MorIgnatius Abded Aloho II Sattuf also Ignatius Abdullah ll Stephan (June 7, 1833 –November 26, 1915) was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1906 until his death in 1915.
Biography
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 bishop of Jerusalem in 1872[1] 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.[2] After returning to Syria he spread Protestant ideas.[3]
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.[4] However, in 1895, Abded Mshiho was elected and consecrated patriarch.
The following year, in 1896, due to persecution by the Turkish authorities he sought asylum with the French. Then French granted him asylum. Although many falsely claim that he became a Catholic , he never converted to Catholicism from Syriac Orthodoxy. He remained a Syriac Orthodox bishop under asylum with the French for 9 years. In 1905, Abded he was came back as the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Amid again.
Patriarch of Antioch
The Patriarch, Ignatius Abdul Masih II, was deposed in 1903 by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox bishops of Antioch and all the East (the Syriac Orthodox Synod), as he was found to be mentally unfit to be a Patriarch, and Metropolitan Abded was elected as new Patriarch of Antioch as Ignatius Abded Aloho II effective 1906. Some claim the patriarch Abdul Mash II had converted to Catholicism and then to Protestantism. Some others claimed that the Patriarch had developed serious drinking problems particularly after the 1895 Massacres of Diyarbakir after he saw many of his disciples being beheaded and raped.
Whilst in London, Abded Sattuf met with King Edward VII twice and received a medal. He travelled to India in 1908 and ordained Syriac Orthodox bishops of Indian bishops. In 1910, Abded established the Knanaya (Autonomous Archdioceses) and consecrated Geevarghese Mor Severios on August 28, 1910. In 1912, the dispute over authority between the Syriac Orthodox Church and supporters of an excommunicated person masquerading as a Metropolitan led to a situation where the schismatic faction was excommunicated from the Syriac Orthodox Church in particular and Oriental Orthodox communion in general.
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