Elias IV of Antioch explained

Elias IV Mouawwad
إلياس الرابع معوض
Patriarch Of:Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Church:Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch
Enthroned:1970
Ended:1979
Predecessor:Theodosius VI of Antioch
Successor:Ignatius IV of Antioch
Birth Date:1914
Birth Place:Ottoman Syria
Death Date:June 21, 1979
Death Place:Damascus, Syria

Patriarch Elias IV (Arabic: البطريرك إلياس الرابع ; born ʾIlyās Muʿawwaḍ Arabic: إلياس معوض; 1914 – June 21, 1979) was the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East from 1970 to 1979.

Biography

Elias Mouawwad was born in 1914, in an Orthodox Christian family in modern-day Lebanon. He was ordained deacon in 1932, graduating from the Halki Theological School in 1939. In 1959, he was consecrated Metropolitan of Aleppo and Alexandretta, being elected Patriarch of Antioch on September 25, 1970, succeeding Theodosius VI only six days after his death.[1]

Elias's pontificate was characterized by intense partification in Eastern Mediterranean politics, plus increased participation in the Arab diaspora, lines that would mark Middle Eastern Christian hierarchy henceforth. He emphatically referred to his faithful as "Arab Christians", a denomination that was then not as widespread. In February 1974, he took part in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation 2nd Summit, in Lahore, being called on occasion by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia "Patriarch of the Arabs".[2] In 1977, Patriarch Elias met President Jimmy Carter, being the first Patriarch of Antioch to ever visit the United States, and reiterated the necessity of independence for Palestinians.[3] He consecrated with Metropolitan Ignátios Ferzli the Catedral Metropolitana Ortodoxa in São Paulo, Brazil, the following year. He died in Damascus on June 21, 1979, after suffering a heart attack.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. 98. 27 September 1970. San Antonio Express. Bishop Elias Muawad of Aleppo has been elected by the Antioch Holy Synod in Beirut as the 163rd patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and the entire East.
  2. Book: Hage, Wolfgang. 111. Das orientalische Christentum. 2007. Stuttgart. Kohlhammer Verlag. 9783170176683.
  3. News: Antiochian Patriarch Elias IV. 25 June 1979. Washington Post.
  4. News: Antiochian Patriarch Elias IV . 1979-06-25 . . Washington, D.C. . 0190-8286 . 1330888409.