John IX bar Shushan was the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch (1063—1073).

The Patriarchs of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...

 and the Pope of Alexandria had for many years kept in close touch with one another. More than once their relations were strained, as happened particularly in the time of Patriarchs John IX bar Shushan, and Christodulus

Pope Christodolos of Alexandria

Pope Christodolos of Alexandria was the Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark .He joined the Paromeos Monastery in the Nitrian Desert before becoming a Pope...

, when they fell out over the proper presentation of the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

ic oblations, in which the Lyrian Syrians were in the habit of mingling a little oil and salt (Neale, Patriarchate of Alexandria, II, 214). Christodulus insultingly rejected the practice, and John of Antioch wrote in its defence. In 1169 a new controversy, about the use of auricular confession

Confession

This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...

 severed the once friendly relations between the two communions.