Filiksinos Yusuf Çetin (born on Aug. 20, 1954 in Mardin, Turkey), also known as “Mor Filiksinos” is a Turkish Christian religious leader. The Syriac Metropolitan has served as the Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul and Ankara since 1986.

EARLY LIFE

Çetin was born in southeastern Turkey’s Mardin province, in Mardin’s Dargeçit district, which is also called “Kerburan” among locals.

RISE TO PROMINENCE

After receiving his primary education, Çetin took an interest in religious teachings, namely the Syriac Church doctrine. Learning the Syriac language at an early age helped increase his understanding of the doctrine, and he later committed himself to the Mor Gabriel Monastery – the oldest surviving monastic institution of Syriac Orthodoxy – in Mardin’s Midyat district to further advance his religious knowledge.

Çetin has devoted much of his time to religious studies, which has enabled him to rise to prominence among the Syriac religious community. His religious education continued at Mor Gabriel , where, at just 17 years old, he was ordained as a priest and promoted to the rank of monk, or şarvoyo in Syriac. After further advancing his knowledge of Church doctrine, Çetin was consecrated with the title of spiritual, after serving as a monk for six years.

THE PATH TO LEADERSHIP

As a result of his dedication, he was summoned to the Syrian capital of Damascus by the then-General Patriarch of Syrian Orthodox Church, Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka Ayvaz I in 1983. After moving to the city, he began the next phase of his religious education at one of the most important institution in the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Mor Aphrem Theological Seminary in Maarat Saidnaya, a mountainous village on the outskirts of Damascus. He excelled in in his religious at the institution, working under the direct supervision of the Patriarch. Çetin later attended language training both in Syriac and Arabic. Receiving diplomas in all the fields he was studying at the Seminary, he was later appointed as the director of the very theological school he was studying at.

Following request by the Istanbul Syriac community, he was sanctified as an Archbishop, also referred to as a Metropolitan in the Syriac community, by Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatius I Zakka Ayvaz on Sep. 28, 1986, upon which he also became the Patriarchal Vicar of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul and Ankara.

The start of his tenure as Metropolitan coincided with a time of emigration of Syriacs from Turkey. Intensifying his efforts to reunite the Syriac community, Çetin made a name for himself among the faithful thanks to his dedicated service to the community. Working in close coordination with the Spiritual Council and the administrative bodies of churches, the Metropolitan continued church services with discipline.

Contributing to the recognition of the Syriac community on a global scale, he also held talks with prominent political and religious leaders such as Pope Benedict XVI when the pontiff made his 2006 papal journey to Turkey.

WORKS

The Metropolitan is also a poet. During his education in Damascus, he wrote poems addressed to the Mor Aphrem Theological Seminary, and to the Fathers of the Church, ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. Çetin also translated Biographies of Saints, which tells about the life of prominent Syriac clergy, from Syriac to Turkish.

FURTHER READING

  1. “İDEM / REYONO – Sayı 13 – Abraşiye Metropolitimiz Mor Filüksinos Yusuf Çetin’in Resametinin 20. Yıldönümü.” Suryan Ikadimwww.suryanikadim.org/reyono/default.aspx?s=13&b=5. Accessed 25 June 2021.
  2. “İstanbul – Ankara Süryani Ortodoks Metropolitliği.” İstanbul – Ankara Süryani Ortodoks Metropolitliğiwww.suryanikadim.org/metropolit.aspx. Accessed 25 June 2021.
  3. “Mor Aphrem Theological Seminary.” Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, 22 Aug. 2017, syriacpatriarchate.org/st-aphrem-theological-seminary.
  4. “Sprituals.” Archiveweb.archive.org/web/20060902143755/http:/www.suryanikadim.org/english/metropolit/Metropolit.html. Accessed 25 June 2021.
  5. Wikipedia contributors. “Maarat Saidnaya.” Wikipedia, 8 May 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maarat_Saidnaya.
  6. “Syriac Orthodox Church.” Wikipedia, 9 June 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Orthodox_Church.
  7. “Yusuf Çetin.” Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_%C3%87etin.
  8. “Yusuf Çetin | Religion-Wiki | Fandom.” Religion-Wikireligion.wikia.org/wiki/Yusuf_%C3%87etin. Accessed 25 June 2021.