IRAQ: Syriac Patriarch Mar Ignatius Yawsef Younan III ordains Mor Athanasius Firas to Patriarchal Vicar for Basra and the Persian Gulf

BAGHDAD – Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch His Holiness Mar Ignatius Yawsef Younan III yesterday arrived at Baghdad International Airport for the episcopal ordination of Firas Dardar as Patriarchal Vicar for Basra and the Arabian Gulf. His Holiness was received by the Syriac Catholic Archbishops in Iraq Mar Ephrem Yawsef Abba, Mar Youhanna Boutros Moshe, Mar Nathanael Nizar Samaan, and bishop-elect Firas Dardar. His Eminence was also received by Iraqi Minister of Finance Dr. Ali Allawi, Members of Parliament, and Head of the Office of Endowments for Christians and Other Religions in Iraq Prof. Raad Jalil Kajaji.

Today, on the ten-year anniversary of the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral siege and massacre by suicide jihadists, His Holiness Mar Ignatius Yawsef Younan III ordained Firas Dardar as Patriarchal Vicar for Basra and the Arabian Gulf.