The socio-cultural development assisted the Arab Orthodox Christians in shaping their spirit of nationalism and desire to liberate their Church from the Greek hegemony. In contrast to the old habit of nominating a Greek patriarch to the Throne of Antioch by the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Arab prelates sought for the election of a compatriot to the vacant throne after the death of Patriarch Iirotheos in 1885. The Russians were ready to assist the Arabs in their demand and promoted a pro-Russian cleric for the patriarchate. The Arab prelates neglected the Russians recommendation. Without the Russian support, they could not face the Greeks and the Ottomans’ tendency to elect Gerasimos, from the Church of Jerusalem, to the Throne of Antioch. In 1891, Gerasimos was transferred to the Church of Jerusalem. The Arab Orthodox tried to seize the opportunity to elect a native patriarch. Yet again, they failed without the Russian support and the consent of the Ottomans. The election of Spyridon was another Greek victory over the natives. However, his election did not turn out well for the Greeks. Spyridon’s troubles pushed him towards cooperation with the Russians through the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Eventually, this cooperation turned the Church of Antioch into a Russophile center that spread education, the spirit of nationalism and fortified the Russo-Arab relationship. With the instigation and support of the Russians, Spyridon was deposed, and the Arabs succeeded in electing Meletios Dumani, the first Arab patriarch since the 17th century, in 1899. In contrast to their coreligionists in the Balkans, the Arab Orthodox did not seek their political independence from the Ottomans. Instead, they strove for their ecclesiastical independence from the Greek hegemony. However, the election of Patriarch Meletios is considered to be the first step of Arab nationalism against Ottoman rule, by the ideologist of Arab nationalism Sāṭiʿ al-Ḥuṣrī. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, many of the Orthodox patriarchs have been famous for their Arab national dispositions. This paper highlights the interaction between ecclesiastical authority and Arab nationalism. How the resistance against the Greek hierarchy interact with the development of Arab nationalism.