Modifications

==Vie==

Ignatius was born in 1921 in the village of Mhardey (Mhardeh) near Hama in Syria. He is the son of a pious Arab Orthodox family and from an early age was attracted to service within the Church. While studying in Beirut, Lebanon, for a literature degree, he entered the service of the local Orthodox [[diocese]], first by becoming an [[acolyte]], then a [[deacon]]. In 1945 he went to Paris where he graduated from the [[St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute (Paris, France)|St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute]]. From his time in France onwards he has been moved not only by a desire to pass on the deposit of the faith, but also to take Orthodoxy out of its unhistorical ghetto by discovering in its [[Holy Tradition]] living answers to the problems of modern life. On his return to the Middle East, he founded the [[Balamand Orthodox Theological Seminary (Tripoli, Lebanon)|Balamand Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in Lebanon which he then served for many years as dean. As dean he sought to provide the Patriarchate with responsible leaders who had received a good spiritual and intellectual training and who were witnesses to an awakened and deeply personal faith.