Patriarch Ignatius Youssif III was elected the new Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church in January of 2009.
The Patriarch was born on November 15th, 1944 in Hassakeh, Syria. He was ordained priest on September 12th, 1971.
In 1986, he was given the task of creating a mission for Syriac Catholics in the area of New York and New Jersey, where he established the first mission of Our Lady of Deliverance.
In 1988, The Patriarch was appointed coordinator of the missionary brothers in the United States and in Canada, by the Congregation of Oriental Churches, and in 1991 he was appointed Apostolic Delegate by the same Congregation, to represent the Syriac rite to the bishops of North America.
In June 1991, he became chorepiscope, and on November 6th, 1995 Pope John Paul II appointed him first bishop of the newborn diocese of Our Lady of Deliverance for Syriac Catholics in the United States and Canada.
He speaks Arabic, Aramaic, French, English, Italian, and German.