Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas laid to rest in Sednaya
28/3/14
Damascus, (SANA): The body of Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, was laid to rest on Friday at the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral of St. Ephraim Monastery in Sednaya.
A funeral ceremony for Patrach Iwas was held earlier at St. George’s Cathedral in Damascus, presided upon by patriarchal delegate Mar Sawarius Hawa, who also presided upon the burial ceremony.
Hawa gave a speech during the funeral ceremony accentuating the virtues of the late Patriarch, saying that Iwas loved Syria dearly and remained faithful to it till the end.
Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Azzam, delegated by President Bashar al-Assad, took part in the funeral ceremony and offered condolences.
The body of the late Patriarch, who passed away last Friday in one of the medical centers in Germany, was laid out at the Cathedral on Thursday for Muslim clergymen, heads of Christian denominations and people to have one last look at him.
Upon its arrival in Bab Touma Square in Damascus earlier, the Patriarch’s body was carried on shoulders and carried from the square to St. George’s Cathedral, accompanied by an official and public procession of people who gathered to pay their last respects.
