Theodosius V (Athanase Joasaph) Dahan (1698–1788) was

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (, ''Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk''; ; ), also known as the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catho ...

from 1761 to 1788.

Life

Joasaph Dahan was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1698. He entered in the

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

of the Basilian Chouerites and in 1723 he made the

solemn vows A solemn vow is a certain vow ("a deliberate and free promise made to God about a possible and better good") taken by an individual after completion of the novitiate in a Catholic religious institute. It is solemn insofar as the Church recogni ...

under the name ''Joasaph''. On 16 January 1736 he was consecrated

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

of Beirut by patriarch

Cyril VI Tanas Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas, also known as Cyril VI of Antioch (1680, Damascus – January 10, 1760), became the first Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church following the schism o ...

, taking the name of ''Athanase''. Shortly later his taking-possession of the diocese, the Melkite Orthodox party asked and obtained an own separated bishop, thus also in Beirut the hierarchy was definitely split, with Dahan who remained the bishop only for the Melkite Catholics. Dahan was taken as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

by his predecessor Maximos II Hakim during his short reign, and after Maximos's death he was elected patriarch by a synod of bishops held on 26 December 1761 at the monastery of Saint Antony, taking the name of ''Theodosius''. The group of bishops of the

Basilian Salvatorian Order The Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour () abbreviated BS, also known as the Basilian Salvatorian Order, is an Eastern Catholic monastic order of Pontifical Right for men of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church. The name derives from its mothe ...

, who represented a minority in the Melkite population, did not recognized him as patriarch, as well as they had not recognized Maximos II Hakim, supporting in his place Athanasius Jawhar. They requested

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to check the election of Theodosius Dahan, which however was confirmed on 23 September 1763 by the Roman

Congregation of Propaganda Fide The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregatio ...

and on 23 December 1763 by another synod of the Mekite bishops. Theodosius Dahan was thus formally confirmed by Rome on 23 June 1764 and he received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...

, sign of the patriarchal authority, on 9 July 1764. The clashes seemed to be settled down, but in February 1765 Athanasius Jawhar again proclaimed himself (anti)patriarch. Only after the

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

of Jawhar and the following reconciliation in 1768, the Melkite Church found its unity. Rome appointed him also as administrator of the Catholics Melkites of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, previously ruled by the

Custodian of the Holy Land The Custody of the Holy Land (Latin: ''Custodia Terræ Sanctæ'') is a custodian priory of the Order of Friars Minor in Jerusalem, founded as the ''Province of the Holy Land'' in 1217 by Saint Francis of Assisi, who had also founded the Franci ...

. Theodosius V Dahan died at 90 on 30 March 1788.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahan, Theodosius 05 Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch 1788 deaths 1698 births Eastern Catholic monks Religious leaders from Beirut