The history of the Christian Church in the East – from the late 16th century to the early 18th century, – can be interpreted within the framework of Nicolae Iorga’s well-known concept of Byzantium after Byzantium. However, a more accurate expression might be Empire after Empire. The book on the 1724 division of the Church of Antioch published under the supervision of Bernard Heyberger, Željko Paša and Ronney el Gemayel, provides a significant contribution to this issue.
To delve into this topic, it is important to begin not with the first pages of the book, but with the final text, which is essential to understand the role of church hierarchs of the ancient patriarchates, and that of the emperor, as discussed by Father Edward Farrugia. In his article, he recalls the canons from the early centuries, noting how Pope Damasus (d. 384) was a “firm believer in the tripod of Petrine sees, on which the Church rests – Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch”. Additionally, canon 3 of the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381 granted the bishop of Constantinople a primacy of honour after the bishop of Rome, as he was occupying the chair in the imperial capital, New Rome. In the following centuries and even into the post-Byzantine era, this canon remained in effect and continued to evolve.