Ignatius Abded Aloho II

Abded was born on June 7, 1833 in the village of Sadad, a predominantly Syriac Orthodox village, south of Homs. He became a monk at an early age, and was later ordained priest. In 1870, he toured the Tur Abdin region and recorded the names of villages, monasteries, churches, clergy and the families living in the area.

He was appointed metropolitan bishop of Diyarbekir Vilayet in 1872 by Patriarch Ignatius Peter IV, taking the name Gregorios, and in August 1874 accompanied him to Britain to persuade the British government to assist the church in India. They stayed here until April 1875, when they left for India to reorganise the church in India with the help of the British governor. Whilst in India, Abded fraternised with Protestant missionaries.[1] After returning to Syria he spread Protestant ideas.[2]

They left India in May 1877 and remained in Syria before returning to London in 1879, where he secured a printing press for the Monastery of Mor Hananyo. Upon his return, Abded was ordained Bishop of Homs and Hama and left to attend the 1888 Lambeth Conference, and secured a second printing press.

After the death of Ignatius Peter IV in 1894, a rivalry began between Abded and Abded Mshiho to be elected to the patriarchal throne. According to American missionaries operating in Syria at the time, the Ottoman government interfered and intimidated bishops based on the highest bidder.[3] However, in 1895, Abded Mshiho was elected and consecrated patriarch.

The following year, in 1896, Abded joined the Syriac Catholic Church and became Metropolitan of Homs. He was a Syrian Uniate for 9 years. In 1905, Abded renounced the church and took up his position as Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Amid again, under the promise of becoming the Patriarch upon its vacancy.

The Patriarch, Ignatius Abdul Masih II, was deposed in 1903 by the Ottoman government, and Metropolitan Abded was elected as new Patriarch of Antioch as Ignatius Abded Aloho II effective 1906. The circumstances of how Patriarch Ignatius Abdul Masih II and by who and why is highly controversial within the Syriac Orthodox church. Some claimed that the Patriarch had developed serious drinking problems particularly after the 1895 Massacres of Diyarbakır and that's why a number of Syriac bishops demanded he be retaired. Whereas supporters of Abded Mshiho claim Abded Sattuf bribed the Ottoman Government to issue a firman deposing Abded Mshiho as Patriarch and that he was not excommunicated by the Holy Synod. Abded Sattuf claimed the patriarchal throne by paying £500 to secure his election and was enthroned on August 15, 1906 as an exception that he was never been a Maphrian and left for London shortly after.[4]

Whilst in London, Abded met with King Edward VII twice and received a medal. He travelled to India in 1908 and began ordaining Indian bishops much to the chagrin of the local church. This led to the demand of a Maphrian or Catholicos to prevent the Malankara Church coming under Abded's control. In 1910, Abded established the Knanaya (Autonomous) Archdiocese). In 1912, the dispute over authority between supporters of the Malankara Metropolitan and supporters of the Patriarch finally divided the Malankara Church, with the former group becoming the essentially independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church headed by the Catholicos of the East and the latter maintaining ties with the Patriarch of Antioch as the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. Motions by the church leaders and two Supreme Court decisions in the 20th century failed to heal the rift.

He also travelled to Jerusalem in 1912.[5]

Abded resided at the Monastery of Mor Marqos from March 17, 1912 until his death on July 17, 1915, where he was also buried.