Biography & Education

His Beatitude John X

Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.

Personal Data:

   His Beatitude John X was born in the city of Latakia, Syria, in the year 1955.  He was raised in a home known for education, virtue and faith. His father, Manah Yazigi, a Syrian, was a teacher of Arabic and a poet. His mother, Rozah Moussi, is of Lebanese origin. His Beatitude has three siblings, one of whom is a Metropolitan and another a nun.

 
Education:

   His Beatitude attended the schools of Latakia.  He enrolled in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Techrin, in Latakia. He has studied church music and excelled in it, forming choirs and training them in traditional church chants. He is a notable leader of young people and has worked with them in various social and spiritual programs.

   He received the degree of Bachelor of Theology from the Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology at Balamand in 1978.  He then studied at the University of Thessaloniki in Greece
 and received the degree of Doctor of Theology with Distinction in the year 1983.

   His doctoral thesis, which was written in Greek and carried the title The Service of the Holy Baptism: A Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Study, was published. While in Greece, he also studied church music and received a Diploma from the Higher Institute of Byzantine Music in Thessaloniki.