Melkite Greek Catholic Church

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 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 Catholic Church. Its chief hierarch is PatriarchYoussef Absi, whose see is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria.

The Melkite Church follows the Byzantine Rite and traces its origins to the early Christian community of the Patriarchate of Antioch in the 1st century AD, traditionally founded by the apostleSaint Peter. Today, the Melkite Church has approximately 1.6 million members worldwide.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East split from the original Chalcedonian Patriarchate of Antioch when the former entered into communion with Rome under Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas in 1724, a move opposed by most members of the Church of Antioch who formed the separate Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. Thus, the two share the same liturgical, theological, and spiritual heritage, and both are centered in Syria (the Levant), with significant diaspora communities found worldwide due to historical emigration.