Patriarchal exarchate Iraq
Apostolic Exarchate of Iraq
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
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.
On the map
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- Established
- 1838
- Catholics
- 70
- Priests
- 2
Parishes and churches
1 listed church in our records. Open a parish for Mass times, confession, directions and sources where recorded.
This is our recorded coverage, not an official diocesan parish count. Confirm service times with the parish before travelling.
The bishop
No bishop is recorded for this diocese. 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.
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.