The Patriarchate of Antioch

Doctrines		On all major issues the Patriarchate of Antioch is in agreement with other Eastern Orthodox churches. (See Eastern Orthodoxy.)
History		The Council of Nicaea of 325 singled out Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch as the three great centres of Christendom. This was confirmed by the Council of Chalcedon of 451 which established, in order of status, Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Antioch fell to the Muslim invaders in the seventh century, and was recaptured in 1098 by the Crusaders, who set up a Latin Patriarch. In 1268 the city once again fell under Islamic rule. Toward the end of the fourteenth century the patriarch moved to Damascus. Henceforth successive Patriarchs swung between supporting Rome and Constantinople. From 1724 there have been two rival patriarchs, one Catholic and the other Orthodox. After the first world war the territory oversees by the patriarch was divided between Syria and Lebanon. The patriarch remains located at Damascus.
Symbols		Festal icons, Mary as Theotokos, and Christ as Pantocrator. (See Eastern Orthodoxy.)
Adherents		Some 500,000 Christians are under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Antioch (Harris and others 1994, 177). The largest communities are in the Lebanon and the United States.
Headquarters/ Main Centre		POB 9, Damascus, Syria.