria, Naoussa and Campania of the Church of Greece.
What are the ties of the Roman Orthodox of Syria and Lebanon to Greece?
The Arabic-speaking Orthodox of Syria and Lebanon honor the Greek culture of Byzantium and at the Orthodox Theological School of Balamand they learn Ancient and Modern Greek. Many of their clergy, like the current Patriarch John X, have studied in Athens and Thessaloniki and have obtained doctoral degrees. Historical ties led the revolutionary governments of the Greeks to incite these fraternal populations against the Ottomans and in 1826 they sent Nikolaos Kriezotis, Hadjimichalis Dalianis and Vasos Mavrovouniotis with armed forces to Lebanon. The Orthodox of the region decided not to revolt due to the presence of a large Turkish army. Today they need all our support, because the situation is tense. Especially in Syria, clashes between armed groups continue. I propose that Greece declare internationally and officially that it undertakes the protection of the Orthodox Christians of Syria and Lebanon (Arab-speaking and Greek-speaking) due to the close religious, cultural and historical ties. Just as we are interested in the Byzantine Churches that are becoming mosques, so we must also be interested in the rescue and peaceful existence of the co-heirs of Byzantine culture, namely the Roman Orthodox of Syria, Lebanon and other countries.
What other religious communities exist in these two countries?
In Syria, Sunni Muslims are in the majority. There are also the Muslim Alawites, related to the Alevis of Turkey, the Kurds, the Druze, the Christian Monophysites (Syro-Jacobites), the Roman Catholics, the Melkites-Uniates, and other smaller groups. In Lebanon, based on the Constitution, which was drafted by the French during World War II, the President of the Republic is always a Maronite (a community of Christian Monotheists under the protection of France and the Pope), the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of the Parliament is a Shiite Muslim, a Vice President of the Government or the Minister of Foreign Affairs is an Orthodox Christian, while there are also communities of Druze, Armenians, Roman Catholics, etc. Many Palestinian refugees also live in the country.
For the understanding of historical events, I note that the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire until 1918. From 1919 to 1946, it was administered by France under the status of a League of Nations Mandate. Lebanon became a separate state in 1943. The Hellenistic and Byzantine cultural presence in Syria and Lebanon is intense, not only with the timeless testimony of the Roman Orthodox, but also with the numerous scattered monuments that make every Greek visitor proud.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
