On the occasion of the Feast of Saint Maron, we focus on the all important issue of Maronite Identity. The most recent Maronite Synod (2003 — 2006) dedicated its first Decree on the “Identity, Vocation and Mission of the Maronite Church.” The document picks out the essential components of Maronite Identity as expressed in Liturgy, Theology and Spirituality in the context of the Syriac worldview. In this article we summarize the Synod’s five fundamental points.

  • The Synod remarks that the Maronite Church belongs to the Syriac Antiochene tradition with a specific liturgical heritage. In this sense, the Synod identifies the Maronite Church with the Syriac Semitic civilization and goes on to say that the Maronite Identity has also been influenced by the Hellenic culture of the Great City of God, Antioch.
  • The Synod states that the Maronite Church is a Chalcedonian Church. By this, the Synod indents to say that the Maronite Church accepts and defends the Catholic Faith of the Council of Chalcedon. The Council teaches that Christ has two full distinct natures, divine and human, united in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • The Maronite Church is a Patriarchal Church with Monastic and Ascetic features. To understand this characteristic of Maronite Church Identity, it is important to remind ourselves that the Syriac Antiochene Maronite Patriarchate came into existence within the confines of the great Monastery of Saint Maron, which was built in the 5th century AD.
  • The Maronite Church is a Church in Full Communion with the Roman Apostolic See (the Pope of Rome). This point in important to truly understand the catholicity of the Maronite Church. Although the Maronites are Catholic, they are not Roman Catholic and they do not practice the Latin Rite. The previous three points explain exactly what we mean by saying that the Maronite Church is Catholic but not Roman (Latin) Catholic.
  • The Maronite Church is incarnated in its Eastern Environment and in the Countries of the Expansion. It is a truism to say that the Maronite Church has its Being in the Semitic culture of the East; however, the Synod recognizes the fact that the Maronite Church also exists in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The Synod explains that the worldwide existence of Maronites makes us realize that unity should never mean uniformity; rather, in the diversity of cultural expressions the Maronite Church, wherever she finds herself, ought to remain faithful to the first four points.