Ignatius V Moussa Qattan, (or ''Cattan'', ''Kattan'', ''Quattan'', 1756–1833) was

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1816 until 1833.

Life

Moussa Qattan was born in 1756 (or 1752) in

Zouk Zouk is a musical movement pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm and a loud horn section. The fast zouk béton of Martini ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. He was the nephew of Soleiman Qattan, who ran the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

of the monastery of Saint John at Choueir after the death of Abdallah Zakher. Moussa Qattan worked with his uncle in the press. We know that in 1790 Moussa Qattan was a

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, th ...

diocesan priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...

serving in Zouk. His being diocesan priest allowed him to be outsider in the conflict about the two

monastic order Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...

s that marked the history of the 18th century Melkite Catholic Church. After the contested election of Michael Mazloum as bishop of Aleppo in 1810 and Mazloum's following dismissal, Moussa Qattan was appointed on 30 May 1811 as

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of Aleppo. He maintained this ministry until his election as Patriarch. At the death of

Macarius IV Tawil Macarius IV Tawil (or ''Taouil'') was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1813 to 1815. Life Macarius Tawil was born in Damascus. He entered in the religious order of the Basilian Salvatorians of which he was Superior from 180 ...

the episcopal synod of the Melkite Catholic Church (composed by only four bishops, the fifth bishop, Mazloum, being in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) elected Moussa Qattan as Patriarch, according to the wishes of Aloisio Gandolfi, the

Apostolic Legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

of Syria. The election occurred on 10 July 1816, and Qattan took the name of Ignatius V. He was ordained bishop on 13 July and enthroned in his town, Zouk, where he preferred to live to maintain a neutral profile. He was confirmed by

on 30 May 1817. His conciliative and gently nature, and later his blindness and paralysis, led him to be a weak Patriarch, subject to bad advisers. He appointed, against the wishes of Rome, Agapis Riyasi (or ''Riachi'') as bishop of

Beyrouth Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

. He opposed Mazloum refusing to re-open the Ain Traz Seminary. His administration of the Patriarchate created a situation of crisis and in 1829 all the bishops asked Mazloun to return in Lebanon from Europe, and the Apostolic Legate considered the idea of appoint a patriarchal vicar to rule in place of Ignatius Qattan. Mazloum arrived at Beyrouth in November 1831, and soon the bishops met to decide how to reform the Church, but Mazloum stopped the works of this synod, waiting for the course of the events. Ignatius V Qattan died on 13 March 1833, and on 24 March Mazloum was elected new patriarch with the name of Maximos III.

Persecutions

The patriarchate of Ignatius V Qattan is remembered as a time of persecutions and vexations against the Melkite Catholic Church, that was legally still under the civil authority of the

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...

and was not able to defend itself. The violent persecutions halved the Catholic Melkite population of Aleppo and Damascus in about ten years. The persecutions against the Melkite Catholics were particularly strong in Aleppo in 1817: nine Melkites who were killed in such a year were honored as martyrs, and the Melkites had to leave the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

, the metropolitan residence, the library in the hands of the

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

who were a minority in the town.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qattan, Ignatius V Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch 1756 births 1833 deaths