PROFILE: Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim; beacon of the Orthodox Church pronounced dead

Patriarch Ignatius IV (Hazim) of Antioch and All The East (born 1921) held the position as the primate of the "Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East".

Ignatius was born Habib Hazim in 1921 in the village of Mhardeh near Hama in Syria. He is the son of a pious Greek Orthodox family and from an early age leaned towards serving the Church.

While studying literature in Beirut, he entered the service of the local Orthodox diocese, first by becoming an acolyte, then as a deacon.

During his studies at the American University of Beirut, young Habib was influenced by his outstanding philosophy professor Charles Malik.

In 1945 he went to Paris where he graduated from the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute.

On his return to the Eastern Mediterranean, he founded the University of Balamand in Lebanon which he then served for many years as dean. As Dean he sought to provide the Patriarchate with responsible leaders who had received a good spiritual and intellectual training and who were witnesses to an awakened and deeply personal faith.

While his native language is Arabic, he also speaks fluent English and French.

He was one of the founders of the active Orthodox Youth Movement of Lebanon and Syria in 1942, through which he helped organize and lead a renewal of Church life in the Patriarchate of Antioch.

In 1953 he helped found Syndesmos, the world fellowship of Orthodox Youth and Theological Schools.

He was consecrated to the episcopacy in 1961 and elected Metropolitan of Lattakia in Syria in 1970.

On July 2, 1979, under the name of Ignatius IV, he became the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, the third ranking hierarch of the Orthodox Church after the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Alexandria.

During an official visit to the patriarch's residence in May 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awarded the patriarch the Russian Order of Friendship.

On Tuesday, St. George Hospital in Achrafieh announced the Patriarch was admitted into the intensive care unit after suffering a brain stroke, stressing that he was in stable condition.     

Hazim was initially hospitalized on November 5 for what the hospital's administration had said were routine medical checks.     

Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim was pronounced dead on 5 December 2012. He was 91 years old.      

Causes leading to the deterioration in his health remain unknown.

In this context, PM Najib Mikati ordered the cabinet's general secretariat to pronounce Patriarch Hazim's funeral as a national day of mourning.

It was later announced that Patriarch Hazim’s funeral will be held at noon on Sunday Jan. 9th at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Ashrafieh.