Ignatius Elias II

Ignatius Elias II (1778–1847) was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1838 until his death in 1847.

Ignatius Elias II
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church	Syriac Orthodox Church
See	Antioch
Installed	1838
Term ended	1847
Predecessor	Ignatius George V
Successor	Ignatius Jacob II
Personal details
Born	Elias 1778 (1778) Mosul, Ottoman Empire
Died	1847 (aged 68–69) Mor Hananyo
Residence	Mor Hananyo

Biography

Elias was born at Mosul about 1778 and was the son of Hindi Karmeh. When he reached his youth, he joined Mor Mattai Monastery near Mosul. He was ordained monk by Metropolitan Eustathios Moosa in 1791 and in 1798 he was appointed the abbot of Mar Behnam Monastery that used to belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church at that time. In 1811 he was ordained as ecumenical metropolitan by Ignatius Matthew and was given the name Gregorius. Then in 1817, he was appointed as Metropolitan of Mosul and Maphrian of the East by Ignatius Yunan and assumed the name Basil Elias III. In 1819, as a Maphrian of the East, he put his hand on the patriarch Ignatius George V at his consecration as the new Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church.^[1]

Patriarchal consecration

In 1836, after the death of Ignatius George V, Gregorius Elias was elected a Patriarch and was given the name Ignatius Elias II. However, the Holy Synod didn't agree to consecrate him until he gets the necessary approvals from the Ottoman government so he had to travel to Istanbul where he spent about 14 months until he got all the approval inaddition to approvals to take back some churches and buildings from the Syriac Catholic Church. He came back to Mor Hananyo and was consecrated in October, 1838.^[2]

Episcopal succession

During Ignatius Elias II time as Patriarch and Metropolitan, he had the duty to ordain and consecrate many Metropolitans in the Syria Orthodox church in addition to tens of priests, monks, and deacons.^[3]

1. Cyril Matthew (1838-1846). Metropolitan of the Patriarchal Office. Later, he was appointed Metropolitan of Mor Mattai Monastery (1846-1858)
2. Gregorios Behnam (1838-1852). Metropolitan of Mosul. Later, he was elected Basil Behnam Maphrian of the East (1852-1859)
3. Eustathios AbdulNour of Al-Ruha (1840-1877). Metropolitan of Jerusalem
4. Cyril George (1842-1847). Bishop of Azekh^[4]
5. Gregprios Behnam (1845-1846). Metropolitan of Mor Hananyo
6. Athanasius Barsoum (1845-1873). Metropolitan of the Monastery of Beth El
7. Cyril Yuyakkim (1845)
8. Julius Peter. Metropolitan of Mardin. Later, in 1872, he was elected Ignatius Peter IV, the 116th Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church