MORAN MOR IGHNATIUS APHREM THE SECOND PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST
2014

• H. H. was born in Kamishly, Syria on May 3, 1965, the youngest son of Mr. & Mrs. Issa Karim.
• H. H. entered St. Ephrem’s Theological Seminary in Atchaneh, Lebanon in 1977, following his primary schooling in Kamishly and in 1982, he served the Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, Syria, for the next two years. From 1984 to 1988, Fr Karim (then) pursued higher studies at the Coptic Theological Seminary in Cairo, Egypt, graduating with a Bachelor Degree of Divinity.
• In 1985, Fr Karim (then) took the vows of a monk, and put himself in the service of the Church. He was ordained to the diaconate in Egypt, and later the same year, to the sacred priesthood in Kamishly. From 1988 to 1989, Fr Karim (then) served as both, the secretary of His Holiness, Moran Mor Zakka I Iwas, Syrian Orhtodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East (2014+), and as a teacher at St. Ephrem’s Theological Seminary in Damascus, Syria. In 1991 before commencing his studies at St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Ireland, where he received a License of Sacred Theology Degree, in 1992, and his Doctor of Divinity Degree in 1994, following a defense of his doctoral thesis on The Symbolism of the cross in early Syriac Christianity.
• On Sunday, January 28, 1996, Fr Karim was consecrated Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar to the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church for the Eastern United States at the hands of the Thrice Blessed His Holiness Patriarch Zakka I Iwas (2014+) at St. Mary ‘s Syrian Orthodox Church in Kamishly. Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim arrived in The United States on March 2, 1996, and was officially installed to his position at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Teaneck, New Jersey.
• In addition to his many talents, Archbishop Karim is fluent in both Classical and Vernacular (Touroyo) as well as in Arabic, French, and English.
• On Monday 31st March the Holy Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church met and through the power of the Holy Spirit chose Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim as the new Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, the 123rd patriarch of Antioch.
• H. H. was enthroned on May 29, 2014, at St Ephrem's Monastery, Maarat Saidnaya, near Damascus, Syria.
  

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