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 (AG 1189) 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 (bishops of the former Sasanian Empire). 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 (AG 1194) at Meriba, where he was buried.

Episcopal succession As patriarch, Ignatius ordained the following bishops:

Severus, bishop of Res-Kepha Abraham, archbishop of Anazarbus Sergius, archbishop of Cyrrhus Cyriacus, archbishop of Edessa Abraham, bishop of Aleppo John, bishop of Germanicia Michael, bishop of Samosata John, archbishop of Amida Abraham, bishop of Circesium Elias, bishop of Hadath Simeon, bishop of Zuptara Cyril, bishop of Maipherqat Gabriel, bishop of Sarug Jacob, bishop of Baalbek Cyriacus, archbishop of Anazarbus Constantine, bishop of Harran Aaron, archbishop of Maipherqat Gabriel, bishop of Arabia Matthew, archbishop of Dara Iwannis, bishop of Abadqawan Severus, archbishop of Segestan Severus, archbishop of Raqqa Theodosius, bishop of Doula John, archbishop of Mabbogh John, bishop of Doliche Severus, archbishop of Jerusalem