An example of a joint Latin-Syrian parish: St. George above Tiberias

At the end of the 1170s a dispute broke out between the abbey of St. Mary Josaphat and the bishop of Tiberias over tithes and parochial rights. The dispute concerned also the church of St. George, which is described as “above Tiberias.” This church was given by Bishop Bernard of Nazareth to the monks of St. Mary Josaphat already in 1109. The arbitrators – the archbishop of Nazareth and the bishop of Acre – decided that the monks of St. George's should not admit parishioners of Tiberias who had been excommunicated or placed under an interdict by the bishop of Tiberias to the mass, nor should they baptize children of the Latin rite or enact marriages. In addition the arbitrators determined that the cemetery of the church should be reserved solely for the brethren, their servants, and Syrian Christians. “Nulli preter fratribus et servientibus suis et surianis sepulturam prestabit. Nulli Latinorum nisi surianis tantum in ea bapizari nulloque tempore in ilia nuptias celebrari licebit.”

There can be no doubt, therefore, that the church of St. George, which came under the management of St. Mary Josaphat, gave burial services to, and probably also baptized and solemnized marriages for, Syrians, and Latins alike.

The “Church of St. George” has still not been identified. In excavations which were conducted on Mt. Berenice, which is above Tiberias, a church was discovered which, in accordance with the pottery found there, dated back to the end of the six century or the beginning of the seventh.