Advertise in this spot on CatholicCulture.org. View all ads.

Catholic World News News Feature

Pope Recognizes New Leader for Syrian Catholic Church February 26, 2001

VATICAN, Feb. 26, 01 (CWNews.com) – Pope John Paul II has recognized the election of a new leader for the Syrian Catholic Church: Patriarch Ignace Pierre VIII of Antioch.

In a formal letter made public by the Vatican on Monday, the Pontiff also extended full ecclesial communion to the new Syrian Catholic leader.

Patriarch Ignace Pierre VIII was elected by the Syrian Catholic synod of bishops on February 16, to fill the post that was vacated when Patriarch Ignace Moussa I Daoud resigned to take up his new duties as prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

The new patriarch followed the tradition of the Syrian Catholic Church in taking the name Ignace followed by another name of his own choosing. He was born Gregory Peter Abdel-Ahad in Syria in 1930, ordained to the priesthood in 1954, and became a bishop in 1996. He has spent most of his priestly ministry in the Holy Land, and was serving as the Exarch of Jerusalem at the time of his election to the patriarchate.

The Syrian Church broke with Rome early in the 5th century, after a series of Christological disputes. In 1782, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Aleppo declared himself to be a Catholic, and successfully sought for a restoration of full communion with the Holy See. Since that time, the Syrian Catholic Church—with headquarters now in Beirut—has come to number about 80,000 faithful. Most of these Eastern-rite Catholics live in Syria, Lebanon, or Iraq, although there are small Syrian Catholic communities in France and the United States.