Matthew Nakkar
Matthew Gregory Nakkar (1795 – 22 March 1868) was a Bishop of the Miaphysite Syriac Orthodox Church, who converted to Eastern Catholicism and became a bishop of the Syriac Catholic Church.
Biography
Matthew Nakkar was born in 1795 in a family in which, for generations, for 600 years, the Jacobite see of Mosul had been monopolized. At age 25, he was ordained a priest and served under his uncle, the Metropolitan, and in 1826 succeeded him as Metropolitan. Matthew Nakkar, since his childhood, was brought up to hate Catholics, and as he subsequently confessed in his "Memoirs," tirelessly preached against Catholic teaching and did everything possible to stop Catholics from spreading their faith. However, despite the opposition of the Catholic Church and not of the Ottoman Empire, the number willing to convert to Catholicism was constantly growing. Between 1825 and 1830, almost all Jacobites of Damascus and southern Lebanon, including Bishop James al-Haliani, joined the Catholic Church.
Conversion to Catholicism
The patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church sent Matthew Nakkar to Damascus to cope with the problems. His task was to have Bishop James al-Haliani seized by the Turkish authorities; however, Matthew was unable to catch him, because al-Haliani managed to hide in the mountains near the Lebanese Maronites. All that Saint Matthew managed to do was to have 25 people who had converted to Catholicism imprisoned, after which he went to Jerusalem to meet the Passover. Matthew Nakkar hoped to witness the descent of the Holy Fire – a miracle which was one of the major arguments against Catholicism. The contemplation of this miracle, as expected in March, was to give him the strength and determination in the fight against Catholics.
On Holy Saturday of 1832, Nakkar with his deacon came to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. While they mingled with the crowd who wanted to light their own candles from the miraculous fire, Matthew Nakkar heard that the fire did not burn any hands or face, or even hair. As soon as he had lit his candle, he held it to his deacon's beard, which immediately broke out in flames. Matthew accused his deacon of a lack of faith, but the incident sowed doubt in his mind that he hadn’t had before.
Soon after, he went to Aleppo, which became the seat of the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church. Local Catholics staged a lavish reception for Matthew Nakkar, however, they failed to appease his persecutor, saving only that the month of Ramadan had started and the Turks, as Muslims, were not inclined to organize a hunt in the holy month. Metropolitan of Mosul Matthew Nakkar was forced to stay in the city for a month. Thanks to the error of his servant, he stopped at the founding fathers of the Lazarists, whose monastery servant took over the hotel. Since the monks warmly received Matthew, he decided to stay in the monastery, a decision also influenced by his curiosity and desire to debate with Catholics whom he considered "heretics." The discussions mainly focused on the provisions of Chalcedon and the question about the number of natures in Christ. Soon it became clear to Matthew Nakkar that the Catholics’ arguments were much more difficult to refute than he had thought before. A special impression was made on him by evidence in the writings of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, one of the most revered Jacobite saints. Matthew Nakkar asked the monks permission to use their library to prepare arguments. The study of the Fathers of the Church in the monastery library, as well as discussions with the monks and the incident of the Holy Fire, led to his admission into the Catholic Church on November 27, 1832. He was admitted to the Syriac Catholic Church by Patriarch Ignatius Peter VII Jarweh.
Catholic missionary activity among Syriac Orthodox Christians
From Aleppo, Matthew went directly to Mardin – the main stronghold of Jacobites. Here, as a result of his preaching, 54 people converted to Catholicism. On hearing this, the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church denounced him to the Turkish authorities, accusing Matthew of receiving gold from the Pope, with which he allegedly persuaded Jacobites to adopt Catholicism and refusing to obey the Sultan. By order of the Governor, Nakkar was captured and imprisoned, and later he was sent to the Jacobite Monastery, where he was held for two weeks in an empty tank, starved and beaten regularly, and told to renounce Catholicism and curse the Council of Chalcedon. Two weeks later, the exhausted Matthew was taken to a hut outside the monastery, hoping that he would die there. But the next morning, the groans of the Bishop were heard by the daughter of the leader of local Kurds, who told her servants to break down the door and moved him to her home. Having recovered his freedom, Matthew returned to his preaching, through which, by the end of the year, the Jacobite Metropolitan of Mardin joined the Catholic Church. In 1835, he became bishop in the newly formed Diocese of Nabq and Cariati. In this position, he remained for 33 years until his death. During this time, his diocese saw tens of thousands of Jacobites join, and together with them, he experienced the Maronite war and related anti-Christian pogroms.
Death
Matthew Nakkar died on 22 March 1868, and his grave is in the Syro-Catholic Patriarchal Monastery in Sharfeh, on the territory of Lebanon.
References
Dmitry Lialin. Saul of Mosul / / Live Tradition. - Moscoviae : MMXI . - № I (IV). - P. 3-7.
External links
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