Meletius of Antioch

Meletius was born at Melitene in Lesser Armenia of wealthy and noble parents. He first appears around 357 as a supporter of Acacius, bishop of Caesarea, the leader of that local faction that supported the Homoean formula, which says that the Son is like the Father without reference to essence or substance. In contrast, the Homoiousians held that God and Jesus Christ are of like essence and the Homoousians that they are, as stated in the Nicene Creed, of the same essence. Meletius thus first appears as an ecclesiastic of the court party, and as such became bishop of Sebaste in succession to Eustathius of Sebaste. The appointment was resented by the Homoousian clergy, and Meletius resigned the see. == Patriarch of Antioch ==

First period and exile According to Socrates Scholasticus, Meletius attended the council of Seleucia in the autumn of 359 and then subscribed to the Acacian (Homoean) formula. Early in 360 he became patriarch of Antioch, succeeding Eudoxius of Antioch, who had been translated to the see of Constantinople. Early the following year (361), he was in exile. According to an old tradition, supported by evidence drawn from Epiphanius of Cyprus and John Chrysostom, this was due to a sermon preached before the emperor Constantius II, in which he revealed Homoousian views. This explanation, however, is rejected by G. F. Loofs on the grounds that the sermon contains nothing inconsistent with the Acacian position favoured by the court party; on the other hand, there is evidence of conflicts with the clergy, quite apart from any questions of orthodoxy, which may have led to the patriarch's deposition. Second and third exiles Athanasius of Alexandria came to Antioch by order of the emperor, and expressed to Meletius his wish of entering into communion with him. Meletius, ill-advised, delayed answering him, and Athanasius went away having admitted Paulinus, whom he had not yet recognized as patriarch, to his communion. The two remaining factions which divided the Antiochene Church were Orthodox, the supporters of Meletius and the adherents of Paulinus. Uniting them was a difficult move. A temporary pacification ensued when six of the leading presbyters took an oath not to seek episcopal consecration themselves but to accept as patriarch of Antioch whichever of the two rivals outlived the other. == Schism after his death ==

Meletius died soon after the opening of the First Council of Constantinople and the emperor Theodosius, who had received him with special distinction, ordered his body to be carried to Antioch and buried with the honours of a saint. The Meletian schism, however, did not end immediately with his death. In spite of the advice of Gregory of Nazianzus, Paulinus was not recognized as the sole patriarch and Flavian was consecrated as Meletius' successor. The Eustathians, on the other hand, elected Evagrius of Antioch as patriarch on Paulinus II's death in 388. secured reconciliation between Flavian and the sees of Alexandria and Rome. However, it would take the Eustathians at Antioch until 415 to accept Flavian. == Notes and references ==