Apostolic Exarchate of Iraq
Patriarchal exarchate · Melkite Greek Catholic Church · Iraq
The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Iraq (Byzantine rite) was erected by Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum on 17 September 1838 for Melkite faithful in Iraq. It has a single parish in Baghdad, the church of St. George, opened in 1962, and counted only about 70 Catholics in 2022. The see is vacant and administered by the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Youssef Absi, as patriarchal administrator.
The see
- Rank
- Patriarchal exarchate
- Tradition
- Melkite Greek Catholic Church
- Erected
- 17 September 1838
- Annuario code
- 001000548
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 70
- Population
- 2,011
- Catholic share
- 3.5%
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
The register holds no ordinary for this see. Where a chair is vacant the vacancy is the fact, and it is recorded rather than filled in. See the bishop.
The cathedral
St. George Melkite Cathedral, Baghdad stands in Iraq, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch
The sees of this province:
- Archeparchy of Alep, Beroea, HalabAlep
- Archeparchy of Bosra e HaūrānBosra
- Archeparchy of Damas, Aš-Šām, Damasco, DimašqDamas, Aš-Šām, Damasco, Dimašq
- Archeparchy of Homs, EmesaHoms, Emesa
- Archeparchy of LattaquiéLattaquié
- Archeparchy of Petra e FiladelfiaPetra e Filadelfia
- Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of AntiochDamascus
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
For part of Iraq, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church sui iuris (Byzantine Rite in the Greek language) maintains a Patriarchal exarchate, an Eastern Catholic pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction, informally called Iraq of the (Greek-)Melkites. It answers immediately to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Melkites, stands outside that or any other ecclesiastical province, and in Rome depends on the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. The see is currently vacant.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].