Ignatius IV of Antioch

Ignatius IV of Antioch

Infobox Patriarch
name=Ignatius IV
patriarch_of= primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch


church=Eastern Orthodox Church
see=Antioch
birthname=
enthroned=1979
ended=Incumbent
predecessor=Elias IV
successor=
birth_date=1921
birth_place=Syria
death_date=
death_place=
other=
footnotes=

Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch and all the East (b. 1921) is the current primate of the autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

Life

Ignatius was born in 1921 in the village of Mhardeh near Hama in Syria. He is the son of a pious Arab Orthodox family and from an early age was attracted to service within the Church. While studying in Beirut, Lebanon, for a literature degree, he entered the service of the local Orthodox diocese, first by becoming an acolyte, then a deacon. In 1945 he went to Paris where he graduated from the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute. From his time in France onwards he has been moved not only by a desire to pass on the deposit of the faith, but also to take Orthodoxy out of its unhistorical ghetto by discovering in its Holy Tradition living answers to the problems of modern life. On his return to the Middle East, he founded the Balamand Orthodox Theological Seminary in Lebanon which he then served for many years as dean. As Dean he sought to provide the Patriarchate with responsible leaders who had received a good spiritual and intellectual training and who were witnesses to an awakened and deeply personal faith.

While his native language is Arabic, he also speaks fluent English and French. He was one of the founders of the active Orthodox Youth Movement of Lebanon and Syria in 1942, through which he helped to organise and lead a renewal of Church life in the Patriarchate of Antioch. The movement worked at the heart of the Church helping ordinary believers to rediscover the personal and communal meaning of the Eucharist through a practice of frequent Communion which had become extremely rare. Following on from this in 1953 he helped to found Syndesmos, the world fellowship of Orthodox Youth and Theological Schools.

He was consecrated to the episcopacy in 1961 and elected Metropolitan of Lattakia in Syria in 1970. His style as metropolitan broke with the former tradition of episcopal grandeur and he inaugurated an authentic practice of frequent communion. On July 2, 1979, under the name of Ignatius IV, he became the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, the third ranking hierarch of the Orthodox Church after the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria. After his election as Patriarch he said:

:"I know that I will be judged if I do not carry the Church and each one of you in my heart. It is not possible for me to address you as if I were different from you. No difference separates us. I am an integral part of you; I am in you and I ask you to be in me. For the Lord comes, and the Spirit descends on the brothers gathered, united in communion, as they manifest a diversity of charisms in the unity of the Spirit."

As patriarch he has sought to give a new dynamism to the Holy Synod and seen it name bishops who are close to the people and who are motivated to develop the Church's ecclesial and spiritual life, detached from political factions.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ignatius of Antioch, Saint — died с 110, Rome; Western feast day October 17; Eastern feast day December 20 Early Christian martyr. Probably of Syrian origin, he may have been a pagan who persecuted Christians before his conversion. He succeeded St. Peter the Apostle as… …   Universalium

  • Ignatius (Theophorus), S. (1) — 1S. Ignatius (Theophorus), Ep. Antioch. M. (1. Febr. al. 17. Oct. etc.). Die Bollandisten haben mehrere Lebensbeschreibungen dieses großen heil. Bischofs und Martyrers aufgenommen: einmal die von dem Metaphrasten Simeon, welche sie mit… …   Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon

  • Ignatius Afram I Barsoum — was the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church. He wrote, translated and published many works all of which are very scholarly. He wrote books on the tradition, liturgy, music, and history of Syriac Orthodox… …   Wikipedia

  • Ignatius von Antiochien — (frühes 2. Jh. n. Chr., Martyrium in den letzten Regierungsjahren des Kaisers Trajan (110–117); einzelne Forscher datieren aufgrund einer abweichenden Einschätzung der Echtheit der Ignatiusbriefe seine Lebenszeit auf Mitte 2. Jh. oder später) war …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ignatius von Antiochia — Ignatius von Antiochien (frühes 2. Jh. n. Chr., Martyrium in den letzten Regierungsjahren des Kaisers Trajan (110 117); einzelne Forscher datieren aufgrund einer abweichenden Einschätzung der Echtheit der Ignatiusbriefe seine Lebenszeit auf Mitte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Antioch — on the Orontes (] The population was estimated by Chrysostom at about 100,000 people at the time of Theodosius I. Between 252 and 300, ten assemblies of the church were held at Antioch and it became the seat of one of the four original… …   Wikipedia

  • Ignatius IV. — Ignatius IV. Hazim (* 1921? in Mhardeh nahe Hama, Syrien) ist der amtierende griechisch orthodoxe Patriarch von Antiochia und geistliches Oberhaupt der Orthodoxen Kirche von Antiochia. Er entstammt einer christlich arabischen Familie aus der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Antioch (disambiguation) — Antioch may refer to:PlacesIn Asia: *Antioch on the Orontes (Syrian Antioch), now Antakya in Turkey * Antioch on the Cydnus, Tarsus (city), now in Turkey * Antioch, Mygdonia, former name of Nisibis; in ancient Mesopotamia, now Nusaybin in Turkey… …   Wikipedia

  • Ignatius Gabriel I Tappouni — Ignatius Gabriel I Cardinal Tappouni (Arabic: جبرائيل تبّوني, fr. Ignace Gabriel I Tappouni) (November 3, 1879 mdash;January 29, 1968) was a leading prelate of the Syriac Catholic Church. He served as Patriarch of Antioch from 1929 and 1968, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Ignatius III David — was the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church (1222 1252)Jerusalem s Coptic BishopPope Cyril III of Alexandria used the increasing military and political power of Egypt over Jerusalem to appoint a Coptic Orthodox bishop of that church, which… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”