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Abdel-Karim Karmah was born in 1572 in Hama, Syria, son of a [[priest]]. He entered the [[monastery]] of St. Michel, a monastery associated with [[Holy Lavra of St. Savas (Jerusalem)|Mar Saba Monastery]] in Jerusalem, when he was in his twenties. After two years of prayer, he was asked by his [[bishop]] Simeon to return to Hama. There he was [[ordination|ordained]] [[deacon]] and later priest. A few years later he moved to Aleppo where he served as a preacher. On [[February 12]], 1612, Karmah was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] metropolitan of Aleppo by Patriarch [[Anastasius II of Antioch|Athanasius II Dabbas]], taking the name of the [[saint]] of that day, ‘’Meletios’’.
As metropolitan he strove to increase the literacy and the education of his flock and [[clergy]]. To accomplish this aim he needed liturgical and religious books in Arabic. To this end, in 1612, Karmah published in Arabic the [[Typikon]] of Mar Saba, a Liturgikon, and a Sticherarion. However, to produce additional publications he needed money. To gain further funding he approached Rome for a grant that he received from the Franciscans missionaries. He also persuaded the Vatican to begin preparing an Arabic translation of the complete [[Holy Scripture|Holy Bible]]. While it was difficult in the years following the [[Council of Trent]], financing was obtained for the translation, although the translation took longer and only the [[Gospel]]s were published.
During the time he was metropolitan of Aleppo, Karmah was under harsh criticism many times. In 1614, he traveled to [[Constantinople]] to defend himself before [[Patriarch]] [[Timothy II of Constantinople|Timothy II]], who decided to confirm him in his position. Some years later, he was strongly attacked by Cyril Dabbas for supporting Ignatius III Atiyah, who both were claiming the patriarchal [[see]] of Antioch. Their dispute continued in 1624 when after Cyril Dabbas moved to Aleppo Karmah always refused to concelebrate with him.
Karmah continued to refuse recognizing Cyrill even at the celebration of [[Pascha]] in 1625. In retaliation, Cyrill Dabbas accused Karmah before the [[Ottoman empire|Ottoman]] authorities who there upon arrested him. He was beaten and charged with a large monetary fine that the Christians of Aleppo paid to have him released.
In 1627, he again returned to Constantinople to defend himself, also again successfully. In 1628, he took part to the [[Synod]] of Ras-Baalbek, where he along with all the other Melkite bishops deposed Cyrill and declared Ignatius III to be the sole patriarch, ending the split in the [[Melkite ]] Church.
A few months after the bloody death of Patriarch [[Ignatius III Atiyah of Antioch|Ignatius III Atiyah]] in 1634, Karmah was elected the Patriarch by the Christians of Damascus. He was consecrated on [[May 1]], 1634, taking the name of ''Euthymius III''.
Carrying through with the friendly relations he had in the previous years with the Western missionaries, his first move as Patriarch was to send a delegation to Rome to re-establish union with the Catholic Church as set forth in the decisions of the [[Council of Florence]]. He also planned to open schools with Jesuit teachers.
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{{succession|
before=[[Ignatius III Atiyahof Antioch|Ignatius III Atiyah]]|
title=[[List of Patriarchs of Antioch|Patriarch of Antioch]]|
years=1634-1635|
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[Category:17th-century bishops]]
[[Category: Bishops of Aleppo]]
[[Category: Patriarchs of Antioch]]