Ignatius Jacob II

Ignatius Jacob II was the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1847 until his death in 1871.^[1]

Ignatius Jacob II
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church	Syriac Orthodox Church
See	Antioch
Installed	1847
Term ended	1871
Predecessor	Ignatius Elias II
Successor	Ignatius Peter IV
Personal details
Born	Jacob (Yacuob) 1800 Qa’at Mara, Ottoman Empire
Died	1871 (aged 70–71) Diyarbakır
Residence	Mor Hananyo

Biography

Jacob was born at the village of Qal'at Mara east of Mor Hananyo in 1800. He was the son of Yousif Kapso and when he reached adulthood, he left his village to Tur Abdin and started to study under Ignatius Yunan at the Monastery of MOR Elias near a village called Hbob. He became a monk in 1818 and in 1819 he was elevated to the rank of Monk-Priest. In 1831, Patriarch Ignatius George V ordained him as ecumenical metropolitan as Cyril and appointed him as metropolitan of Mor Hananyo and Mardin. After his ordination, he traveled to Tbilisi that was part of Russian Empire at that time and contacted the Nicholas I of Russia looking for help in taking back the churches and monasteries that were takien over by the schismic part of the church. In 1844, he was appointed Patriarchal Vicar in the city of Istanbul where he bought a house and converted it to a church after obtaining the necessary permits and called this church St. Mary.^[2] While he was in Istanbul, he bought a small printing press with Syriac fonts and published two books.^[3] The first was a prayer book in Garshuni and the second was the book of Psalms in Syriac. After he finished printing the two books, he headed back to Mardin and Mor Hananyo to distribute these two books and visit his family and to collect funds to pay the debts that Patriarch Ignatius Elias II incurred during his legal pursues to claim back the Syriac Orthodox churches in Mosul.^[1]

Patriarchal consecration

Upon arriving to Diyarbakir, Cyril Jacob heard that the Patriarch Ignatius Elias II died. so he continued his was to Mor Hananyo and Mardin. In the monastery a synod was held and all the Metropolitans who participated in the Synod voted to elect Cyril Jacob as the new Patriarch for the Syriac Orthodox Church.^[1] When the two Metropolitans from Mosul and Mor Mattai Monastery arrived after the election, they both approved the election of Cyril Jacob. He was consecrated as a Patriarch shortly after. One of the other decisions of the Synod is appointing Metropolitan Julius Peter as metropolitan of Damascus who later was elected as a new Patriarch after Jacob II death and assumed the name Ignatius Peter IV In 1852 he selected Basil Behnam IV to be the new Syriac Orthodox Church Mapherian of the East and he stayed until he died in 1859. After Basil Behnam IV death, the Mapherianate office was abolished

Episcopal succession

During Ignatius Jacob II time as Patriarch and Metropolitan, he had the duty to ordain and consecrate one Mapherian and many Metropolitans in the Syria Orthodox church in addition to tens of priests, monks, and deacons.^[1][4]

1. Basil Behnam IV (1852-1859). Mapherian of the East
2. Philoxinous Zaytoun of Anhil (1848-1855). Metropolitan of Midyat
3. Cyril Denha (1858-1871). Bishop of Monastery of St. Matthew
4. Julius Abdulnasih (1858). Metropolitan of Amid
5. Abdulmassih (1860). Metropolitan of Diyarbakir
6. Disyonius Behnam (1860). Metropolitan of Ma'adan
7. Cyril George (1860-1917). Ecumenical Metropolitan, then Metropolitan of Mosul (1862-1864), al-Bushairiyya, Diyarbakr, and al-Ruha (Edessa).
8. Disyonius Behnam (1864–1911). Metropolitan of Mosul

Death

Ignatius Jacob II died in February 12, 1871 after what looked like a stroke and he was buried near the South alter at the St. Mary Church, Diyarbakır.^[1]