Naharnet

Hazim's Funeral Held in Beirut as He Will Be Laid to Rest in Damascus

The funeral of late Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim of Antioch and all the East was be held in Beirut on Sunday ahead of being laid to rest in Damascus, Syria.

The funeral was held at noon at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district and attended by a number of politicians, including President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

Hazim's coffin was then transferred to the Mariamite Cathedral in Damascus where it will be put on display until Monday afternoon when it will be buried at the cathedral's graveyard.

Hazim passed away on Wednesday after suffering a stroke.

Born in 1921 in Mhardeh in Syria's Hama province, he graduated with a degree in philosophy from the American University of Beirut in 1945, and went on to study liturgy in France in 1949.

He was one of the founders of the Orthodox Youth Movement in 1942.

Upon his return to Lebanon, he founded the University of Balamand in northern Lebanon.

He was consecrated as a bishop in 1962, and was elected as the Metropolitan of the Latakia province in Syria in 1970.

Hazim was chosen to become Antioch's 157th patriarch on July 2, 1979.


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