The Semitic minded Edessa and Aleppo and the surrounding
areas in Syria staunchly resisted Hellenization and the influence of
Constantinople. Many of these rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451).
Under the efforts of Jacob Baradai, the non-Chalcedean movement gained
strength and hence this Church was referred to as Jacobite (a term
rejected by the Syrian Church). Negotiations for the reestablishment of
communion began in the 12th century, and unity documents were signed at
the Council of Florence in 1442, but nothing materialized. In the 17th
century Latin Catholic missionary activity and Maronite influence
succeeded in persuading many Syrian Christians to enter into communion
with Rome. Ever since, a Catholic patriarch has been elected. The Syrian
Church suffered terribly during the chaos of World War I under the Turks.
In 1999 there were over 109,547 Syrian Catholics mostly found in Syria,
Lebanon and Iraq, but also in the Americas and Australia. Syriac parishes
in Southern California include:
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