Mar Ignatius Dionysius Ephrem II Rahmani (21 November 1848 – 7 May 1929) was

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

of the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac ...

from 1898 to 1929 and a Syriac scholar.

Life

Ephrem Rahmani was born on 21 November 1848 (or on 9 November 1849 according to other sources) in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

. He studied with the Dominican friars in Mosul and later in the College of the Propaganda in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and was ordained priest in April 1873. Rahmani was appointed vicar to the bishop of Mosul with the

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

title of bishop of

Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...

and consecrated bishop on 2 October 1887 by Patriarch Ignatius George V Shelhot. On 1 May 1894 Rahmani was appointed bishop of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. After the death of

Ignatius Behnam II Benni Mor Ignatius Behnam II Benni (1831–1897) was Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church from 1893 to 1897. Life Behnam Benni was born on 14 August 1831 (Julian Calendar) near Mosul. In 1847 he was admitted in the College of the Propaganda in ...

(13 September 1897) he was elected Patriarch on 9 October 1898 and confirmed by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

on 28 November 1898. As patriarch Rahmani was particularly interested in the instruction of the clergy. The early 20th-century was a period of expansion for the

who received many

Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...

converts. In 1910 he moved the

Patriarchal See Patriarchate (, ; , ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, referring to the office and jurisdiction of a patriarch. According to Christian tradition, three patriarchates—Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria—were establish ...

from

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. The arrival of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

was catastrophic: the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

brought destruction also to the Christian Syrians who lived in the same areas as the Armenians, with the result that the Syriac Catholic Church had the number of its members cut by half with five dioceses (of ten) and fifteen missions destroyed. Ephrem Rahmani died in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

on 7 May 1929.

Works

Ephrem Rahmani was a liturgical scholar of international repute. In 1899 he discovered and published the first edition of the 4th-century text '' Testamentum Domini''. His main contribution on the history of the liturgy is his book ''Les Liturgies Orientales et Occidentales'', Beyrouth, 1929.

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahmani, Ignatius Ephrem Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire Syriac Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch 1929 deaths 1848 births Religious leaders from Mosul 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century clergy from the Ottoman Empire Bishops in the Ottoman Empire 19th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops 20th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops Bishops of Edessa