Ignatius II


Ignatius II was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 878 until his death in 883.

Biography

Ignatius was born in the 9th century and became a monk at the monastery of Harbaz. He was chosen to succeed John IV as patriarch of Antioch and was consecrated on 5 June 878 by Timothy of Samosata at a synod at the monastery of Saint Zacchaeus at Raqqa, which was attended by four bishops. Upon his consecration, Ignatius issued twelve canons.
He soon came into conflict with Sergius, archbishop of Tikrit and ex officio Grand Metropolitan of the East, the highest-ranking prelate amongst the eastern bishops. Sergius had lost the recognition of the eastern bishops after he had allocated dioceses to Elisha' and Bar Hadh Bshabba, who had been excommunicated by both Patriarch John IV and Basil II Lazarus, Sergius' predecessor as archbishop of Tikrit and Grand Metropolitan of the East. He was thus not invited to attend Ignatius' consecration, to which he responded by withholding his recognition of Ignatius and refused to have his name proclaimed in the east.
The dispute between Ignatius and Sergius was eventually resolved after they were imprisoned and fined 2000 dinars. He served as patriarch of Antioch until his death on 26 March 883 at Meriba, where he was buried.

Episcopal succession

As patriarch, Ignatius ordained the following bishops:
  1. Severus, bishop of Res-Kepha
  2. Abraham, archbishop of Anazarbus
  3. Sergius, archbishop of Cyrrhus
  4. Cyriacus, archbishop of Edessa
  5. Abraham, bishop of Aleppo
  6. John, bishop of Germanicia
  7. Michael, bishop of Samosata
  8. John, archbishop of Amida
  9. Abraham, bishop of Circesium
  10. Elias, bishop of Hadath
  11. Simeon, bishop of Zuptara
  12. Cyril, bishop of Maipherqat
  13. Gabriel, bishop of Sarug
  14. Jacob, bishop of Baalbek
  15. Cyriacus, archbishop of Anazarbus
  16. Constantine, bishop of Harran
  17. Aaron, archbishop of Maipherqat
  18. Gabriel, bishop of Arabia
  19. Matthew, archbishop of Dara
  20. Iwannis, bishop of Abadqawan
  21. Severus, archbishop of Segestan
  22. Severus, archbishop of Raqqa
  23. Theodosius, bishop of Doula
  24. John, archbishop of Mabbogh
  25. John, bishop of Doliche
  26. Severus, archbishop of Jerusalem