Evgeny M. Kopot’ Catholic Unia in the Antiochian Church in the Second Half of the 19th Century: A Regional Approach

Abstract

One of the dramatic episodes in the life of the Antiochian Church in the 18th–19th centuries, traditionally attracting scholarly attention both in Russian and international historiography, is the issue of the Catholic Unia. Without delving into the well-studied questions of the formation of the Uniate community, the author seeks to go beyond the myth of total Greek dominance as the cause of the schism. Drawing extensively on archival materials (Archive of foreign policy of the Russian empire, State Archive of the Russian Federation, Russian State Historical Archive, Archive of orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences), the article reconsiders the traditionally passive portrayal of the Christian community as merely the object of proselytizing efforts by missionaries. By examining numerous documented conversions from Orthodoxy and back over a span of fifty years, the article aims to test both regional and national approaches. The main conclusion is that the dominant reason for leaving Orthodoxy was the internal struggle among the well-established socio-cultural and economic regions and the related groups of the Christian elite, for whom alternative forms of conflict resolution were unavailable. The author emphasizes the long-term historical development of this phenomenon. Furthermore, the research shifts its focus from the external causes of the genesis of the Uniate movement to the internal aspects of the development of the Antiochian Church in the 19th century. Paradoxically, this leads to a different interpretation of Russia's role — one equally applicable to France, England, Germany, or the USA — during this period. External factors, while significant, played only a supportive role against the backdrop of the society's internal development.

Keywords

Patriarchate of Antioch, the Orthodox Arabs, Russia and the Orthodox East, Syria, Lebanon, Melkites, Uniates

For Citation

Kopot' Evgeny M. The Issue of Catholic Unia in the Antiochian Church in the Second Half of the 19th Century // The Historical Reporter. 2025. Vol. LIII. P. 306–343. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2025.2025.53.008

Evgeny M. Kopot'

Senior Lecturer, Institute of History and Politics, Moscow Pedagogical State University (MPGU). Moscow, Russian Federation.
e-mail: em.kopot@mpgu.su
SPIN-код: 4877-1419
AuthorID: 682530
ORCID: 0009-0009-4145-2349

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