The Syriac Orthodox Church is a church with roots in early Christianity, and is rich in saints, writers, church fathers, theologians, and martyrs.
SOKU has long had the goal of trying to elevate these prominent people who have helped shape the Christian church throughout the world, by, among other things, highlighting their works and deeds. Therefore, in 2007, in collaboration with (SNS) the Syrian Network in Sweden and SUA (Syriac Universal Alliance), they organized a two-day conference in memory of the great patriarch Afrem I Barsoum. That conference attracted about a thousand participants, and there were about ten speakers from all over the world, including Bishop Gregorius Yuhanna Ibrahim, bishop of Aleppo, Bishop Severius Ishak Saka, bishop of St. Ephraim Seminary in Iraq, Bishop Silvanus Petrus Al-Nehme, bishop of Homs and Hama Syria, Phil dr Assad Sauma Assad, Dr Aziz abdulnur and Phil dr Henry Keefa.
In 2008, SOKU continued in the same spirit and organized a conference in collaboration with the Patriarchal Representative Council and the Diocese Board of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden; a conference in memory of the 1300th anniversary of St. James of Edessa. The conference took place in St. Afrem, the Syriac Orthodox Church in Södertälje and the guest speaker was His Eminence Gregorius Yuhanna Ibrahim, Archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo.
In addition to Bishop Mor Dioskoros Benjamin Atas, the conference attracted about ten priests and about a hundred people. The lecturer spoke in a very captivating, comical and educational way about how St. James modernized the church and structured many of the liturgies that are used by the church today, about how he wanted to renew the church, from being a rule book to being practiced in public life. At the end there was also time for questions and discussions where many interesting topics were raised. The lecture was filmed by the Syrian TV channel Suryoyo Sat and broadcast on a number of occasions so that even those who could not attend the conference could take part in it.
The day before, the same lecture was held in St. Mary's Church in Örebro. This lecture attracted approximately 300 listeners from both Örebro and the surrounding cities.
During Archbishop Gregorius Yuhanna Ibrahim's approximately 10-day stay in Sweden and the patriarchal diocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church, the focus was on St. James of Edessa. Therefore, in connection with this visit, two longer interviews about St. James were also made on the TV channel Suryoyo Sat. During that Sunday, a holy service was celebrated in St. Afrem's Syrian Orthodox Church in Södertälje.
Archbishop Gregorius Yuhanna Ibrahim spoke of the discovery of the monastery where St. James of Edessa is buried, and of a Syriac Orthodox service being held there during the summer, something that has not been done for about 1,000 years due to the circumstances that existed in the area. His Eminence had also organized a conference on the same theme in Aleppo during the summer, where one of the world's most knowledgeable academics in the Syriac (Aramaic) language, Sebastian Brock, and several other academics were invited, including George Kiraz.
We thank His Highness for enriching us with his presence and great knowledge in Sweden. It is always a great honor to have Bishop Gregorius Yuhanna Ibrahim among us. SOKU Chairman Yusuf Aydin thanked him very much for the lecture by handing over a bouquet of flowers and a beautiful icon.
Josef Aslan – MU