List of maphrians

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The Maphrian, originally known as the Grand Metropolitan of the East or the Catholicos, was the head of the Maphrianate of the East and was the second highest-ranking prelate within the Syriac Orthodox Church, after the Patriarch of Antioch. [1] The maphrianate originated as a distinct miaphysite ecclesiastical institution in the Sasanian Empire after the ordination of Ahudemmeh as Grand Metropolitan of the East by Jacob Baradaeus in 559. [2] However, it claimed to be the legitimate continuation of the Church of the East and counted its leaders prior to the church's adoption of dyophysitism as its own. [3] [4] [5] Sources disagree on the first to use the title of maphrian as Michael the Syrian's Chronicle gives John IV Saliba, [6] who is believed to have adopted it in c. 1100, [1] whereas Bar Hebraeus' Ecclesiastical History names Marutha of Tikrit as the first. [7] Eventually, the Maphrianate of the East was abolished in 1860. [1]

Contents

A separate maphrianate of Tur Abdin under the authority of the Patriarch of Tur Abdin was established in c. 1479 and endured until 1844. [8] A maphrianate in India was established in 1912, thereby creating the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, but was not recognised by the Syriac Orthodox Church until 1958. [7] In 1975, Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III withdrew recognition of the maphrian Baselios Augen I, and appointed Baselios Paulose II in his stead. [7] The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church thus split from the Syriac Orthodox Church which continues to appoint its own maphrians in India. [7] On March 25, 2025, Baselios Joseph was enthroned as the 81st Maphrian of the Syriac Orthodox Church. [9]

List of maphrians

Grand Metropolitans of the East from 559 to 1075

Unless otherwise stated, all information is from the list provided in The Syriac World, as noted in the bibliography below. [10] According to church tradition, numeration includes incumbents deemed legitimate by the Syriac Orthodox Church prior to 559. [11]

Maphrians of the East from 1075 to 1859

Maphrians of Tur Abdin from c. 1479 to 1844

Maphrians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church from 1912 to 1964

Maphrians of the East since 1964

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Marutha of Tikrit is named as the first maphrian, as per Bar Hebraeus' Ecclesiastical History, and this is supported by a number of scholars, such as George Kiraz, [7] whereas Michael the Syrian's Chronicle gives John IV Saliba as the first maphrian, which is supported by scholars David Wilmshurst and Hidemi Takahashi. [1] [8] [12]
  2. ↑ The French orientalist Rubens Duval asserts that Denha I was the first maphrian. [13]
  3. ↑ Abraham is counted as either Abraham I or Abraham II. [14]
  4. ↑ Barsoum places Simon's reign in 806–c. 813. [15]
  5. ↑ Dionysius is considered an illegitimate maphrian. [17]
  6. ↑ Gregory is also counted as Barsawmo I. [19]
  7. ↑ Gregory is also counted as Matthew I. [20]
  8. ↑ Gregory is considered an illegitimate maphrian. [21] He is also counted as Dioscorus I.
  9. ↑ Athanasius is also counted as Abraham II. [22]
  10. ↑ Dioscorus is counted as either Dioscorus II or Behnam II. [23]
  11. ↑ The end of Basil Isaiah's reign is placed either in 1635 by Barsoum, [27] or in c. 1646 by Wilmshurst. [28]
  12. ↑ Basil Shukrallah was maphrian of Malabar. [31]
  13. ↑ At the beginning of the 20th century there surfaced disputes within the Malankara Church, the Indian branch that aligned with the Syriac Orthodox Church. This led to a major split between two rival parties that either supported the patriarch, Ignatius Abdulla II Sattuf, or the metropolitan, Dionysius VI Geevarghese Vattasseril. In 1912, following the split in the Malankara Church, the deposed patriarch Ignatius Abdalmasih II re-established the maphrianate in India, at the request of the independent faction, and elevated Murimattathil Ivanios Paulose of the metropolitan's party to the rank of Maphrian or Catholicos. [7]
  14. ↑ In 1958, as part of the reconciliation between the two factions of the Malankara Church, Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III officially recognised Baselios Geevarghese II as catholicos and following the death of Geevarghese II in 1964, the patriarch elevated Timotheos Augen of Kandanad as the successor. [34]
  15. ↑ In 1975, Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III excommunicated Baselios Augen I, and appointed Baselios Paulose II in his stead as the new Maphrian. [7]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Takahashi (2018), p. 957.
  2. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 299.
  3. ↑ Weltecke (2016), p. 308: "Bar ʻEbroyo also claimed the maphrians to be the legitimate heirs of the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the original residence of the catholicos of the ancient autocephalous Church of the East in the Persian Empire".
  4. ↑ Wood (2013), pp. 67–68: Bar Hebraeus' Ecclesiastical History "presents the early catholicoi as precursors to the late sixth-century Miaphysite maphrians".
  5. ↑ Wood (2021), p. 3: "Narratives of the bishops of Takrit represent them as successors to the fifth-century catholicoi of the Church of the East before the latter’s turn towards Dyophysite ‘Nestorianism’".
  6. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 51.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kiraz (2011).
  8. 1 2 Wilmshurst (2019), pp. 812–813.
  9. ↑ PTI (25 March 2025). "Joseph Mor Gregorious elevated as new Catholicos of Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church". ThePrint. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  10. ↑ Wilmshurst (2019), pp. 810–812.
  11. ↑ Barsoum (2009), p. 43: "From the time of the Apostle Thomas until Basilius Behnam IV (1859), there were 102 Maphryonos"
  12. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), pp. 50–52.
  13. ↑ Duval (2013), p. 326.
  14. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 333.
  15. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 372.
  16. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 60.
  17. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), pp. 86–87.
  18. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 70.
  19. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 487.
  20. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 491.
  21. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), pp. 87–88.
  22. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 83.
  23. ↑ Barsoum (2008), p. 28; Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 115; Wilmshurst (2019), p. 811.
  24. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 499.
  25. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 115.
  26. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 67.
  27. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 21.
  28. ↑ Wilmshurst (2019), p. 812.
  29. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 514.
  30. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 226.
  31. ↑ Barsoum (2003), p. 519.
  32. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 130.
  33. ↑ Ignatius Jacob III (2008), p. 122.
  34. ↑ Kiraz 2011; Varghese 2011.
  35. ↑ Joseph (2011).

Bibliography

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