Church Hierarchy

Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church and the 123rd successor of St. Peter in the Apostolic See of Antioch.

Born Sa'id Karim on May 3, 1965 in Qamishli, Syria, to a Syriac Orthodox family from Tur Abdin. He studied at St. Ephrem's Theological Seminary in Atchaneh, Lebanon, earned a Bachelor of Divinity from the Coptic Theological Seminary in Cairo (1988), and a Licentiate (1992) and Doctorate in Divinity (1994) from St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland.

He became a monk and was ordained a priest in 1985, taking the name Aphrem, and served as secretary to Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas.

Consecrated Metropolitan in 1996 as Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim, he served as Archbishop and Patriarchal Vicar of the Eastern United States until 2014, based in Teaneck, New Jersey. He grew the archdiocese to 20 parishes and founded its youth organization and Sunday School committee.

Elected Patriarch by the Holy Synod on March 31, 2014, he was enthroned on May 29, 2014 at St. Ephrem's Monastery, Maarat Saidnaya, near Damascus, taking the name Ignatius Aphrem II.

He speaks Syriac, Arabic, English and French, and is known for his ecumenical work and his pastoral care for displaced Christians in Syria and Iraq.

Catholicos of India and head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. Born November 10, 1960 in Mulanthuruthy, Kerala, he served for many years as secretary to Perumpally Thirumeni (H.G. Geevarghese Mor Gregorios).

He was consecrated Metropolitan as Joseph Mor Gregorios by Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas in Damascus on January 16, 1994, and served as Metropolitan of the Kochi diocese and as President of the MJSSA Sunday School Association. He was elected Metropolitan Trustee in 2019 and later Malankara Metropolitan.

He was consecrated Catholicos by Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II on March 25, 2025 at St. Mary's Cathedral, Atchaneh, Lebanon, succeeding the late Mor Baselios Thomas I, and was enthroned at Puthencruz on March 30, 2025.

Archbishop and Patriarchal Vicar of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America.