The Synod of Qarqafe was a council of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

held in 1806. The synod adapted and ratified propositions of the 1786

Synod of Pistoia The Synod of Pistoia was a 1786 diocesan synod in the Catholic diocese of Pistoia, then part of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It was summoned by its bishop Scipione de' Ricci under the patronage and active support of the Habsburg-Lor ...

. It would be formally condemned in 1835 by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

in the bull ''Melchitarum Catholicorum Synodus''.

History

The Synod of Qarqafe was convoked by

Germanos Adam Germanos Adam (born in 1725 in Aleppo, Syria – died on 10 November 1809 in Zouk Mikael, Lebanon) was the Melkite Catholic bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo during the late 18th century and a Christian theologian. Life ...

, the Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo. Adam was educated at the

College of the Propaganda A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a University system, constituent part of one. A college may be a academic degree, degree-awarding Tertiary education, tertiary educational institution, a part of a coll ...

in Rome and a friend of

Scipione de' Ricci Scipione de' Ricci (19 January 1741 – 27 January 1810) was an Italian Catholic prelate, who was bishop of Pistoia from 1780 to 1791. He was sympathetic to Jansenist ideas in theology. Biography Scipione de' Ricci was born in Florence,''The ...

, by whom he was introduced to Gallican and

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

ideas. As archbishop, Adam began issuing pamphlets affirming Gallican propositions on the authority of the Pope and

conciliarism Conciliarism was a reform movement in the 14th-, 15th- and 16th-century Catholic Church which held that supreme authority in the Church resided with an ecumenical council, apart from, or even against, the pope. The movement emerged in response to ...

. Despite being criticized by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

and

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...

patriarch

Joseph Tyan Joseph VII Peter Tyan (born on March 15, 1760 in Beirut, Lebanon – died on February 20, 1820 in Qannubin, Lebanon) (or Youssef Tyan, ''Youssef Tiyen'', ''Thian'', ''Tian'', ''Tyen'', ''Al-Tiyyan'', ar, يوسف السابع تيّان) was the ...

, he was defended by his own patriarch,

Agapius II Matar Agapius II Matar, (sometime also known as ''Agapios III'', 1736–1812) was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1796 to 1812. Life Agapius Matar was born in 1736 in Damascus. He entered young in the Basilian Salvatorian Order. ...

. Adam would ultimately be forced to recant these propositions and accept the bull '' Auctorem fidei'' before his death in 1809. The Synod of Qarqafe began on 23 July 1806 at the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Qarqafe, in the Diocese of Beirut. It was attended by bishops Basil of Tyre, Athanasius Matar of Sidon (the brother of the patriarch), Makarios of Acre, Agapios Kanyar of Diyarbakir (Amid), Basil Jabali of Ferzol (Beqaa Valley), Joseph of Homs, and Benediktos of Baalbek. Two priests, George Nassar of Egypt and Michael Mazloum were present, and the acts were signed by Macarios Tawil and Ignatius Arkache, superior generals of local religious orders. The acts of the synod were formally approved by Joseph Tyan and the Roman apostolic visitor Luigi Gandolfi. Roman interventions between 1812 and 1835 led to the condemnation of the works of Germanos Adam, the recanting of the propositions of the synod by most of the synod fathers, and the final condemnation of the synod by Pope Gregory XVI.

Decrees

The Acts of the Synod of Qarqafe are divided into three sections and issued over one hundred canons dealing with the topics of ecclesial discipline, sacraments, and the ecclesial hierarchy.

Legacy

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

issued the encyclical ''Quartus Supra'' in 1873 to the

Armenian Catholic Church , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

, accusing the Armenian Catholic bishops who opposed his intervention in their hierarchy of adhering to the Synod of Qarqafe. Melkite patriarch

Gregory II Youssef Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, also known as Gregory II Hanna Youssef-Sayour (October 17, 1823 – July 13, 1897), was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1864 to 1897. Gregory expanded and modernized the church and its institu ...

, an opponent of Pius IX at the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

, issued a negative response to the encyclical. Serge Descy argues that despite the influence of the Synod of Pistoia, the Synod of Qarqafe is essentially a retrieval of traditional Eastern Christian ecclesiology.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Arabic manuscript of the Acts of the Synod of Qarqafe
19th-century Catholic Church councils Catholic Church in Lebanon Catholic Church in Syria Catholic Church in the Ottoman Empire Melkite Greek Catholic Church