The Fatimids and the Church
843-1025

John V: (993-1022) Agapius interfered in politics, as we previously mentioned, angering Philosophy and forcing him to relinquish the power of Antioch. He was succeeded in the year 993 by Chartophilax, the Great Church of the “Divine Wisdom” by John V.

Yahya Ibn Saeed of Antioch reports that Basilius the Philosophers urged the new patriarch to reform the Church of Al-Qassian in Antioch on the model of the Church of Divine Wisdom in Constantinople. He then adds that Agapius died in September 994, and does not mention anything about his reversal of abdication before his death and about his successor relinquishing any privilege enjoyed by the Church. Antioch in exchange for remaining on the patriarchal throne. The reference here is to what was reported by Nikon the monk, that John gave up the independence of the bishops of the See of Antioch in electing their patriarch, and that he placed the matter of selecting the Patriarch of Antioch in the hands of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The monk Nikon went into asceticism for a period of time in the second half of the eleventh century in the monastery of Saint Simon the Stylite.

John V was destined to be contemporary with the Fatimid ruler and to receive his painful blows in the southern dioceses of Antioch, which were previously mentioned in the first section of this chapter. But he was also destined to see the ruler retreat from his restrictions after the emergence of Hamza Ibn Ali and the rise of the Druze mission.

John V walked with the Roman kings in their golden age and sought with them to restore ancient glory. While he was passing through Antioch in the year 1000, Orestus, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, negotiated with him regarding what Theophylactus, son of Qanbara, the Patriarch of Antioch, had ceded to his colleague of Jerusalem in the eighth century, regarding the rights of Antioch over the Church of Karaj. The two parties agreed to restore the mention of the Patriarch of Antioch in the Karjaj Declaration, and this Patriarch had the right to send Exarchus went to Karaj to inspect their spiritual affairs and collect money from the Antiochian endowments in Karaj.

In the year 110, Christians in Egypt disagreed regarding the calculation of Easter due to the Jews’ disagreement regarding their calculation. Some put the Jewish Passover on Saturday, the fifth of Nisan, and others said that it falls on Sunday, the sixth of the same month. Arsanius, Patriarch of Alexandria, wrote to the people of Jerusalem with what was correct in his opinion, making the Christian Easter Sunday the sixth of April. So the people of the Levant wrote to Egypt to learn from them what they had agreed upon. When Arsanius’s books arrived, all Christians celebrated Easter on Sunday, the sixth of April, except for a group of Jacobites from the people of Upper Egypt, who celebrated Easter on the following Sunday.

Ruler and the Mystery of the Eucharist: Al-Hakim set the date of Ramadan in the year 401, that is, in May of the year 1011, forbidding people from making wine and drinking it secretly and openly, and he destroyed the jars and grapes that people had of it, and warned the Christians to offer it “in all of his kingdom” and forbade it in their offerings, so instead they offered water in which raisins or grapevines had been soaked!

Recognition of the Patriarchate of Nikephoros: In the year 1021, the ruler’s rule ended and it was announced that Lady Set the King returned to her previous glory. She sent Nikephoros, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to Constantinople to inform Basil “of the return of the churches, the renewal of the Holy Church of the Holy Resurrection and all other properties in all the countries of Egypt and the Levant, the return of their endowments to it, and the uprightness of the affairs of Christians.” He asked him to allow trade between the two countries and to initiate “peace and meekness.” So Ephestathius, the Ecumenical Patriarch, found out from Nikephoros his “honesty” and explained it, so the Ecumenical Patriarch composed it as Orthodox, so he informed the Philosophers of that matter by raising the name of Nikephoros in Constantinople and Antioch as it was before his arrival. Queen Elizabeth died, so Nikephoros returned to Antioch and from there to Tripoli in May of the year 1024.

Nicholas III: (1025-1031) John V, Patriarch of Antioch, died in the year 1022, leaving his seat vacant for three and a half years. Then Nicholas, the head of the Studion Monastery, was elected Patriarch of Antioch. He was prayed over in Constantinople on Sunday, January 17, 1025, and he remained in office for five years, eight months, and twenty-one days.

“It was conveyed to Romanos Aireros III (1028-1034) that the Jacobites have a patriarch named John who resides in the country of Marash and is called the Patriarch of Antioch. He appoints bishops and bishops for the cities. He executed his appointment and identified with him six of his bishops and bishops. He presented to Alexios, the Patriarch of Constantinople, to bring them a witness from among the bishops he had agreed upon. And the Orthodox bishops and addresses him about retracting his belief and recognizing the Seven Holy Councils and accepting those who rejected him and rejecting those who rejected him. He summoned Nicholas, Patriarch of Antioch, to come with him and participate in the speech to him because he was in Constantinople at that time. Al-Artuqi refused, and it took place between Alexios the Patriarch and those who had gathered with him to discuss these meanings.

John, the Jacobite patriarch, did not yield to deviation from his opinion. A group of common people gathered and wanted to set him up, so they pushed him away. When the king despaired of returning from his belief, he exiled him to Kafrba in Morocco. Of the six bishops and bishops who spoke with him, three were recognized. Three were confirmed as they were and were imprisoned. This John died three years after his exile, and after his death the Jacobites appointed someone else as their patriarch. When King Romanos learned of his condition, he executed someone to attend to him, so he fled to Diyarbakir from the lands of Islam.

Elias II: (1032-1033) On the Great Saturday of the first of April in the year 1032, “prayers were prayed over Elias the Nicomedia monk, Patriarch of Antioch. He stayed for a year, five months and eight days and departed.”

Orders were issued to Al-Zahir Al-Fatimi to abandon corruption and maintain proximity to the Romans. The Romans agreed to the truce. The two parties agreed that Al-Zahir would send a messenger to meet with the messenger of Romanus in the area of Antartus, “the last border of the Romans and the first country of the Muslims.” Romanos stipulated, according to al-Zahir, three conditions, one of which was “that the king reconstruct the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem and renovate it with his money and become a patriarch of Jerusalem, and that all the ruined churches in the lands of al-Zahir be restored for the Christians.” The second condition is that Al-Zahir not be exposed to Aleppo. The third condition is that he does not help the owner of Sicily. Nasr bin Saleh bin Mardash, the owner of Aleppo, sent the truce money to Romanos and the poetry of Saint John the Baptist. This poetry was once in the Church of Homs, and it was transferred from it to the Church of the Citadel in Aleppo, “out of pity for the Romans who took it when they returned to Homs.” He remained there until Mansour bin Lulu left Aleppo. Nasr bin Saleh recovered it and brought it closer to Romanos, who added it to the sacred relics in the king’s court.

Theodoros II: (1034-1042) On the first Sunday of Great Lent, George Laskaris became Patriarch of Antioch. He was prayed over in Constantinople and was named Theodoros. He remained in the presidency for eighty, six months and twenty-one days and departed. Thorodros implemented the agreement made during the reign of John V regarding the Church of Karaj, so he sent, according to the testimony of Nikon the monk Exarchus, to the country of Karaj to punish and reform.

Basil II: We do not know anything about Basil II. We do not know the news of the virtuous Macarius and the righteous Eleftherius.

Peter III: (1025-1056) He was born in Antioch and grew up there. Then he sought education in Constantinople, and “all of it” took him. He joined the royal court and became Romanos III’s secretary. Then he made a vow and joined the Church of Divine Wisdom, where he was assigned duties, the most important of which was the function of the church's sciophylax. It was natural for him to take precedence over others and to be promoted to the rank of patriarch.

Peter III was devout and pure, trusting in God and relying on Him. His mother had conveyed to him the news of the brilliant light that surrounded her on the day of his birth and the heavenly voices ringing in her ears foretelling a bright future. So Peter grew up trusting in God, receiving them and His Spirit doing His will on earth as it is in heaven. What increased his enthusiasm and zeal was that the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared to Constantine IX (1042-1054) and motioned to him to promote Peter to the patriarchate, so he did.

Peter received the crutch of care and set out to work in the field of the Lord. He addressed a sitting message to each of his colleagues, the Patriarch of Alexandria and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, announcing his accession to the patriarchal throne, demonstrating his upright faith, hoping for his mention in the sacrifice. He regretted the severance of the connection between his church and the Church of Rome for a long period, as we previously indicated, so he wrote to Leo IX, anxious for this severance, asking why the successor of Peter the Great had distanced himself from the body of the churches, cut off his voice from their councils, and refrained from contributing to solving clerical problems, explaining the benefit that would result from such cooperation. In terms of fraternal apostolic guidance. Peter asked his Roman colleague to declare his faith so that he could mention his name in the eulogy, as it is not permissible to rely on the upright past of Rome and assume before considering that his faith is free of error. Then the Patriarch of Antioch clearly stated his faith, but he avoided discussing the issue of emergence. Fate hindered this letter, and it did not reach Rome until two years after its issuance. So Peter wrote a second letter, shorter than the first, deleting most of what was stated in the introduction to his first letter, affirming his attachment to the Constitution of Nicaea and the decisions of the seven ecumenical councils, and cursing the heretics who were cursed.

Both the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Jerusalem responded with a message of peace. Leo IX responded to Peter's first letter with a message of peace as well, but he clearly affirmed the progress of Rome and the infallibility of the Petrine government. It became clear that the Church of Rome is the mother of the churches and that its court is the highest of courts. Then he alerted his Antiochian colleague to the clouds of worry and discord looming in the East and urged him to defend the rights of the Antiochian See. Peter received this response, but he was unable to read it because it was written in Latin, so the Frankish messenger who brought it to him kindly requested that he copy it for him. He did so, and Peter sent the copy to Michael Kerularios, Patriarch of Constantinople, to order its translation into Greek. Peter mentioned his Roman colleague in the exile of Antioch, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Patriarch of Alexandria followed suit.

Deacon Abdullah Ibn Al-Fadl of Antioch: Deacon Abdullah Ibn al-Fadl of Antioch shone on the horizon of the Church in the eleventh century. He served in writing and Arabizing and was especially famous for his good expression in interpreting religious books and for his sound taste in selecting and Arabizing Greek works. The members of the church competed by copying his works and paraphrases. He was proficient in Arabic, Greek, and Syriac, and he expressed both and composed Arabic and Greek.

His most important work is the Book of Lights. It includes the words of the wise men, prophets, and holy apostles, in a nice manner, and many biblical examples and sayings of philosophers. He also wrote the Book of Benefit, which is brief and lengthy, and discusses the beliefs about the Creator, His essence, the unity of His nature, and the Trinity of His Persons, and in logic, philosophy, dialectics, and jurisprudence. He also has the Book of Kindness in the Virtues, which is a selection of sayings from the Holy Books, saints, and theologians, and the book Interpretation of the Six Days of Creation by Chrysostom, an Arabic version of Greek, and an interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew. And John also by Chrysostom. The Syriac language was written in a book by the holy fathers Antoninus, Arsenius, John Clement, Isaac, and Philoxenus. He translated from Greek the book “Al-Burhan fi Confirming the Faith” by Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem, and he also translated for it the hadiths of the holy fathers and monks, and those who influenced this sign were the book “Majmu’ Al-Aman” in Explaining the Error of the Jacobites and Nestorians, the Memorandum of Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Praise of Saints Nicholas and Andrew of Criticism.

Antioch and Venice: At the end of the year 1053, Peter III received a letter from Dominicus, Archbishop of Aquileia, in which he stated that Venetian priests in the East complained of the difficulties they encountered when practicing the Eucharist with unleavened bread, and that these priests were subject to an archbishop who derived his blessing from Saint Mark and who enjoyed the title of Patriarch. Peter III gave him a kind answer, but he did not remain silent about the title claimed by Dominicus. He said: “I grew up among books and studied the sacred sciences from childhood until old age, and I still study them regularly. However, I have not learned nor heard that the president of Aquileia is called a patriarch, because divine grace decreed that There will be five patriarchs in all the world: the Roman, Constantinople, Alexandrian, Antioch, and Jerusalemite. Among these five is the patriarch who is actually called a patriarch, the Patriarch of Antioch. The Roman and the Alexandrian enjoy the title of pope, and the Constantinian and the Jerusalemite enjoy the title of archbishops. How can we establish a sixth patriarch as long as the body does not have a sixth sense and as long as there are dioceses greater than Inoritek managed by bishops and archbishops such as the countries of the Bulgarians, Khorasan and the rest of the East, and none of them claimed the title of patriarch?

Then Peter III refers to the letter of sitting with the pilgrims that he addressed to the Roman Pope and says that he did not receive an answer to it and that he sent a copy of it for Dominicus to present to the Pope so that if the Pope was satisfied with its content, “all of them united with one accord to offer to God all one sacrifice.” After this, Boutros addresses the issue of unleavened bread and says, “The complaint of Westerners that the Patriarch of Constantinople is spreading bad rumors about them and is cutting them off from the fellowship of the Church is false, because he knows very well that you are Orthodox who believe, like us, in the Holy Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation, but he regrets that you differ from the four patriarchs in offering the bloodless sacrifice.”

Antioch and Constantinople: Peter III was not satisfied with the interference of the Patriarch of Constantinople in the affairs of the Patriarchate of Antioch. He strongly protested against the promotion of the deacon of Antioch in Constantinople without the approval of his superior, Antioch. And on expanding Constantinian influence in the Armenian states, indicating that these states were under the spiritual authority of Antioch, not Constantinople. He saw the insistence of Patriarch Michael of Constantinople on unifying rituals as a useless policy due to the spread of Syriac and Arabic in some of the dioceses of Antioch and the submission of these same dioceses to the Islamic authorities.