Tradition and Modernity: the Multiple Significances of the 19th century Millet System. The Melkite Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Ottoman Empire from the Tanzimat era to the Mandate System in the Middle East

The paper aims to offer a wide and dynamic overview of the development of the Melkite Catholic Church during the late Ottoman Empire up to extension of the Mandate system. The analysis will focus on detailing the relationship between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ through specific cases and examples of the relations between the Melkite Church and the Holy See. This dynamic exerted a great influence on the ecclesial identity of the Melkite Catholic Church and its position and role within both the late Ottoman Empire and the Middle East of the Mandate system, offering a complementary explanation of the vicissitudes experienced by Ottoman Arab Christians during those decades. The paper analyses this issue through the archival documents, part of the Siria, Greci Melchiti and Melkiti series, preserved in the Congregations de propaganda fide and pro Ecclesia Orientali Archives.