[EASTERN CHURCH / PROPAGANDA FIDE / ASSYRIANS IN ANATOLIA] Acta consistorii secreti habiti die VI Augusti MDCCCLXVI in quo sanctissimus dominus noster Pius Papa IX. Antiocheni Syrorum Patriarchae Ignatii Philippi Harcus praesentis...

[MAR] IGNATIUS PHILIP I ARKUS (1827-1874), POPE PIUS IX [b. Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti] (1792-1878), Typis S. C. de Propaganda Fide, Romæ [Rome], MDCCCLXVI [1866].

COMPLETE TITLE: Acta consistorii secreti habiti die VI Augusti MDCCCLXVI in quo sanctissimus dominus noster Pius Papa IX. Antiocheni Syrorum Patriarchae Ignatii Philippi Harcus praesentis in curia electionem confirmavit, eidemque sacrum pallium concessit = اعمال الديوان السرى المنعقد فى اليوم السادس من شحراب سنه ١٨٦٦ الذىى به السيدنا الكلى القداسة البابا بيوس التاسع ثبت انتخاب اغناطيوس فيلبوس عركوس البطريرك الانطاكى السريانى ومخه الذرع المقدسچالذى قد اقتبله بذاته فى البلات الرسولى [i.e., Proceedings of the secret council held on the sixth day of the month of Shehab of the year 1866, by which our all-holy Lord Pope Pius IX confirmed the election of Ignatius Philippus of Arcos, the Syrian Patriarch of Antioch, and his sacred arm, whom he received in the Apostolic Council].

Contemporary beige wrappers. Not bound. 4to. (26 x 20 cm). Bilingual text in Latin and Arabic. 31 p. Marginal stains on papers, on the last pages, stains affected text as well. Fold traces on pages. Otherwise, a good copy.

Extremely rare first and only edition of the proceedings of the secret council by Pope Pius IX heralding the election of a new Assyrian patriarch upon ex-Patriarch Ignatius Antony's death, printed by the Propaganda Fide.

At the death of Patriarch Ignatius Antony I Samheri on 16 June 1864, the Congregation Propaganda Fide of Rome asked that the new Patriarch should live in Mardin which was the traditional See of the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch. Because of a pestilence the electoral synod could be summoned only in 1866 in Aleppo, and when three metropolitans declined not to go to live in the cold Mardin, Philip Arkus was elected Patriarch (21 May 1866). He was enthroned Sunday 24 May 1866, and soon travelled to Rome where he was confirmed by Pope Pius IX on 3 August of the same year.

Mar Ignatius Philip I Arkus was the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church from 1866 to 1874. He was a poor leader without the energy and the strength of his predecessor. The Syriac Catholic Church suffered from a period of problems, due to the too high number of bishops and to some cases of misconduct.

Philip Arkus did not keep a clear position towards the attempts of Pius IX to decide the appointments of bishops in the Eastern Catholic Churches. While the Chaldean Patriarch Joseph VI Audo and the Melkite Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, as well as the Armenian Catholic Church, reacted fiercely and later obtained substantial changes, Philip Arkus pretended not to have received any instruction from Rome. In this climate, Philip Arkus went to Rome to attend the First Vatican Council (together with other six Syriac Catholic bishops: Behnam Benni of Mosul, George Shelhot of Aleppo, Athanase Jarkhi of Baghdad, Flavien-Pierre Matah, and other two bishops converted from the Syriac Orthodox Church). In Rome, not to be forced to take a position on the issue of the appointment of the bishops, he offered his resignation as Patriarch which was rejected by the Pope. Throughout his stay in Rome, Philip Arkus, probably already ill, did not participate in the works of the Council nor the liturgies. When back home, in 1872 he ordained a bishop without the previous approval from the Pope.

Philip Arkus was born in Amid on 11 April 1827 (on 30 March according to the Julian Calendar used by the Syriac Catholic Church up to 1836). He was sent to study in the Patriarchal seminary of Charfeh in Lebanon and was ordained priest in 1850. On 28 July 1862, he was consecrated bishop by Patriarch Ignatius Antony I Samheri and appointed bishop of Amid (i.e., Diyarbakir).

The ecclesiastical policies of Pius IX were dominated by the defence of the rights of the church and the free exercise of religion for Catholics in countries such as Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

The Propaganda Fide, or the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Latin: Congregatio pro-Gentium Evangelizatione) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Latin: Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide). On 5 June 2022, it was merged with the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization into the Dicastery for Evangelization. It was founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 to arrange missionary work on behalf of various religious institutions, and in 1627 Pope Urban VIII established within it a training college for missionaries, the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide. When Pope Paul VI reorganized and adjusted the tasks of the Roman Curia with the publication of Regimini Ecclesiae Universae on 15 August 1967, the name of the congregation was changed to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

As of December 2023, this very rare tractate (both in scarce institutional holdings and market rarity) couldn’t be traced by us in the OCLC.