Eastern Catholic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Eastern Catholic - Essay Example It also has jurisdiction over the churches in Greek. The Eastern Catholic Church in the Middle East uses autocephalous governing body known as the Patriarch of Antioch. This body resides in Damascus, Syria and heads Arab Christians. It also heads in Iraq, Lebanon and other churches in the Middle East. Other patriarchs include: Patriarch of Alexandria, Serbia, Georgia, Jerusalem, Bulgaria and Romania. The early church of Antioch was very diverse and developed into numerous churches. The liturgical setting of the Antioch church mainly came from the St. James Liturgy despite other liturgies developed later. Having jurisdiction in a large area, the Patriarch of Antioch also covered the modern Israel, Jordan, Palestine and certain parts in south Turkey (O’Mahony & Loosely, 2009). Moreover, the Syrian and Aramaic languages dominated before Islam came. Today, the Antioch church has spread into the Persian Empire also known as Iran. It has also spread its branches in India and China. Therefore, the Middle East Antioch church has widened into the south. The Middle East Catholic church can also be analyzed using the various the religious seven dimensions also known as the Ninian Smart. The seven religious dimensions include: rituals, experimental and emotional, narrative or mythic, ethical and legal. Moreover, doctrinal and philosophical, material, social and institutional dimensions also from the religious dimensions of the Catholic Church. These dimensions describe the various aspects in which the Eastern Catholic religion operates. To begin with, rituals refer to the ceremonies used in the Catholic Church that can either be private or public. The rituals represent traditions that should be followed and how sacraments should be celebrated in the Catholic Church. As Churches spread and grew, sacraments were celebrated in line with individual cultures and as they were received or