New Syrian Orthodox Patriarch
Following the death of Patriarch Zakka I Aweis of the Syrian Orthodox Church on March 21, 2014, the Synod has chosen a new patriarch to head the Church.
The new Patriarch is the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of the Eastern United States Kirilos Efrem Karim was elected on March 31, 2014 as Patriarch. The new patriarch, born in 1965 in Syria, took the name Ignatius Efrem II.