St. Thomas Church, Jerusalem

St. Thomas Church
Ecclesia Sancti Thomae
Location Jerusalem
Country  Israel
Denomination Catholic (Syrian Catholic Rite)

The St. Thomas Church (Latin: Ecclesia Sancti Thomae) or the Cathedral of St. Thomas is a Catholic church of Eastern Rite (Syriac Catholic or Ecclesiae Syriae Catholicae) located in the city of Jerusalem in the Holy Land. It serves as the headquarters of the Syriac Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem (Hierosolymitanus). The Exarchate moved several times and is now at the House of Abraham (Maison d’Abraham) at Ras El Amud – Silwan.

Background

The Syriac Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem was created in 1890 after the Syrian Church accepted the Pope in Rome as its head in 1782. The Syrian Catholic Church of Antioch is thus one of the first communities in Christianity. It had shares the Liturgy of St. James and the Aramaic or Syriac, the language spoken Jesus and the Apostles. St. Thomas was the Apostle who preached in Mesopotamia (now, Iraq and North of Syria and South of Turkey).[1]

The wars and revolutions that took place between 1900 and 1973 caused the headquarters of the Exarchate to be moved several times.[2] In 1948, it had its center at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City, then moved to Bethlehem, and 1965 again to Jerusalem. In 1986, the church of St. Thomas was built at Ras El Amud – Silwan, along with other facilities, including a building for pilgrims and a youth center. [3]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Catholic Church Of The Holy Land » Syro-Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem". catholicchurch-holyland.com. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  2. ↑ St. Thomas Church in Jerusalem
  3. ↑ Cheney, David M. "Jerusalem {Gerusalemme} (Patriarchal Exarchate) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2016-05-20.

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