Metropolitan John Yazigi as the new Pope of of Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East (photo: Reuters)
The Holy Synod of Antioch headed by Metropolitan Saba Esber, who was elected as acting pope after the death of Pope Ignatius IV, on Monday announced the election of Metropolitan John Yazigi as the new patriarch, taking the name John X, MENA news agency reports.
The new patriarch of Antioch and all the East succeeds Pope Ignatius IV Hazim who passed away earlier this month due to a stroke. Patriarch Ignatius IV led the Antioch Church for more than thirty years.
Metropolitan John Yazigi was born in 1955 in Latakia governorate, Syria. He studied civil engineering at the University of Tishreen, Syria.
In 1978, he got a degree in Christian theology from St. John of Damascus Institute in University of Balamand, Lebanon.
John X also got a PhD in Christian theology from Thessaloniki University, Greece in 1983.
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