Flavianus Michael Malke
Syriac Catholic bishop
Feast: 29 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Jacob Melki was born in 1858 at Kalaat Mara near Mardin, in today's Turkey, into the Syriac Orthodox Church, and studied at the monastery of Zaafaran. In 1883 he joined the Brothers of St Ephrem and entered full communion with the Catholic Church, and was ordained at Aleppo on 13 May that year.
He taught in the Mardin seminary and cared for the Christians of the most remote villages; in 1913 he was consecrated Syriac Catholic Bishop of Djezireh. In the persecution of 1915, after interrogation and long torture, he refused to convert to Islam and was shot at Djezireh on 29 August 1915.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A bishop, born Orthodox and dying a Catholic, who would not deny Christ: a witness of the 'ecumenism of blood'.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Flavien Michel Melki
- Wikidata Q5458069 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Flavianus Michael Malke (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.