Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II about his homeland and Syriac-Aramaic origin

MORAN MOR IGNATIUS APHREM-II is the 123rd Patriarch of the See of Antioch & All The East adorning the Throne of St. Peter, the Chief of Apostles, and the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church. His Holiness was chosen to lead the Holy Church at the Universal Synod held on Monday 31st March 2014 at Lebanon after the demise of blessed Patriarch Ignatius Zakka-I Iwas and was installed as the supreme head of the Syriac Church at a divine ceremony presided over by Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas-I, the Catholicos of India and assisted by the metropolitans of the Universal Church, held at the St. Peter & St. Paul's Cathedral in the monastery of Mor Aphrem in Ma`arat Sayyidnaya near Damascus, Syria on 29th May 2014, the remembrance day of Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem-II was born in Qamishli, Syria, on May 3, 1965 as the youngest child of Issa and Khanema Karim. The family were originally from Ehwo, a small town in the Turabdin region within the Province of Mardin in S.E. Turkey and was later shifted residence to Qamishli in northeastern Syria at the time of Christian persecution in the region.