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Ignatius Matthew

Ignatius Matthew
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
ChurchSyriac Orthodox Church
SeeAntioch
Installed1782
Term ended1817
PredecessorIgnatius George IV
SuccessorIgnatius Yunan
Personal details
Born
Matthew

Mardin, Ottoman Empire
Died1817
Mor Hananyo
ResidenceMor Hananyo

Ignatius Matthew (Matta) was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1782 until his death in 1817.[1]

Biography

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Matthew's father was Deacon Yeshu from Mardin. He joined Mor Hananyo and was ordaned a priest and became the abbot of the monsatery.[1] After Ignatius George IV was consecrated as a patriarch, he ordained Matthew as a Metropolitan of Mosul and was called Cyril[1] and due to the conflict with the Syriac Catholic group in Mosul, he was exiled from Mosul for some time.[2] When the Patriarch Ignatius George IV died, he was requested to be the new patriarch, but when he arrived in Mardin, he found that Michael Jarwah, the metropolitan of Aleppo was already there and managed to get himself elected as the Syriac Orthodox Church patriarch even though he was part of the Syriac Catholic church.[2] When that happened, Matthew went and stayed in a village called Qeleth in Tur Abdin. There, all the metropolitan in Tur-Abdin met and elected Ignatius Matthew a legitimate patriarch for the Syriac Orthodox Church. When the firman from the Ottoman government arrived approving his election, he was consecrated as a patriarch.[1] One of the Metropolitan that he ordained in 1806 was called Behnam and he was from the Mosul area. [1] Ignatius Matthew consecrated him as a patriarch when he was still alive against the church tradition but after he knew he doesn’t have a true Orthodox faith, he was interrogated by the Church fathers and therefore Behnam was excommunicated from the church and ordered to leave Mor Hananyo.[1] Shortly before his death in 1817, Ignatius Matthew called Basil Yunan, the Maphrian of the East and consecrated him as patriarch Ignatius Yunan in the attendance of 4 metropolitan.[1]

Episcopal succession

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During Ignatius Matthew time as Patriarch, he had the duty to ordain many Metropolitans in the Syria Orthodox church in addition to tens of priests, monks, and deacons [2][3]

  1. Basil Yunan (1803-1817). Maphrian of the East. Later in 1817, he was elected Ignatius Yunan, the 112 Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church (1817-1818).
  2. Gregorios George (1803). Metropolitan of Damascus and added Aleppo in 1817. Later in 1819, he was elected Ignatius George V, the 113 Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church (1819-1836).
  3. Severus John Al-Bustani (1783-1825). Bishop
  4. Disyuqarius Sa'eed (1783). Metropolitan of Al-Jazirah
  5. Cyril Isreal (1785). Metropolitan for the Monastery of the Cross in Tur-Abdin
  6. Ostatius Moosa (1789). Metropolitan of Manastery of St. Matthew
  7. Basil Bishara (1789-1803). Maphrian of the East
  8. Cyril Abdulahad (1791). Metropolitan of St. Mark
  9. Cyril Elias (1803). Ecumenical Metropolitan
  10. Athanasius Ne’ma (1803). Metropolitan of Monastery for Mother of God in Hattakh area
  11. Dionysius Shamoun (1803). Ecumenical Metropolitan
  12. Julius Abdulahad (1803). Metropolitan for Monastery of MOR Abhai and Gargar
  13. Behnam (1806). Ecumenical Metropolitan

Death

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Ignatius Matthew died in July 1817, 20 days after he consecrated Ignatius Yunan as a patriarch and he was buried in Mor Hananyo.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Barsoum, Athanasius Aphram (2006). The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs in the 19th &20th centuries (2 ed.). Retrieved 26 December 2024.,
  2. ^ a b c d Dolabani, Philoxenos Yuhanon (2012). History of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs.
  3. ^ Bcheiry, Iskandar (2004). "A list of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchs between 16th end I 8th Century". PAROLE DE L'ORIENT. 29: 211.
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Preceded by Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch
1782-1817 		Succeeded by