His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim), primate of the
Greek-Orthodox of Antioch and All the East, has died. He was 91 and had been
ailing for some time.
In recent months, he had made several appeals for peace
in syria, devastated by civil war between Bashar al-Assad's army and the rebel Free Syrian Army.
Local
sources remember his ceaseless work to stop the slaughter, along with Catholic
prelates and Muslim leaders.
In one of his appeals, he said, "A countless number
of Arab Muslims and Christians, men, women and children, fall victims of bombs
every day. Hospitals are full of injured people."
As Arabs of Syria,
"regardless of our religion, we have the right to live in peace in our
country. [. . .] We invite all Syrians in the name of the one true God, to
decide to live together in our blessed home. We hope that all international
organizations help us to ensure peace, stability and reconciliation."
The
patriarch was born in 1920 in the village of Muharda, near the city of Hama,
Syria. In 1936, he moved to Beirut, where he became an altar server in a local
parish.
In
1945 he graduated from the American University of Beirut, and from 1949 to 1953
studied at the Saint Sergius Theological Institute in Paris.
On
his return to Lebanon, he was ordained hieromonk. In 1942, he became one of the
founders of the influential Orthodox Youth Movement in Lebanon and Syria, which
has done much to renew youthful participation in Church life.
After
returning from France in 1953, His Beatitude became one of the organisers of
Syndesmos, the worldwide Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth. In 1961, he was
ordained bishop of Palmyra and patriarchal vicar.
In
1970, the future patriarch was appointed metropolitan of Latakia
(Laodicea). Nine years later, On 8 July 1979, he was elected primate
of the Church of Antioch.
During
his life, Ignatius IV published many books and articles on theology. For this,
he was made an honorary doctor by the Sorbonne and the University of Minsk (Belarus).