They remember him only as the great Patriarch who did so much for them, who, above all, obtained for them their civil independence.
- 7. History after Maximos III (1855-1915).
After the death of Maximos III thirteen bishops elected Clement Baḥūth,[1] a Salvatorian monk and Metropolitan of Acre, to be his successor (1855-1864). The great event of his reign was the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, which led to dreadful trouble and a schism of part of his flock. So far the Melkites had used the old Julian Calendar, like the Orthodox. But it was felt, at least at Rome, that in so vital a matter as this the whole Catholic Church should agree. The question does not affect the special feasts and fasts of each rite. In spite of those, there are the great cardinal feasts of the year: Easter, Epiphany, Pentecost, and others, such as Christmas, kept by all. It was certainly a strange anomaly that Catholics should keep these on different days.[2] Moreover, everyone knows that the Julian Calendar is hopelessly wrong. Already at the synod of 'Ain Trāz in 1835 the question had been discussed; but the feeling against a change was so strong that it was shelved. Now the Patriarch Clement thought it could be no longer put off. The Maronites had already adopted the Gregorian Calendar in their synod of 1736.[3] Clement ordered its use throughout the Melkite Church in 1857. At once there was an enormous uproar. Eastern people are very tenacious of their old customs, especially in such external matters. Many Melkites protested that the Patriarch was tampering with their faith, that he was a Franǵi trying to latinize them. Books and violent pamphlets were written on either side. A considerable number of Melkites at last flatly refused to obey the order, and were excommunicated by Clement. Their leader was a secularized monk, Ǵibarra. Protected by the Russians, he opened chapels for the sect that gathered round him. He called this the "Eastern Church" (alkanīsat ashsharḳīyah). The schism lasted for about three years. Then, during the
- ↑ His name had been Michael, till he took that of Clement when ordained bishop for Acre in 1836, just after the synod of 'Ain Trāz. He is the only Patriarch of Antioch of this name.
- ↑ Step by step, and often at the cost of much disturbance, all the Uniate Churches have now adopted the Gregorian Calendar.
- ↑ Synod of Mount Lebanon ("Coll. Lac.," ii, 77) confirmed (September 1, 1741) by Benedict XIV in the Brief Singularis (Charon, iii, p. 368).
