The bishop of Antioch, known as the patriarch, heads the church and possesses apostolic succession through Saint Peter, according to sacred tradition.

It resumed in 1782 with Michael III Jarweh, creating the Syriac Catholic Church, while the non-Catholic faction retained its separate patriarchate.

In the 15th century, the term "Orthodox" (from Greek: "orthodoxía"; "correct opinion") was used to identify churches that practiced the set of doctrines believed by the early Christians.

[51] Patriarch Babylas of Antioch was considered 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.

[52] Eustathius of Antioch supported Athanasius of Alexandria who opposed the followers of the condemned doctrine of Arius (Arian controversy) at the First Council of Nicaea.

[63] Severians continued to recognize Severus as the legitimate miaphysite Patriarch of Antioch until his death in 538, and then proceeded to follow his successors.

[64][65] Bishop Jacob Baradaeus (died 578) is credited for ordaining most of the miaphysite hierarchy while facing heavy persecution in the sixth century.

[67] Because of many historical upheavals and consequent hardships that the Syriac Orthodox Church had to undergo, the patriarchate was transferred to different monasteries in Mesopotamia for centuries.

John III of the Sedre was elected and consecrated Patriarch after the death of Athanasius I Gammolo in 631 AD, followed by the fall of Roman Syria and the Muslim conquest of the Levant.

The 8th century hagiography Life of Jacob Baradaeus is evidence of a definite denominational and social differentiation between the Chalcedonians and Miaphysites (Syriac Orthodox).

[91] By the end of the 19th century, 200,000 Syriac Orthodox Christians remained in the Middle East, most concentrated around Saffron Monastery, the Patriarchal Seat.

[100][101] The Syriac Orthodox villages in Tur Abdin suffered from the 1925–26 Kurdish rebellions and massive flight to Lebanon, northern Iraq and especially Syria ensued.

[104] On 20 October 1987, Geevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala was declared a saint by Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch permitting additions to the diptychs.

Historically, in the Malankara Church, the local chief was called as Archdeacon, who was the ecclesiastical authority of the Saint Thomas Christians in the Malabar region of India.

[116] An ordained deaconess is entitled to enter the sanctuary only for cleaning, lighting the lamps and is limited to give Holy Communion to women and the children who are under the age of five.

The ministry of the deaconess assists the priest and deacon outside the altar including in the service of baptizing women and anointing them with holy chrism.

[121][122] The church accepted first three synods held at Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), and Ephesus (431), shaping the formulation and early interpretation of Christian doctrines.

The recitation of the Liturgy is performed according to with specific parts chanted by the presider, the lectors, the choir, and the congregated faithful, at certain times in unison.

Hundreds of melodies remain preserved in the book known as Beth Gazo, the key reference to Syriac Orthodox church music.

The patriarchate was initially established in Antioch (present-day Syria, Turkey, and Iraq), due to the persecutions by Romans followed by Muslim Arabs.

Historically, the followers of the church are mainly ethnic Assyrians/Syriacs who constitute the indigenous pre-Arab populations of modern Syria, Iraq and southeastern Turkey.

[153] The Syriac population in Turkey is growing due to refugees from Syria and Iraq fleeing ISIS, as well as members of the diaspora returning to rebuild their homes after leaving during the Turkey-PKK conflict (1978).

[164] The Syriac Orthodox Church in the Middle East and the diaspora numbering between 150,000 and 200,000 people reside in their indigenous area of habitation in Syria, Iraq, and Turkey according to estimations.

Archbishoprics in the Middle East include regions of Jazirah, Euphrates, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Baghdad, Basrah, Diyarbakır, Mosul, Kirkuk, Kurdistan, Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Istanbul, Ankara and Adiyaman,[171] Israel, Palestine, Jordan.

[172][173][174] Patriarchal Vicariates in the Middle East includes Damascus, Mardin, Turabdin, Zahle, UAE and the Arab States of the Persian Gulf.

The local head of the church in Malankara (Kerala) was the late Baselios Thomas I, ordained by Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas.

[179] The Knanaya Syriac Orthodox Church is an archdiocese under the guidance and direction of Archbishop Severious Kuriakose with the patriarch as its spiritual head.

[185][186] Earlier in the 20th century many Syrian Orthodox immigrated to Western Europe, located in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries for economic and political reasons.

There are common Christological and pastoral agreements with the Catholic Church by the 20th century as the Chalcedonian schism was not seen with the same relevance, and from several meetings between the authorities of the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodoxy, reconciling declarations emerged in the common statements of the Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III and Pope Paul VI in 1971, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and Pope John Paul II in 1984: The confusions and schisms that occurred between their Churches in the later centuries, they realise today, in no way affect or touch the substance of their faith, since these arose only because of differences in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter.

[205] In 2015, Ignatius Aphrem II visited Patriarch Kirill of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church and discussed prospects of bilateral and theological dialogue existing since the late 1980s.