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 as Yeshu; he went on to become a monk at the Monastery of Harbaz. After the death of Patriarch John III, the Holy See of Antioch was vacant between 873 and 878. In 878, the metropolitan bishops of the Syriac Orthodox Church convened at the Monastery of Mor Zacchaeus, near Raqqa and elected Yeshu as Patriarch and he was consecrated as patriarch on June 5 878. Upon his consecration, Yeshu took the name Ignatius.

At the same synod Ignatius issued twelve cannons, of which we still have a copy, aside from the first, second and part of the third cannons. During his tenureship, Ignatius ordained twenty-six metropolitans and bishops before dying in 883.