Antoine Audo

Antoine Audo was born on 3 January 1946, in Aleppo, Syria, but his parents hails from Alqosh, Iraq.^[2] He joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained to the priesthood on 5 August 1979.^[3] He made an advanced academic studies in France, completing a doctorate at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in 1979 with a thesis on the philosophical thought of Zaki al-Arsuzi.^[4]

On 18 January 1992, he was elected Bishop of Aleppo by the Chaldean Synod. His election was confirmed by Pope John Paul II.^[5] He received his episcopal consecration on 11 October 1992 from Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid.^[3]

Throughout the Syrian civil war, Audo remained in Aleppo, coordinating emergency relief through Caritas Syria. On 29 January 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.^[6] He was a participant in the electoral Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church in January 2013, which elected the new Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako^[2] and in 2018, he participated in the ad limina visit of the Chaldean Catholic bishops to Pope Francis.^[7]

He has frequently addressed the international community, advocating for political solutions and humanitarian aid to preserve the Christian presence in the Middle East.^[1]

• Profile at Catholic-Hierarchy.org