UNIATES (Russ. uniyatii, member of the United Creek Church, from Lat. anus, one). A generic term used to designate several bodies of Eastern Christians, who, while in communion with Rome. arc allowed to retain a number of their traditional local peculiarities in discipline and worship. As a rule they have their own liturgies in the Eastern tongues, not in Latin; they use leavened bread in the Eucharist (with the exception of the \laronites and the Arme nians) ; their priests are allowed to marry once; and they have a body of canon law of their own, partly consisting of ancient conciliar decrees and partly of Papal decisions made for their special case. Their government is cared for by a spe cial committee of the Propaganda super negotiis Orientaliunt organized by Pius IX. in 1862. The United Greeks may be divided according to the languages employed in their worship. Those with a Greek liturgy are found principally in Greece, European Turkey, Italy. and Russia, be
sides some 10,000 adherents in the United States. The Melchites (q.v.) employ the Arabic. There are also Rumanians with a vernacular liturgy; the Slavic is employed by the Ruthenians and Bulgarians. Under the name of Uniates are also comprehended the United Copts, descendants of the ancient Egyptians in Egypt and Abyssinia, the old Patriarchate of Alexandria ; they have been united with Rome since 1732. and number some 30,000. To the Syrian rite belong the 1\laronites (q.v.), the Syrians proper in Asiatic Turkey, and some Syro-Chaldeaus in the same re gion and in India. There are also Armenians in Turkey, Egypt, Russia, and Galicia ; these re turned to communion with Rome in the first half of the fourteenth century, and now number 150, 000.