Baselius IV Simon

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Baselius IV Simon
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church Syriac Orthodox Church
Installed1422
Term ended1444
Predecessor Philoxenus II
Successor Ignatius Behnam Hadliyo
Personal details
Died1444

Baselius IV Simon was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1422 until his death in 1444.

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period. This diocese is one of the few for which the names of its bishops from the apostolic beginnings have been preserved. Today five churches use the title of Patriarch of Antioch: the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and the Maronite Church. Historically, there has also been a Latin Patriarch of Antioch.

Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, or Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, is an Oriental Orthodox Church with autocephalous patriarchate established by Severus of Antioch in Antioch in 518, tracing its founding to Antioch by Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the 1st century as described in the Acts of the Apostles, and according to its tradition. It was then restructured by Severus of Antioch in Antioch in 518. The Church uses the Divine Liturgy of Saint James, associated with St. James, the "brother" of Jesus and patriarch among the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem. Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the Church based on Syriac Christianity. The primate of the church is the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch currently H.H. Ignatius Aphrem II since 2014, seated in Cathedral of Saint George, Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria.

Contents

Biography

Following the Mongol invasions and fall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, the last remaining Christian state in the Middle East, in 1375, the Syriac Orthodox Church fell into a state of disarray, and its adherents were scattered. In 1422, Baselius Simon, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan bishop of Jerusalem, met with Pope Gabriel V of Alexandria, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, a fellow miaphysite church, and requested to be consecrated Patriarch of Antioch, as Philoxenus II had died the year before. Baselius told Gabriel of the situation of the church in Syria whereby there were few remaining bishops and Islamic persecution disallowed them from holding a synod to elect a new patriarch. [1]

Mongol invasions of the Levant Wikimedia list article

Starting in the 1240s, the Mongols made repeated invasions of Syria or attempts thereof. Most failed, but they did have some success in 1260 and 1300, capturing Aleppo and Damascus and destroying the Ayyubid dynasty. The Mongols were forced to retreat within months each time by other forces in the area, primarily the Egyptian Mamluks. Since 1260, it had been described as the Mamluk-Ilkhanid War.

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia former country

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as the Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuq invasion of Armenia. Located outside the Armenian Highland and distinct from the Armenian Kingdom of antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta.

Metropolitan bishop ecclesiastical office

In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.

Gabriel, initially hesitant, was swayed by Baselius and, alongside two Coptic Orthodox bishops and a Syriac Orthodox bishop, consecrated Baselius in Cairo, at the Church of St. Mercurius, and formally enthroned him at the Church of the Virgin Mary. [1] Baselius later met with Pope John XI of Alexandria, Gabriel's successor, during the Holy Week of 1430, and prepared the holy myron together at the Church of the Virgin Mary. [2]

Cairo City in Egypt

Cairo is the capital of Egypt. The city's metropolitan area is one of the largest in Africa, the largest in the Middle East, and the 15th-largest in the world, and is associated with ancient Egypt, as the famous Giza pyramid complex and the ancient city of Memphis are located in its geographical area. Located near the Nile Delta, modern Cairo was founded in 969 CE by the Fatimid dynasty, but the land composing the present-day city was the site of ancient national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life, and is titled "the city of a thousand minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture. Cairo is considered a World City with a "Beta +" classification according to GaWC.

Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo

Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo is a Coptic Orthodox church situated just to the north of the Babylon Fortress in Old Cairo among a group of important churches, and within the area known as the Abu Sayfayn Cloister is to be found three churches and a convent. One of these churches, dedicated to Saint Mercurius, and is the largest in the district of ancient Babylon.

The Church of the Virgin Mary in Haret Zuweila is the oldest church in the district of Haret Zuweila, near the Fatamid section of Cairo. It was probably built around the AD 10th century, though it is first mentioned in writing in the early 12th century on the occasion of the consecration of the new bishop of Cairo under Macarius' Papacy. The Church of the Virgin Mary in Haret Zuweila was the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria from c. 1400 AD to 1520 AD.

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Dionysius I Telmaharoyo, also known as Dionysius of Tel Mahre, was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 818 until his death in 845.

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Athanasius I Gammolo was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch from 595 until his death in 631. Athanasius was also the author of The Life of Severus of Antioch, a biography of the first Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

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References

  1. 1 2 Swanson (2010), p. 122
  2. ↑ Swanson (2010), p. 123

Bibliography

Preceded by
Philoxenus II 		Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch
1422–1444		Succeeded by
Ignatius Behnam Hadliyo


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