place_of_death babylas of antioch
The Eastern Orthodox Church , also known as the Orthodox Church , or officially as the Orthodox Catholic Church , is the second largest Christian church and one of the oldest current religious institutions in the world . The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that it is the One , Holy , Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles . It practices what it understands to be the original Christian faith and maintains the sacred tradition passed down from the apostles . The Eastern Catholic Churches , also called the Oriental Catholic Churches and historically known as the Eastern - rite Catholic Churches or Uniate Churches , are 23 Eastern Christian particular churches " sui iuris " in full communion with the Pope in ___MASK15___ . With about 18 million members , they make up a small part ( about 1 . 5 percent ) of the Catholic Church together with the Latin Church ( Western Church ). ___MASK53___ , officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic (""), is a country in Western ___MASK28___ , bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west , Turkey to the north , Iraq to the east , Jordan to the south , and Israel to the southwest . ___MASK53___ ' s capital and largest city is Damascus . Trajan Decius ( c . 201June 251 ) was ___MASK83___ Emperor from 249 to 251 . In the last year of his reign , he co - ruled with his son Herennius Etruscus until they were both killed in the Battle of Abritus . The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic " sui iuris " particular church of the Catholic Church in communion with the Pope , with self - governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by the Patriarch of ___MASK74___ , Bechara Boutros al - Rahi since 2011 . Officially known as the Syriac Maronite Church of ___MASK74___ ( Syriac : " o Suryoio Morunoio d ' Aniokia ") " al - Kansa al - Ankiyya al - Suryniyya al - Mrniyya )", it is part of the Syriac Churches by liturgy and heritage . ___MASK74___ on the Orontes ( also Syrian ___MASK74___ ) was an ancient Greco - Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River . Its ruins lie near the modern city of ___MASK69___ , Turkey , and lends the modern city its name . The Decian persecution resulted from an edict issued in 250 by the Emperor Decius ordering everyone in the ___MASK83___ Empire to perform a sacrifice to the ___MASK83___ gods and the well - being of the Emperor . The edict ordered that the sacrifices be performed in the presence of a ___MASK83___ magistrate , and a signed and witnessed certificate be issued to that effect . It was the first time that Christians had faced legislation forcing them to choose between their religious beliefs and death , although there is no evidence that Decius ' edict was specifically intended to target Christians . The edict appears to have been designed more as an Empire - wide loyalty oath . Nevertheless , a number of Christians were put to death for refusing to perform the sacrifices , many others apostatized and performed the ceremonies , and others went into hiding . The effects were long - lasting and caused tension between Christians who had performed the sacrifices or fled and those who had not , and left bitter memories of persecution . The Melkite ( Greek ) Catholic Church ("") is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church . The Melkites , Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean ( Levantine ) and Greek origin , trace their history to the early Christians of ___MASK74___ , formerly part of ___MASK53___ and now in Turkey , of the 1st century AD , where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter . It is headed by " His Beatitude " Patriarch Gregory III Laham . The term " Melkite ", also written " Melchite ", refers to various Byzantine Rite Christian churches and their members originating in the ___MASK35___ . The word comes from the Syriac word " malkoyo ", and the Arabic word " Malk " ( meaning " royal ", and by extension , " ___MASK100___ "). When used in an ecclesiastical sense , it refers specifically to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church as an ethnoreligious group . The pope ( from " pappas ", a child ' s word for " father ") is the ___MASK33___ of ___MASK15___ and , therefore , the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . The primacy of the ___MASK83___ bishop is largely derived from his role as the traditional successor to Saint Peter , to whom Jesus is supposed to have given the keys of Heaven and the powers of " binding and loosing ", naming him as the " rock " upon which the church would be built . The current pope is Francis , who was elected on 13 March 2013 , succeeding Benedict XVI . The Catholic Church , also known as the ___MASK83___ Catholic Church , is the largest Christian church , with more than 1 . 27 billion members worldwide . As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world , it has played a prominent role in the history of Western civilisation . Headed by the Bishop of Rome , known as the pope , its doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed . The Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments . Saint Babylas ( died 253 ) was a patriarch of ___MASK74___ ( 237 -- 253 ) , who died in prison during the Decian persecution . In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine rite his feast day is September 4 , in the Roman Catholic , January 24 . He has the distinction of being the first saint recorded as having had his remains moved or `` translated '' for religious purposes ; a practice that was to become extremely common in later centuries . In Catholic canon law , a particular church is an ecclesiastical community headed by a ___MASK33___ or someone recognised as the equivalent of a ___MASK33___ . The Syriac Catholic Church ( or Syrian Catholic Church ) (" o suryaio qaolqaio ") is a Christian church in the Levant and a wide diaspora using the Syrian Rite , which has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church . Being one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches , the Syriac Catholic Church has full autonomy and is a self - governed " sui iuris " Church , while in full communion with the Holy See of ___MASK15___ . Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan became patriarch in 2009 . In Christianity , the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread his teachings to all the nations of the world . The ___MASK54___ famous version of the Great Commission is in , where on a mountain in Galilee Jesus calls on his followers to baptize all nations in the name of the Father , the Son , and the Holy Spirit . Patriarch of ___MASK74___ is a traditional title held by the Bishop of ___MASK74___ . As the traditional " overseer " (  , " episkopos ", from which the word " bishop " is derived ) of the first gentile Christian community , the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period . This diocese is one of the few for which the names of its bishops from the apostolic beginnings have been preserved . Today five churches use the title of Patriarch of ___MASK74___ : the Syriac Orthodox Church , the Greek Orthodox Church of ___MASK74___ , the Syriac Catholic Church , the Melkite Greek Catholic Church , and the Maronite Church . Historically , there has also been a Latin Patriarch of ___MASK74___ . The Greek Orthodox Church of ___MASK74___ , also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church (" Patriarcheîon Antiocheías " " Bariyarkiyya Ankiya wa - Sir al - Mashriq li ' l - Rm al - Urthdhuks "; " Roman Orthodox Patriarchate of ___MASK74___ and All the East "), is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity . Headed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of ___MASK74___ , it considers itself the successor to the Christian community founded in ___MASK74___ by the Apostles Peter and Paul . The ___MASK83___ Empire ( Koine and Medieval Greek :    , tr . ) was the post - ___MASK83___ Republic period of the ancient ___MASK83___ civilization , characterized by government headed by emperors and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe , Africa and ___MASK28___ . The city of Rome was the largest city in the world BC AD , with ___MASK31___ ( New Rome ) becoming the largest around 500 AD , and the Empire ' s populace grew to an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants ( roughly 20 % of the world ' s population at the time ). The 500 - year - old republic which preceded it was severely destabilized in a series of civil wars and political conflict , during which Julius Caesar was appointed as perpetual dictator and then assassinated in 44 BC . Civil wars and executions continued , culminating in the victory of Octavian , Caesar ' s adopted son , over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt . Octavian ' s power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the ___MASK83___ Senate formally granted him overarching power and the new title " Augustus ", effectively marking the end of the ___MASK83___ Republic . The Syriac Orthodox Church , also known as the Syrian Orthodox Church of ___MASK74___ , is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean , with a diaspora spread throughout the world , notably in Sweden , India , Germany and the United Kingdom . It employs some of the oldest surviving liturgy in Christianity , the Liturgy of St James the Apostle , with West Syriac as its official and liturgical language . The church has been led by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of ___MASK74___ Ignatius Aphrem II since 2014 . Jesus (; c . 4 BC  c . AD 30 / 33 ), also referred to as Jesus of ___MASK65___ or Jesus Christ , was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the ___MASK76___ figure of Christianity . Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah ( Christ ) prophesied in the Old Testament . Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically , although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the biblical Jesus reflects the historical Jesus . Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry , preaching his message orally and often being referred to as " rabbi ". He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities , and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate , the ___MASK83___ prefect . Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God , performed healings , taught in parables and gathered followers . After his death , his followers believed he rose from the dead , and the community they formed eventually became the Christian Church .