Ignatius Aphrem II

Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II ( Moran Mor Ignaṭius Afrem Trayono, إغناطيوس أفرام الثاني Iġnāṭīūs Afrām al-Ṯānī; born 3 May 1965 as Sa'id Karim; سعيد كريم) is a Syrian-American Christian prelate who is serving as the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church since 29 May 2014.

Before his election to the patriarchate, he was the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of the Eastern United States, and was known as Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim in that post.

In that role he established 11 new parishes, introducing a number of new programs for the youth, and worked for inter-church unity.

Saʿid Karim was born in Qamishli, north-eastern Syria, on 3 May 1965, the youngest son of Issa and Khanema Karim.

His family are Syriac Orthodox Assyrians/Syriacs who originally came from the village Ëḥwo (Turkish: Güzelsu) in the Tur Abdin region of Mardin Province, Turkey.

After finishing primary schooling in Qamishli in 1977, Karim received his religious secondary education at St. Ephrem's Theological Seminary in Atchaneh, Bikfaya, Lebanon.

After completing school in 1982, he worked in Aleppo, Syria, as an assistant to the Archbishop Mor Gregorios Yuhanna Ibrahim.

From 1984 to 1988, he attended the Coptic Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Divinity.

In 1985, Saʿid Karim took the vows of a monk, and changed his name to Aphrem in honor of the 4th-century Syriac poet-theologian Ephrem the Syrian and former patriarch Aphrem I Barsoum.

He was ordained deacon, and, later that year, was elevated to the sacred priesthood.

From 1988 to 1989, he served as both the secretary to his patriarchal predecessor, Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, and as a teacher at St Ephrem's Theological Seminary in Damascus, Syria.

In 1991, he entered St Patrick's College in Maynooth, Ireland, from where he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1992) and Doctor of Divinity (1994).

His doctoral thesis was titled The Symbolism of the Cross in early Syriac Christianity.

During that time, he also served as a priest to the Syriac Orthodox Community in the United Kingdom.

In 1995, following the death of Archbishop Mor Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, who had established the Archdiocese of the United States and Canada, it was decided to divide the territory into three archdioceses: the Eastern United States, Los Angeles and Environs, and Canada.

Aphrem Karim was appointed archbishop of the Eastern United States territory.

On January 28, 1996, Aphrem Karim was consecrated as Metropolitan Archbishop and Patriarchal Vicar of the Archdiocese for the Eastern United States by Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas at St. Mary's Syriac Orthodox Church in his home town of Qamishli.

Taking the episcopal name Cyril, he arrived in the United States on March 2, 1996, and was officially installed at St. Mark's Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in Teaneck, New Jersey, as Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim.

During his time as Metropolitan Archbishop, Cyril Aphrem Karim oversaw the creation of 11 new parishes, bringing the total parishes in the archdiocese to 20.

He created an advisory council to aid in oversight and administration of the archdiocese.

He created the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocesan Youth Organization to coordinate youth activities across the archdiocese's parishes, and oversaw a number of youth conferences as he sought to grow the church.

He organized a special youth liturgy in the New York/New Jersey area and created a choral society.

Cyril Aphrem Karim oversaw the creation of the Archdiocesan Sunday School Committee to unite lesson plans across the archdiocese.

He created a pre-marriage counseling program which afforded couples-to-be the chance to meet with him personally.

He also established an annual liturgy service to recognize and appreciate the elderly members of the community.

He worked for inter-church unity, serving on the World Council of Churches.

Cyril Aphrem Karim played a significant role in founding Christian Churches Together.

The synod elected Cyril Aphrem bin Karim to be the 122nd successor of St. Peter in the Apostolic See of Antioch.

On 21 March 2014, Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas died after a long illness.

Following his death, the Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch was convened to elect a successor.

The synod was held at St Jacob Baradeus Monastery in Atchaneh, Lebanon, presided over by Mor Baselios Thoma I Catholicos of India and Mor Severius Jamil Hawa Archbishop of Baghdad and Basra, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens.

He was enthroned on 29 May 2014, at St Ephrem's Monastery, Maarat Saidnaya, near Damascus, Syria.

Baselios Thomas I oversaw the ceremony.

Karim took the patriarchal name Ignatius, replacing his episcopal name Cyril, and, being the second patriarch to bear the monastic name Aphrem (the first being Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum), his name became Ignatius Aphrem II.

Unlike his immediate predecessors, but following older convention, Aphrem II chose not to use his family name, Karim, in his official title.

The Patriarch celebrated New Year 2015 with refugees and displaced Christians in Northern Iraq.

Patriarchal Liturgy was served along with special prayers.

He undertook a pastoral visit to India from 7–19 February 2015.

In 2016, Ignatius said "Russia has given hope to the people of Syria," in support of the Russian military intervention in Syria during the Syrian Civil War.

Since his enthronement, he has made many apostolic visits between Iraq and Syria to assist Christians displaced by the advance of ISIS and the general turmoil caused by the Syrian Civil War.