Ignatius Aphrem II

In April 2018, Ignatius Aphrem II, together with Patriarch John X of Antioch issued a strong condemnation of the 2018 missile strikes against Syria. They said the bombing "were clear violation of the international laws and the UN Charter", and that the "unjust aggression encourages the terrorist organizations and gives them momentum to continue in their terrorism."

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.

On Sunday 19 June 2016, an ISIS affiliated suicide bomber tried to assassinate Ignatius Aphrem II during a special ceremony commemorating the 101st anniversary of the Ottoman genocide against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Three security officers were killed and five people injured; the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II was unharmed.

Since his enthronement, he has made many visits between Iraq and Syria to assist Christians displaced by the advance of ISIS and the general turmoil caused by the Syrian Civil War. 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. He consecrated churches like St Mary's Church in Marady, St Peter's Church in Peechanikkadu, St George Monastery in Malecruz, St Thomas Church in Madras (Chennai) etc. which are under Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.

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 Thomas I Catholicos of India and Mor Severius Jamil Hawa Archbishop of Baghdad and Basra,the Patriarchal Locum Tenens. The synod elected Cyril Aphrem Karim to be the 122nd successor of St. Peter in the Apostolic See of Antioch. He was enthroned on 29 May 2014, at St Ephrem's Monastery, Maarat Saidnaya, near Damascus, Syria. Baselios Thomas I oversaw the ceremony.

In 2003, Cyril Aphrem Karim published the Book of the Order for the Burial of the Clergy. He also saw to the reprint of works including the Shorter Catechism of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (1999) by former Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum, and the Book of Scripture Readings for Sundays and Feasts Days (2000), originally published by Mor Philoxenus Yuhanon Dolabani of Mardin. Cyril Aphrem Karim encouraged the American Foundation for Syriac Studies to publish a quarterly entitled Syriac Studies and helped co-sponsor a series of public lectures by scholars and intellectuals on Syriac culture, history, literature and theology. In 2004, Cyril Aphrem Karim wrote Symbols of the Cross in the Writings of the Early Syriac Fathers. He has also published two children's books: In The Tree House and Animals from the Bible.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II (Syriac: ܡܪܢ ܡܪܝ ܐܝܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܬܪܝܢܐ ‎ Moran Mor Ignaṭius Afrem Trayono, Arabic: إغناطيوس أفرام الثاني ‎ Iġnāṭīūs Afrām al-Ṯānī; born as Saʿid Karim on 3 May 1965) is the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. He became the 123rd Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch when he was enthroned as patriarch in Damascus on 29 May 2014. Before his election to the patriarchate, he was Archbishop for the Eastern United States of America, and known as Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim in that post. In that role, he established 11 new parishes, introduced 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 Arameans/Syriacs who originally came from the village Ëḥwo (Turkish: Güzelsu) in the Tur Abdin region of Mardin Province, Turkey.[1]