Patriarch Athanasius II Dabbas (died 1619), sometime known also as Athanasius III,
[He is known as ''Athanasius II'' in the patriarchal lists of Korolevski and Skaff, as ''Athanasius III'' in the list of Costantius.] was
Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch
The patriarch of Antioch is one of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs, the leader of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch. The term "Greek" does not refer to ethnic origin; the majority of these patriarchs were not ethnic Greeks. It r ...
from 1611 to 1619.
Life
Athanasius II Dabbas succeeded to be elected Patriarch because he promised to the
Damascenes to pay annually the deficit of the tax required of the Christians (''
Kharaj tax'') by the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. Thus he was consecrated Patriarch in September 1611.
In 1612 he appointed and consecrated
metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the b ...
of
Aleppo Meletios Karmah (who twenty years later became patriarch), with whom he later argued for financial reasons or for Meletios’ contacts with the
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
. In 1614 Athanasius went to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
to ask
Ecumenical Patriarch
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of the ...
Timothy II to depose Meletios, who also came to Constantinople. The two prelates, Athanasius and Meletios, were then able to reach an agreement.
Athanasius had a positive opinion of the
Latin missionaries in Syria, and in 1617 he probably held a
pro-Catholic synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...
.
Athanasius was not able to uphold the promise of paying the tax required of the Christians, and thus in 1619 he was imprisoned by the Ottoman governor of
Damascus and was put in jail. After he paid a large ransom he was allowed to leave for
Tripoli (Lebanon)
Tripoli ( ar, طرابلس/ALA-LC: ''Ṭarābulus'', Lebanese Arabic: ''Ṭrablus'') is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in the country. Situated north of the capital Beirut, it is the capital of the North Gove ...
where he died of illness in 1619.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabbas, Athanasius Ii
Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch
1619 deaths
Year of birth unknown