Ignatius Abdulmasih I was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1662 until his death in 1686.[1]
Biography
There isn’t much known about his early life except that he was born in Urhoy and was a student and a monk in the Monastery of Abhay [1] also known as the Monastery of the Ladders.[2] When he was ordained a Metropolitan by Patriarch Ignatius Yeshu, the Patriarch told the audience who attended the ceremony, that it’s his wish for Abdulmassih be his successor.[1] After he was consecrated as Patriarch, he ordained George of Edessa a Maphrian of the East after the existing Maphrian Shukrallah didn’t agree on electing Abdulmassih a Patriarch. The action caused Shukrallah to be elected as a rival Patriarch with the support of some people in Amid. In 1662, during Ignatius Abdulmasih I time as a Patriarch, the schism with the Syriac Catholic church started when Andrew Akijan, Bishop of Aleppo, was ordained a patriarch by the Maronite patriarch with the support of the French counsel and the Catholic missionaries in Aleppo.[1][3] When this happened, Ignatius Abdulmassih I traveled to Syria and visited many cities and towns there to fight this schism and bring the Syriac Orthodox communities back to their church.[1]
Episcopal succession
During Ignatius Abdulmassih I time as Patriarch and Metropolitan, he had the duty to ordain and consecrate many Metropolitans in the Syria Orthodox church in addition to tens of priests, monks, and deacons [1]
- Behnam John Grer (1665-1678). Bishop of Damascus
- Juma'a (1665). Metropolitan of Mor Mattai Monastery
- Baselios Yeldo (1678-1685). Maphrian of the East
- Gregorios Shamo’un (1680). Metropolitan of Jerusalem
- Severus Issac (1684). Metropolitan of Mor Mattai Monastery
Death
Ignatius Abdulmassih I died in 1686 and was buried in a cemetery outside the walls of Amid and then he was moved to the St. Jacob Church in Amid in 1950
References
- ^ a b c d e f Dolabani, Philoxenos Yuhanon (2012). History of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs.
- ^ Barsoum, Ignatius Aphram; Moosa, Matti (Tr.) (2003). The scattered pearls: a history of Syriac literature and sciences (Second rev. ed.). Piscataway (N. J.): Gorgias press. ISBN 1-931956-04-9. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
- ^ Armalah, I. (1923). "Fi al-Batriyarkiyyah al-Antiikiyyah". al-Mashriq. 21.
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