Euthymios Saifi

Euthymius Michael Saifi as Eftimios Sayfi or Aftimios Sayfi known ( * 1643 in Damascus, † October 8, 1723 in Damascus ) was a bishop of Tyre and Sidon in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and is revered as the father. He was a co-founder of reunification between the Western Church of Rome and the Eastern Churches. From him the Order of the Basilian was launched.

Life

His date of birth was set at about 1643. He grew up in the area of the Patriarch of Antioch, who had his headquarters in Damascus on. He was ordained a deacon in 1666 and appointed to teach at the school of the patriarch. In 1682 he became the Patriarch Kyrillos III. Consecrated (1694-1720) Bishop of Tyre and Sidon. In this capacity he strove to approach the Roman Catholic Church in Rome. In December 1683, he publicly declared his conversion to the Roman Catholic Church, thereby fueling the unification efforts of the Popes. Thus he became the first bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which meant that they referred to him as the "father " of this church. 1697 Bishop Euthymius founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer Basilian and let the Melkite Monastery of the Holy Savior ( Deir -el- Moukhales ) build near Sidon. He supported the pastoral and missionary tasks of the monks and cared for their quality education.

1694 applied for four Melkite bishops with Pope Innocent XII. for Euthymius the Patriarchate for the Melkite church and asked them to give him the pallium. This request was refused, but on December 6, 1701 he was appointed by Clement XI. appointed Apostolic Administrator of all Catholics of the Melkite Church. In this role he drove the mixing of Latin ahead with the Byzantine Rite, this was later forbidden by Pope Benedict XIV with the encyclical " Demandatam ". Within the Eastern Churches, he ran the so-called Latinisation, which had been forbidden by the Congregation de Propaganda Fide and the popes, as it led to a new schism within the Melkite Church. This unrest eventually led to the disempowerment, Saifi was deposed in 1722, the Episcopal seat of Tyre and Sidon was handed over to the Greek Catholic bishops. During his exile in Adan he was supported by his followers, he returned again to Damascus, where he died on October 8, 1723 at the age of eighty years. A year later, his nephew Seraphin Tanas as Kyrillos VI. Tanas elected Patriarch of Antioch.