Meletius II of Antioch

Patriarch Meletius II Doumani (Arabic: البطريرك ملاتيوس الثاني دوماني al-Baṭriyark Milātiyūs aṯ-Ṯānī Dūmānī

Meletius II Al-Doumani of Antioch. (Years 1899 to 1906 as Patriarch)

Born 8 November 1837, in the Old City of Damascus, Syria, district of Joura.

Meletius II was elected by the members of the Antiochian Holy Synod in 1898, with the exception of 3 Greek bishops who refused to elect him. These 3 Greek bishops soon resigned from their dioceses (Aleppo, Erzurum, Cilicia), and they departed from the Church of Antioch in protest. The protest was joined by Patriarch Sophronius IV of Alexandria and Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. As a consequence of the influence of Patriarch Constantine V (Valiadis) of Constantinople, who also protested, the Ottoman Sultan did not issue the usual decree of recognition. This came only a year later, after the great efforts exerted by Kemal Bak al-Qazh, the Undersecretary of the Antiochian Chair in Constantinople (Istanbul). Thus, the manifest will of the Patriarchate of Antioch was accomplished. He was the first Arab and the first Syrian primate of non-Greek descent in 168 years.

• Mufarrij, Rafeek, «The patriarchal crisis in the See of Antioch and the election of Melatios Doumani: causes, main events and results, 1891—1899» (2000)
• Якушев М. И. Первый Патриарх-араб на Антиохийском престоле // Восточный архив, 2006. — № 14-15. — С. 99-106
• Hage, Wolfgang (2007). Das orientalische Christentum. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag. ISBN 9783170176683.

• Primates of the Apostolic See of Antioch