The Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Maronite Patriarchs of Lebanon

During the life of Outremer and after, between 1182 and 1584 the Maronites negotiated full doctrinal union with the Roman Catholic Church, while the Patriarch retained autocephalous control of his Church. The present Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir, is the third one to also be a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Thus, the last Christological heresy, still surviving institutionally, is thus long gone doctrinally.

For a brief moment, the Shihâbî Amîrs of Lebanon, 1697-1842, led the Maronites to Lebanese autonomy under the Ottoman Empire and almost achieved independence. Although France was sympathetic with this, British foreign policy, which aimed to maintain Turkey as a buffer against Russia, turned against it. Maronite Christians still form the major Christian community of the Republic of Lebanon, and the Lebanese Maronite Patriarch still regards himself as the proper Patriarch of Antioch.

1.  Greek Orthodox or Melkite.

2.  Greek Catholic, the Catholic Counter-Church to the Orthodox one.

3.  Latin, established during the Crusades.

4.  Armenian.

The parts of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are the province of different sects, as defined by the Status Quo decree issued by the Ottoman Sultân in 1852. Those involved are the Greeks, Catholics, Armenians, Copts, Ethiopians, and Syrians. The Syrians, i.e. the Syrian Orthodox, are the only ones not associated with a "Patriarchate" of Jerusalem -- their church in Jerusalem is St. Mark's. Disputes over jurisdiction in the Church led to one of the most extraordinary provisions:  The keys to the Church are in the charge of a particular Muslim family.