Father James Robinson grew up in Everett, Washington and is an alumnus of the University of Washington. He was commissioned as a Naval Officer in 1981 and spent 13 years in the Surface Warfare branch. While in the Navy he received a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College, and an MS in Management from Salve Regina University. In 1994 he joined the Everett Fire Department from which he retired as Assistant Chief in early 2017. He was ordained as a deacon at St. Andrew Antiochian Orthodox Church in Arlington, Washington in 2013, and was ordained as priest by Metropolitan JOSEPH and assigned as pastor of St. Innocent Antiochian Orthodox Church in February 2017. He and Khouria Helen have been married since 1983. They have four daughters, one son-in-law, and one granddaughter.
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.
His Beatitude was ordained deacon in 1979 and then priest in 1983 in the Archdiocese of Latakia by His Eminence Metropolitan Youhanna Mansour. His Beatitude was elected by the Holy Antiochian Synod Bishop of Al Husun, Wadi Al-Nadarah in the Archdiocese of Akkar in the year 1995. He served in this position until 2008, when the Holy Synod elected him Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Europe.
His Beatitude is famed for the clarity of his views and his strict adherence to all that is true and just in human relations. He has excelled in bringing people together, through dialogue and conciliatory approaches to people of differing views. He is known for his compassion, friendliness, generosity, social concern and, last but not least, readiness both to listen and to offer help.