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| Photo: Mohammad Azakir/The Daily Star. |
His Beatitude, IGNATIUS IV (Habib Hazim), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of the God-City of Antioch and All the East, reposed in our Lord on December 5, 2012. He died after complications from a stroke suffered the day before in Damascus, and was transferred to the Saint George medical facility in Beirut, Lebanon, where he ultimately expired.
His Beatitude will undergo funeral and viewing services in both Lebanon (Saint Nicholas Church and Balamand Monastery) and Syria (Mariameh Cathedral), and will ultimately be laid to rest at the Patriarchal cemetery in Damascus—a city that is presently being torn apart by foreign invaders and Islamic extremists. His burial will occur on Sunday, December 9.
The death of the Patriarch leaves a vacancy in the ancient See of Antioch, one of the original five patriarchates of the “Pentarchy,” which also included Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome and Constantinople, prior to the rift between the Latin church and the churches of the east in the eleventh century and afterwards. A locum tenens will be named in the coming days, and the election of a new Patriarch—the 171st such bishop in succession from the apostle Peter, who founded the Church of Antioch—will follow, in accordance with the synodal procedures of the Church.
But what stands before this next Patriarch is no less than a daunting task. Indeed, one could even go so far as to say that the next leader of Antioch will be presented with an opportunity for sainthood, should he be vigilant in overcoming the multitude of issues that face this struggling Church and nation.
The chaos of the past year or so—the so-called “rebellion,” hostility from Israel and Western powers, foreign invaders and Islamic extremism—are only the most recent of tumultuous events to face both the Patriarchate of Antioch and the native Christians in Syria (over 1 million strong, at least prior to the onset of the “rebellion”).
To make matters worse, many of the Orthodox Christians in Iraq fled to Syria following the Western invasion in 2003, and are now being faced with the prospect of further displacement, should Western forces have their way and eliminate the secular government that is currently in power in Damascus. As has occurred already in Libya, Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere, once the leadership that is not “in the back pocket” of Western powers has been eliminated in Syria, too, a radical Islamic regime will ultimately take its place, leading to the prospect of even more persecution, segregation, and displacement of Christians.
The late Patriarch was outspoken in his opposition to the foreign rebellion (truly, an invasion force) that is occurring in Syria at present. As he once said, the “consequences” of “harmful, foreign intervention” would be detrimental to the livelihood and peace of both Christians and Muslims. While Orthodox Christianity enjoyed many decades and centuries of relative peace in the middle east and elsewhere under Ottoman rule, the stability of such a relationship is strained beyond measure when foreign forces as well as militant extremists are given free rein in a relatively helpless nation.
IGNATIUS IV was an advocate for both peace and understanding, and he was also a Patriarch with a missionary’s heart—especially to the “Gentile” world of the diaspora. This is rather fitting, as the Church of Antioch began its life as a home base for such missionary activity, with the apostle Paul being the most paramount example. Thanks to his leadership and motivation, there is now an Archdiocese of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in North America (and in many other nations around the world), as well as a distance-education program for people interested in serving the Church and learning more about their faith. This program also provides graduate degrees in connection with the University of Balamand in Lebanon, another first-of-its-kind innovation under the Patriarch’s guidance. During his bishopric (1979-2012), the Church of Antioch worked fervently to spread the Gospel to the nations, just as in the days of the apostles. The Patriarch also helped to establish an Orthodox world youth movement (Syndesmos), as well as emphasizing the practice of frequent communion—something that had fallen out of habit in Antioch and in other Orthodox churches in the previous centuries, no doubt due to Latin influence (cf. the Kollyvades movement in Greece).
There is no overestimating the loss that is to be felt by Orthodox Christians worldwide in the repose of this godly and revered Pastor. A man that traveled as a humble servant, never carrying any money or possessions of his own as he went from place to place (living only on the charity of others), Patriarch IGNATIUS IV was a true Shepherd and took great care of his flock.
As the turmoil continues in Syria (and in the Patriarchal headquarters of Damascus), it is incumbent on all of us, as Orthodox Christians, to pray for the election of a Patriarch that will be up to the challenge of continuing the mission of the Church of Antioch, as not only a Church that brings the Gospel to the nations but also a Church that prays for peace and stability in the middle east.
May his memory be eternal, and may he find true rest from his labors in the bright place of light and solace. And with the great Saint, Ignatius of Antioch (circa AD 98-117), the third Bishop of the See of Antioch, I must petition everyone to Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which now has God for its shepherd (Epistle to the Romans, Ch. 9).
May Syria be granted a new earthly Shepherd, and that quickly; one with the same motivation and love for the whole world as demonstrated by IGNATIUS IV. These are perilous times.