On October 13, 2023, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II left Beirut Airport to visit Istanbul to consecrate St. Aphrem Church.

His Holiness was accompanied by their Eminences Archbishops: Mor Theophilos George Saliba, Patriarchal Advisor, Mor Timotheos Matta Al-Khoury, Archbishop of Homs, Hama, Tartous and Environs, Mor Maurice Amsih, Archbishop of Jazeera and Euphrates, and Mor Joseph Bali, Patriarchal Assistant.