Paris Metropolitan Elected New Patriarch of Antioch

The Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, meeting in Lebanon's Balamand Monastery of the Dormition, has elected Metropolitan John (Yazigi) of Paris as Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East. Axios!

Born in Lattakia, Syria, in 1955, the future patriarch completed education in Syria before entering Balamand University in Lebanon to complete a degree in theology, after which he undertook a doctorate of theology at Thessalonica's Aristotelian University. Ordained a deacon in 1979, in 1981 Fr. Youhanna began teaching at Balamand, being ordained a priest in 1983, consecrated to the episcopacy as Bishop of al-Hosn in 1995, and in 2001 becoming abbot of the Balamand Monastery. In 2008 he was elected Metropolitan of Paris and Western and Central Europe by the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

In a speech after his election, Patriarch-elect John said in part, "Our confidence in our people is very deep and our path is the path of the cross...Christians will remain in Syria and it is their land."

More here.

New Antiochian Orthodox Auxiliaries for North America to be Consecrated at Balamand

It has been decided with the blessing of Patriarch Ignatios IV (Hazim) of Antioch that the consecrations of Bishops-elect John (Abdalah) of Worcester, Anthony (Michaels) of Toledo, and Nicholas (Ozone) of Brooklyn will take place in early December at Lebanon's Monastery of the Dormition in Balamand. More details on the upcoming consecrations can be found here.

Auxiliary Bishop of Palmyra Consecrated in Lebanon

Bishop-elect Yuhanna (Haykal) of Palmyra has been consecrated to the episcopacy by Patriarch Ignatios IV (Hazim) of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in the catholicon of the Monastery of the Dormition in Balamand, Lebanon. Bishop Yuhanna will be serving as an auxiliary in the Antiochian Orthodox Church's Archdiocese of Paris and Western Europe. More (in Greek) here.