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Patriarch Macarius (or Makarios) III Ibn al-Za'im ( ar, مكاريوس الثالث بن الزعيم, Makāriyūs aṯ-Ṯāliṯ bin az-Zaʿīm; born Yousef Za'im, died 1672) was
Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian ...
from 1647 to 1672. He led a period of blossoming of his Church and is also remembered for his travels in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
and for his involvement in the reforms of Russian
Patriarch Nikon Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...
.


Life

Yousef Za'im was born in Aleppo, son of the priest Paul; he was a disciple of Euthymius II Karmah. He was ordained priest (taking the name of ''Yuhanna'') after marrying. He also used to work as weaver. In 1627 Za'im had a son Paul (sometime known as ''Paul of Aleppo''), who became his secretary and biographer. After the death of his wife in 1627, he retired to the Mar Saba monastery until 1634. On October 27, 1635, he was 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 by Patriarch Euthymius III of Chios (taking the name of ''Meletius''), who also appointed him
catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancien ...
(supervisor) of the whole patriarchate. As Metropolitan of Aleppo he led a bright and rich period for the Christians of Aleppo. In 1624 he led a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
where he met the
Catholicos of Georgia ''Catholicos-Patriarch'' has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1010. The first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia was Melkisedek I (1010–1033). In the 15th century the Georgian Orthodox Church was divided into the ...
, whom he accompanied to Damascus. In 1647 he had to escape for a time from Aleppo because of persecution by the governor. After the death of Patriarch Euthymios III, he went to Damascus where he was elected Patriarch and consecrated on November 12, 1647, by four metropolitans, under the name of Macarius III. His first aim was to restore the financial situation of the Patriarchate, which had deteriorated because of the excessive taxation of 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, ...
towards the Christians. In order to get financial help, he decided to start a long journey into the
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...
countries. After having appointed and consecrated one vicar, on February 11, 1652, he took the road north, accompanied by his son Paul. He visited
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 ( ...
,
Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
(where he was well received by Prince Matei Basarab),
Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centra ...
(where he met Prince Vasile Lupu),
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
and
Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...
. He was in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
from January 26, 1655, to May 29, 1656, as the guest of
Tsar Alexis Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...
. During this visit he had a large part in the religious and
liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
reform of the Russian Patriarch Nikon, mainly because he brought with him the new recension of the Euchologion made by Euthymius II Karmah and other liturgical books of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Nikon's liturgical reform led to a major schism in the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
, the so-called
Raskol The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or " schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. I ...
, or schism of the
Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow ...
. Macarius Za'im also took a stand in favor the validity of the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
of Poles, and his suggestion was approved. Macarius nevertheless lamented over the atrocities committed by the
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
against followers of
Greek Orthodoxy 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 ...
. Macarius took as his example the religious peace that ruled in the Turkish empire, stating: ''God perpetuate the empire of the Turks for ever and ever! For they take their impost, and enter no account of religion, be their subjects Christians or Nazarenes, Jews or Samaritians; whereas these accursed Poles were not content with taxes and tithes from the brethren of Christ.'' He was back in Damascus in 1659, where he succeeded in settling the debts of the patriarchate and
excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
the Metropolitan of Homs, Athanasius Ibn Amish, who acted as patriarch. In 1660 Macarius III blessed the Holy Myron for all the patriarchate, the first time this had been done since 1594. Until 1661 he was quite reserved towards the Latin missionaries in Syria, but his attitude subsequently changed and he wrote many times to the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
and maintained very good relations with the missionaries. According to historian Charles A. Frazee, Macarius III went so far as to secretly send a profession of the Catholic faith to
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 ...
while publicly appearing to be in the Orthodox camp. In 1666 Patriarch Macarius III left again for Moscow, invited by Tsar Alexis and accompanied by
Patriarch Paisius of Alexandria Paisios Ligarides (), born Pantaleon Ligarides (; Latinized ''Ligaridus''; c.1610 – 1678) was Greek Orthodox scholar and Bishop of the Church of Jerusalem; Orthodox Metropolitan of Gaza. Born in Chios, he taught literature and theology in the G ...
, to pronounce the
deposition Deposition may refer to: * Deposition (law), taking testimony outside of court * Deposition (politics), the removal of a person of authority from political power * Deposition (university), a widespread initiation ritual for new students practiced ...
of Patriarch Nikon at the
Great Moscow Synod The Great Moscow Synod () was a Pan-Orthodox synod convened by Tsar Alexis of Russia in Moscow in April 1666 in order to depose Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. The council condemned the famous Stoglav of 1551 as heretical, because it had dogmatized t ...
. Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Parthenius IV assembled a Synod, in which Paisius and Macarius deprived Patriarchal Thrones for their trip to Moscow for the trial of
Nikon (, ; ), also known just as Nikon, is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging products. The companies held by Nikon form the Nikon Group. Nikon's products include cameras, camera ...
. Macarius is known as a shameless trader of indulgences, which he sold in large quantities in Wallachia, in Ukraine and in Russia. He asked the Polish king John Casimir to work for the union between the Eastern and Western Churches. He returned to Syria in 1672. He did not participate in the Synod of Jerusalem. He died, probably poisoned, in Damascus on June 12, 1672.


Works

Macarius III was a prolific writer in
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
. Among his writings are:Nikolaj Serikoff, "Patriarch Macarius Ibn al-Zaʿim", in Samuel Noble and Alexander Treiger (eds.), ''The Orthodox Church in the Arab World, 700–1700: An Anthology of Sources'' (Cornell University Press, 2016), pp. 236–251. *''Life'' of Saint Paraskevi the New *''Chronicle'' of the
Principality of Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and sou ...
from 1292 to 1664 *''Notebook'', 48 excerpts and translations from Greek made during his trip to Russia *''Synaxarion'' *''Book of the Bee'' *a treatise on Byzantine hymnography *correspondence with the pope, the
Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship * Congregation (Roman Curia), an administ ...
and King
Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of V ...


Notes


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Za'im, Macarius III 1672 deaths Syrian Melkite Greek Catholics Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch People from Aleppo Year of birth unknown