In Memoriam: Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch

Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) of the Antiochian Orthodox Church has fallen asleep at the age of ninety-one. The patriarch, a native of Syria's Hama province and graduate of the American University of Beirut, was in the 1940s a founder of the Orthodox Youth Movement before going on to serve as a clergyman and, later, as an auxiliary bishop to the patriarch and Metropolitan of Lattakia in western Syria. In 1979 he was elected Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. After faithfully shepherding the Church of Antioch for thirty-three years Patriarch Ignatius reposed earlier today in Beirut, Lebanon, after suffering a severe stroke. May his memory be eternal! More on Patriarch Ignatius' life can be found here.

Syriac Orthodox Church to Consider Relocation of Patriarchate

At the upcoming fall session of its Holy Synod the Syriac Orthodox Church will reportedly consider the transfer of the Antioch Patriarchate from its current seat in Damascus, where it has been situated since the 1950s, to Beirut in neighboring Lebanon due to the ongoing attacks in Syria on Syriac Orthodox Christians and their churches. There may also be discussion of the possibility of transferring the Patriarchate out of the Middle East entirely due to the large Suryoyo Diaspora in Western Europe and North America. (With or without the autonomous Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church in India, most Syriac Orthodox Christians reside outside of the Middle East now.) If this transfer were to take place it would be the first time in its history that the Antioch Patriarchate would relocate outside of its canonical territory in greater Syria. More here.

Syriac Orthodox Metropolitans in Syria, Lebanon Meet in Damascus

This past Saturday Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatios Zakka (Iwas) of Antioch led a meeting of the Syriac Orthodox metropolitans in Lebanon and Syria to discuss the state of the Syriac Orthodox Church there. During the meeting the hierarchs also discussed recent developments in the life of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Germany and India as well as the Church's ecumenical commitments. More (in Arabic) here.

St. Christina of Tyre

Joyous feast! St. Christina of Tyre lived in what today is Lebanon in the 3rd century, born into the family of Urban, the Roman governor of Tyre. The Saint was exceptionally beautiful and because of this and her privileged background was sought after as a bride. St. Christina's father, however, wanted his daughter to become a priestess and settled her in quarters set apart from the family and filled with many idols and charged her with the duty of offering the daily incense to the idols.

It was in this solitude that St. Christina began to wonder which god had created the heavens and the earth. Casting aside the worship of the idols as foolishness since they had been made by men, the Saint came to believe in the one God and began to fast and to pray to Him with increasingly fervor to reveal Himself to her. God heard her prayers and sent an angel to the Saint to tell her of the coming of the Christ into the world and to forewarn her of the sort of death she would suffer for her faith in Christ her Bridegroom.

After the angel's visit St. Christina destroyed the idols she had cared for and cast them out. When the Saint's father learned what had happened he had his daughter beaten and thrown into prison. When she would not recant the Christian Faith at her trial the governor had St. Christina bound to an iron wheel with a fire set beneath and tortured in this way before being returned to prison. An angel visited the Saint the following night, healing her many wounds and giving her food. Seeing this Urban had his daughter thrown into the sea with weights, but the weights sank while she remained on the sea's surface.

St. Christina underwent many tortures for her faith in the Christ and her witness was so strong that roughly three hundred of the people of Tyre were converted to the Orthodox Faith because of her sufferings. The Saint was finally taken from this world to the next when the new governor of Tyre had her beheaded. More on her life can be found here. May St. Christina's blessing and prayers be with us all!

Lebanese Orthodox Metropolitan Calls on Flock Not to Sell Land

Metropolitan Basilios (Mansour) of Akkar of the Antiochian Orthodox Church has called on his flock in northern Lebanon not to sell their lands so that they can remain a grounded part of the process of nation building in Lebanon. More here.

Lebanon Debates General Security Directorate

As the new Lebanese government in formation struggles to distribute its ministerial portfolios a debate has erupted in Lebanon over whether the government's directorate for general security should go to the country's Shiite Muslim minority, which has held it for the last decade; the Maronite Catholics, who have traditionally headed the directorate; or the Antiochian Orthodox, who despite being Lebanon's fourth largest religion have never held any security-related ministries. More here.

Muslim-Christian Summit in Lebanon

Patriarchs Ignatios IV (Hazim) and Ignatios Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch, Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) of Sis, and other hierarchs of the Antiochian and Syriac Orthodox Churches have participated in a Christian-Muslim conference at the patriarchate of the Maronite Catholic Church in Bkerke, Lebanon, to discuss the growing divisions in Lebanese society. More here.

Armenian Genocide Commemorated in Antelias

Thousands gathered in Antelias, Lebanon, on Pascha to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection and commemorate the one and a half million victims of the Armenian Genocide, of whom many of the members of the Armenian Diaspora in the Levant are descendants. The memorial service for the martyrs was served by Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) of Cilicia. More here.

Maronite Catholic Patriarch Meets with Armenian Orthodox Catholicos in Lebanon

The new primate of the Maronite Catholic Church, Lebanon's largest Christian religious organization, has visited the seat of the catholicate of the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon. More here.

Syriac Orthodox, Maronite Catholic Patriarchs Meet in Lebanon

Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatios Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch continues his visit to Lebanon with a stop in Bkerke to congratulate the newly enthroned Maronite Catholic patriarch on his election. More here.

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Visits Zahle

This past Monday Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch visited the Syriac Orthodox church in Zahle that was bombed last week. During his time in Zahle Patriarch Ignatius Zakka prayed in the church and met with the faithful of the parish and the area. More here.

Secularism Grows in Lebanon

A secularist movement demanding 'one size fits all' civil laws regulating inheritances, marriage, and divorce and a personal status law for women is gaining momentum in Lebanon, with some 30,000 demonstrators taking to the streets the day before Lebanon's Mothers' Day last month. More here.

Syriac Orthodox Church in Lebanon Bombed

St. Mary's Church in Zahle, Lebanon, suffered a large explosion yesterday. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack against the Syriac Orthodox church many throughout Lebanon have condemned it as well as the abduction of Estonian tourists near Zahle last week. Despite the damage to the church Metropolitan Mor Yostinos Paulos of Zahle celebrated the Sunday Liturgy in the courtyard of the church. More here and here.

Maronites Nominate New Patriarch

The hierarchy of the Maronite Catholic Church has nominated Bishop Beshara Rai of Jubayl for appointment by the Vatican as Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites. The nomination has been greeted by jubilation in Lebanon and came after 6 days of deliberations. More here.

Catholicos Aram Meets with Artsakh PM, Serves Memorial for Sumgait Massacre Victims

As part of the visit of Prime Minister Ara Haroutiunian of Artsakh (formerly Nagorno-Karabakh) to the Armenian Orthodox Church of Cilicia, Catholicos Aram I (Keshishian) served a memorial for the victims of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and of the massacre at Sumgait in Azerbaijan in 1988. More here.

Metropolitan of Zahle Visits Damascus

Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I (Iwas) of Antioch received today Metropolitan Mor Yustinos and other representatives of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Zahle and Bekaa in Lebanon at his residence in Damascus. During the visit the the work of the vicariate in eastern Lebanon was discussed and Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka was invited to visit the area to bless its newest projects. More here.

Syriac Orthodox Seek Minister in New Lebanese Government

As Lebanon forms its new coalition government the country's Syriac Orthodox minority is hoping for representation in the new council of ministers despite only being allocated one seat in the Lebanese Parliament. More here.

Metropolitan Mar Meelis Visits Lebanon, UAE

Metropolitan Mar Meelis (Zaia) of Sydney has concluded a month-long visit to the Assyrian faithful in Lebanon, who since the repose of Metropolitan Mar Narsai (D'Baz) a year ago have been under the Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand, and Lebanon of the Assyrian Church of the East.

During the course of his stay Metropolitan Mar Meelis supervised the efforts of the Church of the East in Lebanon to care for incoming refugees from Iraq and met with Metropolitan Mar Thephilos (Saliba) of Mount Lebanon of the Syriac Orthodox Church to discuss the common heritage of the two churches. More on his time in Lebanon can be found here.

On his way back to Australia from Lebanon Metropolitan Mar Meelis visited the faithful of the Church of the East in the United Arab Emirates. His flock there consists of both Assyrians and Indians who remained faithful to the Church of the East following the arrival of Roman Catholicism and Syriac Orthodoxy in Kerala. More on that visit here.

Assyrian Metropolitan Meets with Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon

Metropolitan Mar Meelis (Zaia) of Sydney of the Assyrian Church of the East met with the Iraqi ambassador to Lebanon this week in Beirut to discuss the situation of Assyrian Christians in Iraq and the Diaspora and the efforts of the Iraqi government to protect them in the Iraqi-occupied regions of their homeland, which also in the past included parts of what is today southeastern Turkey and eastern Syria. More here.

Athens Archbishop to Visit the Levant

Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens of the Greek Orthodox Church will be visiting Syria and Lebanon next week on a visit to the Antiochian Orthodox Church. More here.