Quriaqos of Tagrit

Quriaqos of Tagrit (Greek: Κυριάκος Kyriakos, Latin: Cyriacus) was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 793 until his death in 817.

Biography

Quriaqos was born in the 8th century in the city of Tagrit. He studied and became a monk at the Monastery of the Pillar near Raqqa, where he became a scholar of theological science. Quriaqos was elected and consecrated as patriarch by the Holy Synod at Harran on 15 August 793.^[1]

He soon set out to aid Zachariah, former Bishop of Edessa, who had been removed due to complaints from local clergy, and travelled with him to the city to attempt to convince them to accept Zachariah as their bishop.^[2] Quriaqos successfully convinced the local clergy to divide the diocese between Zachariah and a certain Basil. Basil was ordained Bishop of Edessa and was granted jurisdiction over the majority of the diocese, whereas Zachariah received four rural districts, on the condition that the districts were reintegrated into the diocese of Edessa upon his death.^[3]

The reign of Quriaqos was troubled by a dispute over the use of the phrase 'heavenly bread' in connection with the Eucharist. Priests he ordained were forbidden from using the phrase.^[3] In 794, Quriaqos held a synod at Beth Batin, near Harran, and issued forty canons.^[1] However, at the synod it was decided that clergy may use the phrase, to Quriaqos' chagrin.^[3] Quriaqos attempted to reconcile the Julianists, a non-Chalcedonian sect led by a certain Gabriel, and at a synod at the Monastery of Nawawis in 797/798, Quriaqos proclaimed unity between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Julianists. However, the union between the two sects collapsed due to opposition from a number of bishops.^[1]

In 808, at a synod at Beth Gabrin, Quriaqos condemned use of the phrase 'heavenly bread', and excommunicated the Monastery of Gubba Baraya, near Mabbogh, for the use of the phrase amongst monks there. Opponents of Quriaqos elected Abraham (or Abarim) of Qartmin as anti-patriarch who consecrated several metropolitan bishops who championed the use of the phrase, despite condemnation from Quriaqos and many bishops.^[1]

In 813, Quriaqos held a synod at Harran and issued thirty-two canons. He held another synod at Mosul in 817 prior to his death on 15 August 817. Quriaqos' body was moved to Tagrit where he was buried. During his tenure as patriarch, Quriaqos consecrated eighty-six bishops. The principal source for the life of Quriaqos is the Chronicle of the twelfth-century patriarch Michael the Syrian. Michael's account was followed with little change a century later by the Jacobite polymath Bar Hebraeus, who abridged it in his Chronicon Ecclesiasticum.^[1]

References

Bibliography

• Barsoum, Ignatius Aphrem (2003). The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences, trans. Matti Moosa, 2nd rev. ed. Gorgias Press.
• Palmer, Andrew (1990). Monk and Mason on the Tigris Frontier: The Early History of Tur `Abdin. Cambridge University Press.