Yohanna Ibrahim

His Eminence Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim
Archbishop of Aleppo
Archbishop Gregorios Yohanna (left), of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Aleppo, with Austrian politician Reinhold Lopatka (right) in 2012.
Native name	ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ ܝܘܚܢܢ ܐܝܒܪܗܝܡ غريغوريوس يوحنا ابراهيم
Archdiocese	Antioch
See	Aleppo
Installed	4 March 1979
Term ended	18 October 2019
Successor	Peter Qissees[1]
Personal details
Born	18 August 1948 Qamishli, Syria
Denomination	Syriac Orthodox
Alma mater	St. Ephrem Theological Seminary (Zahle, Lebanon) Pontifical Oriental Institute University of Birmingham

Mor Yohanna Ibrahim (Arabic: يوحنا إبراهيم) also Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim (Syriac: ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ ܐܒܪܗܡ ܝܘܚܢܢ | Griḡoryos Abrohom Yohannon), born August 18, 1948, is the former Syriac Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo. He was kidnapped on April 22, 2013, along with Paul Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Aleppo.^[2]

Yohanna Ibrahim was born August 18, 1948, in Qamishli, Syria to devout and faithful parents: Ibrahim Ibrahim and Fahima Qumi. He is the eldest and has five brothers and three sisters. He began his early education in Syriac schools, attending the Al-Hurriya Primary School and the Al-Nahda Syriac Secondary School. In 1962, he enrolled in the St. Ephrem Theological Seminary in Zahle, Lebanon, graduating in 1967 with a diploma in theology and philosophy. That same year, the Patriarchate appointed him secretary of the Archdiocese of Mosul, a position he held until 1973. During this period, he also taught religion at the Mar Toma and Orthodox schools, served on the local ecumenical committee, which produced a unified Christian catechism series for all denominations; he authored two volumes in this series and participated in the founding of the journal Between the Rivers, which continues to be published in Iraq.^[3]

On 26 July 1973, in the Church of Al-ʿAtshana in Bikfaya, he was ordained monk by the late Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob III. That same year, he received a scholarship to study at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he specialized in Eastern ecclesiastical sciences and Eastern canon law. He earned a master’s degree in history with highest honors, presenting a thesis entitled The City of Raqqa in Syria and the Famous Monastery of Mor Zakka There, and also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Eastern canon law with a "very good" grade, with a thesis entitled The Election of Bishops According to the Letters of Severus of Antioch.^[4]

On 15 February 1976, Patriarch Jacob III ordained him to the priesthood in St. George’s Cathedral in Damascus. He was then appointed Patriarchal Vicar in Sweden and Patriarchal Visitor to Europe (1976–1977), during which he ministered to Assyrian refugees and migrants in the Netherlands, visited communities across Europe, and founded the first Syriac Orthodox Church in Europe (St. John the Evangelist in Hengelo, Netherlands) consecrated by the Patriarch on 5 June 1977. In September 1977, he became director of the St. Ephrem Theological Seminary in ʿAtshaneh, reviving it after its closure during the Lebanese Civil War.^[5]

In late 1978, he was canonically elected Metropolitan of Aleppo, and on 4 March 1979, was consecrated at St. Ephrem’s Cathedral by Patriarch Jacob III, with six bishops, the Papal Nuncio to Syria, and various church leaders present. From 1985 to 1987, he pursued doctoral studies at the University of Birmingham, UK, completing his PhD dissertation Christian Arabs in Mesopotamia before Islam.^[3][5]

Metropolitan Ibrahim devoted himself to pastoral, administrative, ecumenical, and educational work in his archdiocese, representing the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch at dozens of international, regional, and local conferences. He served on many significant committees, including the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (1980–1998), the Executive Committee of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission (since 1990), the Vatican’s Commission for Peoples and Religions (since 1987), the International Orthodox–Orthodox Dialogue Committee, the Oriental Orthodox–Roman Catholic Dialogue (Pro Oriente, since 1983), the Executive Committee for Syriac Dialogue (since 1994, uniting all Syriac traditions worldwide), and the Executive Committee of the Middle East Council of Churches (1999–2003), chairing its Faith and Unity Committee in that period.^[3]

He developed education through the Bani Taghlib schools, new religious and social programs, scout troops, and the "Mardin" publishing house, which issued 170 works on Syriac heritage in Syriac, Arabic, and English. He also published catalogues, articles, and lectures internationally.^[3]

Reviving the Syriac Bulletin, he oversaw clinics, schools, residences, clubs, computer centers, and church restorations. He reclaimed the Monastery of Tell ʿAda, built new churches and shrines, and established major community services, including a seniors’ home, the Syrian-French Hospital, and al-Kalima School.^[3]

Ibrahim disappeared in 2013 while traveling with Boulos Yazigi to negotiate the release of two kidnapped priests, Fathers Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz.^[6] It is believed the kidnappers were Chechen.^[7] In March 2019, a Lebanese newspaper reported that Syrian democrats were negotiating for his release from ISIS.^[8] In April 2024, L'Orient-Today published a three-part investigation into the archbishops' disappearance, claiming that the Assad regime was responsible for their kidnapping, with Mār as the primary target.^[9]

The Middle East Council of Churches declared April 22 as "The Ecumenical Day for the Abducted and the Forcibly Absented" in honor of the abducted bishops John Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, in a joint statement from the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch.^[10]

• "The Concept of Jurisdiction and Authority in the Syrian Orthodox Church on Antioch", tr. Monk Melki ^[11]

• Assyrian people
• Syriac Orthodox Church
• Paul Yazigi
• Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war
• Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State
• List of kidnappings

• M.G.Y.Abraham @Morgregorios on Twitter
• Friends of Mor Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim on Facebook
• Syrian Orthodox Archdiocese or Aleppo and Environs Archived 2017-03-28 at the Wayback Machine official website (Arabic language)