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138-690: At the 2004 census, the subdistrict had a population of 50,982. Assyrians from the Assyrian Church of the East constitute about 40% of the population of this district, with the rest being adherents of other Assyrian churches such as the Chaldean Catholic Church and Syriac Orthodox Church . There is also Kurds and Arabs . It is the headquarter of the Assyrian Khabour Guards and Nattoreh militias, as well as

276-399: A crucifix ) in the circle of a ringed cross (in the form of Celtic cross ) surrounded by four angels. Three Syriac manuscripts from the early 19th century and earlier—they were edited into a compilation titled The Book of Protection by Hermann Gollancz —containing a number of illustrations which are more or less crude. These manuscripts prove the continuous use of images. Moreover,

414-544: A bishop and made up of several individual parish communities overseen by priests. Dioceses were organised into provinces under the authority of a metropolitan bishop . The office of metropolitan bishop was an important one, coming with additional duties and powers; canonically, only metropolitans could consecrate a patriarch. The Patriarch also has the charge of the Province of the Patriarch . For most of its history

552-623: A breach of ecumenical good manners". Apart from its religious meaning, the word "Nestorian" has also been used in an ethnic sense, as shown by the phrase "Catholic Nestorians". In his 1996 article, "The 'Nestorian' Church: a lamentable misnomer", published in the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library , Sebastian Brock , a Fellow of the British Academy , lamented the fact that "the term 'Nestorian Church' has become

690-479: A complex term, equivalent for Greek term hypostasis ), unmingled, but everlastingly united in the one prosopon (person) of Christ. The precise Christological teachings of Nestorius are shrouded in obscurity. Wary of Monophysitism, Nestorius rejected Cyril's theory of a hypostatic union , proposing instead a much looser concept of prosopic union . Nestorianism has come to mean radical Dyophysitism , in which Christ's two natures are eternally separate, though it

828-578: A delegations of Carmelites headed by two Italians, one Fleming and one German priests to reconcile the Saint Thomas Christians to Catholic fold. These priests had two advantages – they were not Portuguese and they were not Jesuits. By the next year, 84 of the 116 Saint Thomas Christian churches had returned, forming the Syrian Catholic Church (modern day Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ). The rest, which became known as

966-635: A free hand, and they increased missionary efforts farther afield. Missionaries established dioceses in India (the Saint Thomas Christians ). They made some advances in Egypt , despite the strong Monophysite presence there, and they entered Central Asia , where they had significant success converting local Tartars . Nestorian missionaries were firmly established in China during the early part of

1104-626: A great amount of secular power. The metropolitan see was probably in Cranganore , or (perhaps nominally) in Mylapore , where the Shrine of Thomas was located. In the 12th century Indian Nestorianism engaged the Western imagination in the figure of Prester John , supposedly a Nestorian ruler of India who held the offices of both king and priest. The geographically remote Malabar Church survived

1242-698: A late-6th-century church in Seleucia-Ctesiphon , beneath which were found the remains of an earlier church, also shows that the Church of the East used figurative representations. Although the East Syriac Christian community traced their history to the 1st century AD, the Church of the East first achieved official state recognition from the Sasanian Empire in the 4th century with the accession of Yazdegerd I (reigned 399–420) to

1380-470: A life-size male stucco figure was discovered in a church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon from the late 6th century. Beneath this church were found the remains of an earlier church. Although it cannot be determined which Nestorian Church was involved, the discovery nevertheless proves that the Church of the East also used figurative representations. The Assyrian Church of the East is governed by an episcopal polity ,

1518-791: A line that, according to its tradition, stretched back to Thomas the Apostle in the first century. Its liturgical rite is the East Syrian rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari . The Church of the East, which was part of the Great Church , shared communion with those in the Roman Empire until the Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius in 431. The Church of the East refused to condemn Nestorius and

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1656-684: A local lord ( malik ), while each malik was ultimately subject to the patriarch, who mediated between Christian Assyrians and the Ottoman authorities. In 1780, at the beginning of the patriarchal tenure of Eliya XII (XIII) (1778–1804), a group seceded from the Eliya line in Alqosh and elected Yohannan Hormizd , who entered full communion with the Catholic Church and was officially appointed Archbishop of Mosul and patriarchal administrator of

1794-681: A major role in the history of Christianity in Asia . Between the 9th and 14th centuries, it represented the world's largest Christian denomination in terms of geographical extent, and in the Middle Ages was one of the three major Christian powerhouses of Eurasia alongside Latin Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy . It established dioceses and communities stretching from the Mediterranean Sea and today's Iraq and Iran , to India ,

1932-861: A mission under a Persian cleric named Alopen in 635, in the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang during the Tang dynasty . The inscription on the Nestorian Stele, whose dating formula mentions the patriarch Hnanisho ʿ II (773–80) , gives the names of several prominent Christians in China, including Metropolitan Adam, Bishop Yohannan, 'country-bishops' Yazdbuzid and Sargis and Archdeacons Gigoi of Khumdan ( Chang'an ) and Gabriel of Sarag ( Luoyang ). The names of around seventy monks are also listed. Nestorian Christianity thrived in China for approximately 200 years, but then faced persecution from Emperor Wuzong of Tang (reigned 840–846). He suppressed all foreign religions, including Buddhism and Christianity, causing

2070-470: A number of changes to the church, including liturgical reform, the adoption of the Gregorian calendar , and the shortening of Lent . These changes, combined with Shimun's long absence from Iraq, caused a rift in the community there, which led to another schism. In 1968, traditionalists within the church elected Thoma Darmo as a rival patriarch to Shimun XXI Eshai, forming the independent Ancient Church of

2208-675: A particularly keen interest in the missionary expansion of the Church of the East. He is known to have consecrated metropolitans for Damascus, for Armenia , for Dailam and Gilan in Azerbaijan, for Rai in Tabaristan, for Sarbaz in Segestan, for the Turks of Central Asia, for China, and possibly also for Tibet . He also detached India from the metropolitan province of Fars and made it a separate metropolitan province, known as India . By

2346-525: Is also considered to be an indication of a strong Nestorian Christian presence in Sri Lanka between the 3rd and 10th century in the then capitol of Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka. Christianity reached China by 635, and its relics can still be seen in Chinese cities such as Xi'an . The Nestorian Stele , set up on 7 January 781 at the then-capital of Chang'an , attributes the introduction of Christianity to

2484-612: Is an Eastern Christian church that follows the traditional Christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East . It belongs to the eastern branch of Syriac Christianity , and employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari belonging to the East Syriac Rite . Its main liturgical language is Classical Syriac , a dialect of Eastern Aramaic , and the majority of its adherents are ethnic Assyrians who speak differing Akkadian influenced dialects of Eastern Aramaic in everyday life. The Assyrian Church of

2622-526: Is doubtful whether Nestorius ever taught such a doctrine. Nestorius' rejection of the term Theotokos ('God-bearer', or 'Mother of God') has traditionally been held as evidence that he asserted the existence of two persons (dyoprosopism) — not merely two natures — in Jesus Christ, but there exists no evidence that Nestorius denied Christ's oneness. In the controversy that followed the Council of Ephesus,

2760-748: Is in communion with it. Membership is estimated to 385,000 adherents, although some sources say as high as 500,000. According to scholar James Minahan around 19% of the Assyrian people belong to the Assyrian Church of the East. In its own 2018 Report on Religious Freedom, the United States Department of State put the Assyrian Church of the East adherents at approximately 20% of the Christians in Iraq . The patriarchal seat

2898-472: The Antiochene theological tradition of the early church. The founders of Assyrian theology are Diodorus of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia , both of whom taught at Antioch . "Antiochene" is a modern designation given to the style of theology associated with the early church at Antioch, as contrasted with the theology of the Church of Alexandria. Antiochene theology emphasizes Christ's humanity and

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3036-706: The Arabian Peninsula , with minor presence in the Horn of Africa , Socotra , Mesopotamia , Media , Bactria , Hyrcania , and India ; and possibly also to places called Calliana, Male, and Sielediva (Ceylon). Beneath the Patriarch in the hierarchy were nine metropolitans , and clergy were recorded among the Huns , in Persarmenia , Media, and the island of Dioscoris in the Indian Ocean . The Church of

3174-646: The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London , and elected Dinkha as the 120th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East. On 17 October he was consecrated as Dinkha IV at St Barnabas Church, Ealing, in an area where many Assyrians lived. Dinkha, who was then aged 33, operated his see at Tehran until the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988, when he went into exile in the United States and transferred

3312-623: The British mandate there, and joined the already existing indigenous Assyrian communities of both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic rites in the north, where they formed communities in Baghdad , Basra , and other areas. In the aftermath of World War I, the British-educated Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai , born into the line of patriarchs at Qodchanis, had agitated for an independent Assyrian state. Following

3450-800: The Catholic Church , and a 2001 theological dialogue between the churches, they drew up guidelines for faithful to have mutual admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. The Assyrian Church of the East has a traditional episcopal structure, headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch . Its hierarchy is composed of metropolitan bishops and diocesan bishops , while lower clergy consists of priests and deacons , who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout

3588-601: The Chalcedonian Church (from which Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy , and Protestantism would arise). Having its origins in Mesopotamia during the time of the Parthian Empire , the Church of the East developed its own unique form of Christian theology and liturgy . During the early modern period , a series of schisms gave rise to rival patriarchates , sometimes two, sometimes three. In

3726-601: The Chaldean Catholic Church , in 1783. Only after the death in 1827 of the last representative of the Josephite line, Joseph V Augustine Hindi , was Yohannan recognized as the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch by the Pope, in 1830. By this official appointment, the final merger of various factions committed to the union with the Catholic Church was achieved, thus forming the modern Chaldean Catholic Church. At

3864-541: The Chaldean Catholics . The next Assyrian Patriarch Shimun XVII Abraham (1820–1861) also governed his church from Qodshanis . During years marked by political turbulence, he tried to maintain good relations with the local Ottoman authorities. In 1843, he was faced with renewed hostilities from Kurdish warlords, who attacked and looted many Christian villages, killing 10,000 Christian men and taking away women and children as captives. The patriarch himself

4002-507: The Council of Ephesus (431) and the Council of Chalcedon (451), and still adheres to the Church of the East 's traditional Christology , that is often labeled as Nestorian . The use and exact meaning of that term has been the subject of many debates, not only throughout history but also in modern times, since the Assyrian Church of the East has distinctive views on several Christological questions and claims that its theological doctrines and traditions are essentially Orthodox, while admitting

4140-830: The Council of Markabta of the Arabs and declare the Catholicate independent from "the western Fathers". Meanwhile, in the Roman Empire, the Nestorian Schism had led many of Nestorius' supporters to relocate to the Sasanian Empire, mainly around the theological School of Nisibis . The Persian Church increasingly aligned itself with the Dyophisites, a measure encouraged by the Zoroastrian ruling class. The church became increasingly Dyophisite in doctrine over

4278-840: The East Syriac Church , also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , the Persian Church , the Assyrian Church , the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian Church , is one of three major branches of Nicene Eastern Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies in the 5th century and the 6th century , alongside that of Miaphysitism (which came to be known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches ) and

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4416-474: The Indian subcontinent . The Church faced a major schism in 1552 following the consecration of monk Yohannan Sulaqa by Pope Julius III in opposition to the reigning Catholicos-Patriarch Shimun VII , leading to the formation of the Chaldean Catholic Church . Divisions occurred within the two factions, but by 1830 two unified patriarchates and distinct churches remained: the traditionalist Assyrian Church of

4554-840: The Malankara Church , soon entered into communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church . The Malankara Church also produced the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church . Nestorian Christianity is said to have thrived in Sri Lanka with the patronage of King Dathusena during the 5th century. There are mentions of involvement of Persian Christians with the Sri Lankan royal family during the Sigiriya Period. Over seventy-five ships carrying Murundi soldiers from Mangalore are said to have arrived in

4692-694: The Mongol kingdoms and Turkic tribes in Central Asia, and China during the Tang dynasty (7th–9th centuries). In the 13th and 14th centuries, the church experienced a final period of expansion under the Mongol Empire , where influential Church of the East clergy sat in the Mongol court. Even before the Church of the East underwent a rapid decline in its field of expansion in Central Asia in

4830-481: The Parthian Empire . In 266, the area was annexed by the Sasanian Empire (becoming the province of Asōristān ), and there were significant Christian communities in Upper Mesopotamia , Elam , and Fars . The Church of the East traced its origins ultimately to the evangelical activity of Thaddeus of Edessa , Mari and Thomas the Apostle . Leadership and structure remained disorganised until 315 when Papa bar Aggai (310–329), bishop of Seleucia - Ctesiphon , imposed

4968-444: The Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . On 18 September 2015, the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East elected the Metropolitan of Iraq, Jordan, and Russia, Warda Sliwa, to succeed the late Dinkha IV as Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East . On 27 September 2015, he was consecrated as Catholicos-Patriarch in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist, in Erbil , Iraq. Upon his consecration, he assumed

5106-404: The Persian Gulf , is the largest diocese of the church. Its history goes back to the Church of the East that established a presence in Kerala , but the two communities maintained only a sporadic connection for several centuries, and consistent relations were only established with the arrival of the Portuguese in India around 1500. The church is represented by the Assyrian Church of the East and

5244-403: The School of Nisibis , leading to a wave of Nestorian immigration into the Sasanian Empire. The Patriarch of the East Mar Babai I (497–502) reiterated and expanded upon his predecessors' esteem for Theodore, solidifying the church's adoption of Dyophisitism. Now firmly established in the Persian Empire, with centres in Nisibis, Ctesiphon , and Gundeshapur , and several metropolitan sees ,

5382-606: The State Library of Berlin , proves that in the 13th century the Church of the East was not yet aniconic . The Nestorian Evangelion preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France contains an illustration depicting Jesus Christ in the circle of a ringed cross surrounded by four angels. Three Syriac manuscripts from early 19th century or earlier—they were published in a compilation titled The Book of Protection by Hermann Gollancz in 1912—contain some illustrations of no great artistic worth that show that use of images continued. A life-size male stucco figure discovered in

5520-402: The Synod of Diamper in 1599, they installed Padroado Portuguese bishops over the local sees and made liturgical changes to accord with the Latin practice and this led to a revolt among the Saint Thomas Christians. The majority of them broke with the Catholic Church and vowed never to submit to the Portuguese in the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. In 1661, Pope Alexander VII responded by sending

5658-422: The Tang dynasty (618–907); the Chinese source known as the Nestorian Stele describes a mission under a proselyte named Alopen as introducing Nestorian Christianity to China in 635. In the 7th century, the church had grown to have two Nestorian archbishops , and over 20 bishops east of the Iranian border of the Oxus River . Patriarch Timothy I (780–823), a contemporary of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid , took

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5796-440: The Western Asia , India , North America , Oceania , and Europe (including the Caucasus and Russia ). The Assyrian Church of the East considers itself as the continuation of the Church of the East , a church that originally developed among the Assyrians during the first century AD in Assyria , Upper Mesopotamia and northwestern Persia , east of the Byzantine Empire . It is an apostolic church established by Thomas

5934-417: The " Western Church ". Accordingly, the leaders of the Church of the East did not feel bound by any decisions of what came to be regarded as Roman Imperial Councils. Despite this, the Creed and Canons of the First Council of Nicaea of 325, affirming the full divinity of Christ, were formally accepted at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410. The church's understanding of the term hypostasis differs from

6072-410: The "two qnome in Christ" formula, a final christological distinction was created between the Church of the East and the "western" Chalcedonian churches . The justice of imputing Nestorianism to Nestorius , whom the Church of the East venerated as a saint, is disputed. David Wilmshurst states that for centuries "the word 'Nestorian' was used both as a term of abuse by those who disapproved of

6210-572: The 10th century the Church of the East had a number of dioceses stretching from across the Caliphate's territories to India and China. Nestorian Christians made substantial contributions to the Islamic Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates , particularly in translating the works of the ancient Greek philosophers to Syriac and Arabic . Nestorians made their own contributions to philosophy , science (such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq , Qusta ibn Luqa , Masawaiyh , Patriarch Eutychius , Jabril ibn Bukhtishu ) and theology (such as Tatian , Bar Daisan , Babai

6348-418: The 13th century, during the Mongol Empire, the church added two new metropolitan provinces in North China , one being Tangut, the other Katai and Ong. The Peshitta , in some cases lightly revised and with missing books added, is the standard Syriac Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition: the Syriac Orthodox Church , the Syrian Catholic Church , the Assyrian Church of the East , the Ancient Church of

6486-429: The 14th century, it had already lost ground in its home territory. The decline is indicated by the shrinking list of active dioceses from over sixty in the early 11th century to only seven in the 14th century. In the aftermath of the division of the Mongol Empire , the rising Buddhist and Islamic Mongol leaderships pushed out the Church of the East and its followers in Central Asia. The Chinese Ming dynasty overthrew

6624-428: The Apostle , Addai of Edessa , and Bartholomew the Apostle . Contrary to a widespread opinion, the Apostle Saint Peter never visited the Church of Babylon . The historical distinctiveness of the Assyrian Church of the East resulted from the series of complex processes and events that occurred within the Church of the East during the transitional period that started in the middle of the 16th century, and lasted until

6762-491: The Assyrian Church of the East hang a Christian cross (without the corpus) on the eastern wall of the main room. The Assyrian Church of the East does not make use of icons , and the interiors of its houses of worship are simple. Iconography has been present in the Church of the East's history; opposition to religious images eventually became the norm due to the spread of Islam in the region, which forbade any type of depictions of saints and biblical prophets . As such,

6900-401: The Assyrian Church of the East, granting its members his protection, and executing the pro-Roman Catholicos Babowai in 484, replacing him with the Nestorian Bishop of Nisibis , Barsauma . The Catholicos-Patriarch Babai (497–503) confirmed the association of the Assyrian Church with Nestorianism. Christians were already forming communities in Mesopotamia as early as the 1st century under

7038-499: The Assyrian Church of the East. During the patriarchal tenure of Shemon VII Ishoyahb (1539–1558), who resided in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh , an internal dissent occurred over several issues, including the question of hereditary succession to the patriarchal throne, and the question of union with the Catholic Church. By that time, Franciscan missionaries had already gained some influence over several local communities, and they took an active role in organizing

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7176-433: The Assyrian defense under Agha Petros , but they were pursued into Iranian territory despite the fact they were fleeing. Later, in 1918, after the murder of their de facto leader and Patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin and 150 of his followers during a negotiation, fearing further massacres at the hands of the Turks and Kurds, most of the survivors fled by train from Iran into what was to become Iraq. They sought protection under

7314-488: The Catholic Church as late as 1653, eventually receiving confirmation from the Pope. By that time, the movement towards full commitment to the traditional faith was constantly growing stronger within the Shimun line. When the next Patriarch Shimun XII Yoalaha decided to send his profession of faith to the Pope, he was deposed by his bishops because of his pro-Catholic attitude. The Pope tried to intervene on his behalf, but without success. Final resolution of conflicts within

7452-419: The Catholic Church in February 1553. At that point, officials of the Roman Curia were given incorrect information that the elderly Patriarch Shemon VII had actually died. After some deliberation, the Pope decided to appoint Yohannan Sulaqa as "Patriarch of Babylon" and named the breakaway Church as 'The Church of Assyria and Mosul" in April 1553. Upon consecration, Yohannan Sulaqa took the name Shimun and by

7590-408: The Church of the East adopted the dyophysite doctrine of Theodore of Mopsuestia that emphasised the "distinctiveness" of the divine and the human natures of Jesus ; this doctrine was misleadingly labelled as 'Nestorian' by its theological opponents. Continuing as a dhimmi community under the Rashidun Caliphate after the Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654), the Church of the East played

7728-402: The Church of the East began to branch out beyond the Sasanian Empire. However, through the 6th century the church was frequently beset with internal strife and persecution from the Zoroastrians. The infighting led to a schism, which lasted from 521 until around 539, when the issues were resolved. However, immediately afterward Byzantine-Persian conflict led to a renewed persecution of the church by

7866-470: The Church of the East extended well beyond its heartland in present-day northern Iraq , north eastern Syria and south eastern Turkey . Communities sprang up throughout Central Asia , and missionaries from Assyria and Mesopotamia took the Christian faith as far as China , with a primary indicator of their missionary work being the Nestorian Stele , a Christian tablet written in Chinese found in China dating to 781 AD. Their most important conversion, however,

8004-447: The Church of the East until the end of the medieval period. The Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala , India, who according to tradition trace their origins to the evangelizing efforts of Thomas the Apostle , had a long association with the Church of the East. The earliest known organised Christian presence in Kerala dates to 295/300 when Christian settlers and missionaries from Persia headed by Bishop David of Basra settled in

8142-557: The Church of the East was declared to have at its head the bishop of the Persian capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who in the acts of the council was referred to as the Grand or Major Metropolitan, and who soon afterward was called the Catholicos of the East. Later, the title of Patriarch was used. The Church of the East had, like other churches, an ordained clergy in the three traditional orders of bishop , priest (or presbyter ), and deacon . Also like other churches, it had an episcopal polity : organisation by dioceses , each headed by

8280-401: The East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The Ancient Church of the East split from the traditionalist patriarchate in 1968. In 2017, the Chaldean Catholic Church had approximately 628,405 members and the Assyrian Church of the East had 323,300 to 380,000, while the Ancient Church of the East had 100,000. Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine that emphasises the distinction between

8418-464: The East , based in Baghdad , Iraq . In 1972, Shimun decided to step down as patriarch, and the following year he got married, in contravention to longstanding church custom. This led to a synod in 1973 in which further reforms were introduced, the most significant of which included the permanent abolition of hereditary succession — a practice introduced in the middle of the fifteenth century by Patriarch Shemon IV Basidi (who had died in 1497) — and it

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8556-476: The East , the Chaldean Catholic Church , the Maronites , the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church , the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church . The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated from Hebrew , although the date and circumstances of this are not entirely clear. The translators may have been Syriac-speaking Jews or early Jewish converts to Christianity. The translation may have been done separately for different texts, and

8694-457: The East , the modern Assyrian Church of the East recognizes the first two ecumenical councils : the First Council of Nicaea (325), and the First Council of Constantinople (381). The Assyrian Church follows trinitarian doctrines, expressed in the Nicene Creed , and professes the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father . Theologically , the Assyrian Church of the East does not accept doctrinal definitions that were adopted at

8832-477: The East Syrians in Khanbaliq says that they had 'very beautiful and orderly churches with crosses and images in honour of God and of the saints'. Apart from the references, a painting of a Christian figure discovered by Aurel Stein at the Library Cave of the Mogao Caves in 1908 is probably a representation of Jesus Christ. An illustrated 13th-century Nestorian Peshitta Gospel book written in Estrangela from northern Mesopotamia or Tur Abdin , currently in

8970-452: The East also flourished in the kingdom of the Lakhmids until the Islamic conquest, particularly after the ruler al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir officially converted in c. 592. After the Sasanian Empire was conquered by Muslim Arabs in 644, the newly established Rashidun Caliphate designated the Church of the East as an official dhimmi minority group headed by the Patriarch of the East. As with all other Christian and Jewish groups given

9108-418: The East had about 380,000 members, mostly living in the United States, Iran , Iraq , Syria , and Turkey. On 6 September 2021, Mar Gewargis III formally stepped down as Catholicos-Patriarch during an Extraordinary Session of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East, leaving the Patriarchal See vacant. On 8 September 2021, the Holy Synod elected Mar Awa Royel , Bishop of California and Secretary of

9246-407: The East is officially headquartered in the city of Erbil , in northern Iraq ; its original area encompassed Iraq , southeastern Turkey , northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran , corresponding roughly to ancient Assyria . The current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III , was consecrated in September 2021. The Assyrian Church of the East claims continuity with

9384-552: The East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church and Assyrian Protestants) entered into a war of independence and allied themselves with the United Kingdom , the Russian Empire and the Armenians against the Ottomans and their Islamic Kurdish, Iranian and Arab allies. Despite the odds, the Assyrians fought successfully against the Ottomans and their allies for three years throughout southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran and northeastern Syria. Eventually, however, they were abandoned by their allies,

9522-410: The Great , Nestorius , Toma bar Yacoub ). The personal physicians of the Abbasid Caliphs were often Assyrian Christians such as the long serving Bukhtishu dynasty. After the split with the Western World and synthesis with Nestorianism, the Church of the East expanded rapidly due to missionary works during the medieval period. During the period between 500 and 1400 the geographical horizon of

9660-408: The Greek terms φύσις ( physis ) and ὐπόστασις ( hypostasis ), these Syriac words were sometimes taken to mean something other than what was intended; in particular "two qnome " was interpreted as "two individuals". Previously, the Church of the East accepted a certain fluidity of expressions, always within a dyophysite theology, but with Babai's assembly of 612, which canonically sanctioned

9798-400: The Holy Synod, to succeed Mar Gewargis III as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East . He was Consecrated and Enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch on 13 September 2021, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Erbil, Iraq, and assumed the ecclesiastical name Mar Awa III. Following doctrinal traditions of the ancient Church of

9936-733: The Mongols (1368) and ejected Christians and other foreign influences from China, and many Mongols in Central Asia converted to Islam . The Muslim Turco-Mongol leader Timur (1336–1405) nearly eradicated the remaining Christians in the Middle East. Nestorian Christianity remained largely confined to communities in Upper Mesopotamia and the Saint Thomas Syrian Christians of the Malabar Coast in

10074-529: The Patriarchal See to Chicago. Much of his patriarchate had been concerned with tending to the Assyrian diaspora community and with ecumenical efforts to strengthen relations with other churches. On 26 March 2015, Dinkha IV died in the United States, leaving the Assyrian Church of the East in a period of sede vacante until 18 September 2015. During that time, Aprem Mooken served as the custodian of

10212-884: The Russian Empire and the First Republic of Armenia , due to the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Armenian defense, leaving the Assyrians vastly outnumbered, surrounded, and cut off from supplies of ammunition and food. During this period, their See at Qodchanis was completely destroyed and the Turks and their Islamic allies massacred all of the Assyrians in the Hakkari Mountains. Those who survived fled into Iran with what remained of

10350-401: The Sasanian Empire and soon also beyond the empire's borders. By the 10th century, the church had between 20 and 30 metropolitan provinces. According to John Foster, in the 9th century there were 25 metropolitans including those in China and India. The Chinese provinces were lost in the 11th century, and in the subsequent centuries other exterior provinces went into decline as well. However, in

10488-524: The Sasanian emperor Khosrau I ; this ended in 545. The church survived these trials under the guidance of Patriarch Aba I , who had converted to Christianity from Zoroastrianism . By the end of the 5th century and the middle of the 6th, the area occupied by the Church of the East included "all the countries to the east and those immediately to the west of the Euphrates", including the Sasanian Empire,

10626-459: The Shimun line occurred under the next Patriarch Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1700), who definitively broke communion with the Catholic Church. In 1670, he gave a traditionalist reply to an approach that was made from the Pope, and by 1672 all connections with the Catholic Church were terminated. At the same time, Patriarch Shimun XIII moved his seat from Amid to Qochanis . After the final return to

10764-549: The Shimun line to become the sole primate of both Assyrian traditionalist branches. Consolidated after 1804, the reunited traditionalist Church led by patriarchs of the Shimun line became widely known as the "Assyrian Church of the East". Still based in Qodchanis, Assyrian Patriarch Shimun XVI Yohannan was not able to secure control over the traditional seat of the former Eliya line in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery; and around 1808 that venerated monastic institution passed to

10902-407: The Shimun line. Hereditary succession was not acceptable to Rome, and during the tenure of the next Patriarch Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638) ties with the Catholic Church were loosened again. In 1616, Shimun X signed a traditional profession of faith that was not accepted by the Pope, leaving the Patriarch without Rome's confirmation. His successor Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656) restored communion with

11040-529: The Sri Lankan town of Chilaw most of whom were Christians. King Dathusena's daughter was married to his nephew Migara who is also said to have been a Nestorian Christian, and a commander of the Sinhalese army. Maga Brahmana, a Christian priest of Persian origin is said to have provided advice to King Dathusena on establishing his palace on the Sigiriya Rock . The Anuradhapura Cross discovered in 1912

11178-634: The beginning of the Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746) . Faced with a centuries-old rivalry and frequent conflicts between two mighty Islamic empires ( Ottoman and Persian ), all Christian communities in the bordering regions were constantly exposed to danger – and not only in the times of war, since local, mainly Kurdish , warlords were accustomed to attacking Assyrian and Armenian Christian communities and monasteries and taking their land, often with Ottoman support. Patriarchs Eliya X (XI) (1700–1722) and Eliya XI (XII) (1722–1778) tried to improve

11316-434: The beginning of the 19th century. That turbulent period was marked by several consequent splits and mergers, resulting in the creation of separate branches and rival patriarchal lines. During the entire period, one of the main questions of dispute was the union with the Catholic Church . Ultimately, the pro-Catholic branches were consolidated as the Chaldean Catholic Church , while the traditional branches were consolidated as

11454-480: The bishops of the Sasanian Empire met in council under the leadership of Catholicos Dadishoʿ (421–456) and determined that they would not, henceforth, refer disciplinary or theological problems to any external power, and especially not to any bishop or church council in the Roman Empire . Thus, the Mesopotamian churches did not send representatives to the various church councils attended by representatives of

11592-442: The church had six or so Interior Provinces. In 410, these were listed in the hierarchical order of: Seleucia-Ctesiphon (central Iraq), Beth Lapat (western Iran), Nisibis (on the border between Turkey and Iraq), Prat de Maishan (Basra, southern Iraq), Arbela (Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq), and Karka de Beth Slokh (Kirkuk, northeastern Iraq). In addition it had an increasing number of Exterior Provinces further afield within

11730-632: The church was forced to get rid of her icons. A Nestorian Peshitta Gospel book written in Estrangela , from the 13th century, resides at the State Library of Berlin . This illustrated manuscript from Upper Mesopotamia or Tur Abdin proves that in the 13th century the church was not yet aniconic . The Nestorian Evangelion preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France , which contains an illustration depicting Jesus Christ (not

11868-480: The church's and the general Assyrian community's disorganized state as a result of the conflicts of the 20th century, Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai was forced to reorganize the church's structure in the United States . He transferred his residence to San Francisco in 1954, and was able to travel to Iran , Lebanon , Kuwait , and India , where he worked to strengthen the church. In 1964, the patriarch decreed

12006-655: The church's jurisdiction in India. In the 8th century Patriarch Timothy I organised the community as the Ecclesiastical Province of India , one of the church's Provinces of the Exterior. After this point the Province of India was headed by a metropolitan bishop , provided from Persia, who oversaw a varying number of bishops as well as a native Archdeacon , who had authority over the clergy and also wielded

12144-739: The church's leading bishops to elect a formal Catholicos (leader). Catholicos Isaac was required both to lead the Assyrian Christian community and to answer on its behalf to the Sasanian emperor . Under pressure from the Sasanian Emperor, the Church of the East sought to increasingly distance itself from the Pentarchy (at the time being known as the church of the Eastern Roman Empire ). Therefore, in 424,

12282-509: The continuous presence of the pro-Catholic movement, led by successors of Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa . After his death in 1555, the newly established line of patriarchs who were united with the Catholic Church was continued by Abdisho IV Maron (1555–1570), who remained in full communion with the Catholic Church. He visited Rome and was officially confirmed by the Pope of Rome in 1562. Soon after his death, connections with Rome were weakened for

12420-651: The decay of the Nestorian hierarchy elsewhere, enduring until the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in India. With the establishment of Portuguese power in parts of India, the clergy of that empire, in particular members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), determined to actively bring the Saint Thomas Christians into full communion with Rome under the Latin Church and its Latin liturgical rites . After

12558-651: The definition of the term offered at the Council of Chalcedon of 451. For this reason, the Assyrian Church has never approved the Chalcedonian definition . The theological controversy that followed the Council of Ephesus in 431 proved a turning point in the Christian Church's history. The Council condemned as heretical the Christology of Nestorius , whose reluctance to accord the Virgin Mary

12696-537: The eastern Roman Empire . However, the Persian Church faced several severe persecutions, notably during the reign of Shapur II (339–79), from the Zoroastrian majority who accused it of Roman leanings. Shapur II attempted to dismantle the catholicate's structure and put to death some of the clergy including the catholicoi Simeon bar Sabba'e (341), Shahdost (342), and Barba'shmin (346). Afterward,

12834-510: The ecclesiastical name Gewargis III . Church leaders proposed moving the Patriarchal See from Chicago back to Erbil. There have also been talks of reunification. In the Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East in 1994, the two churches recognized the legitimacy and rightness of each other's titles for Mary . In 2005, the Assyrian Church of

12972-424: The end of the 19th century, the Assyrian Church of the East consolidated itself as the sole representative of all traditionalist Assyrians. It also managed to secure a certain level of autonomy within the highly complex system of Ottoman local governance in the bordering regions. On several occasions, Assyrian patriarchs refused to enter communion with the Catholic Church or merge with the Chaldean Catholic Church. On

13110-672: The end of the British mandate in 1933 and a massacre of Assyrian civilians at Simele by the Iraqi Army, the patriarch was forced to take refuge in Cyprus . There, Shimun petitioned the League of Nations regarding his people's fate, but to little avail, and he was consequently barred from entering Syria and Iraq. He traveled through Europe before moving to Chicago in 1940 to join the growing Assyrian diaspora community there. Due to

13248-589: The end of the year he returned to his homeland. He started to organize the pro-Catholic party by appointing several metropolitans and bishops. Union with Rome was actively opposed by Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb , who continued to reside in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery near the ancient Assyrian town of Alqosh . He was succeeded by his nephew Eliya (1558–1591), who was designated as Eliya "VII" in older historiography, but renumbered as Eliya "VI" in recent scholarly works. The same renumbering

13386-426: The first time during the tenure of Patriarch Yahballaha IV who did not seek confirmation from the Pope. That interlude was ended by his successor Shimun IX Dinkha (1580–1600) who restored full communion with the Catholic Church, and was officially confirmed by the Pope in 1584. After his death, the patriarchal office was made hereditary, and Patriarchs of this line continued to use the name Shimun , thus creating

13524-580: The generally accepted ecumenical councils were held earlier: the First Council of Nicaea , in which a Persian bishop took part, in 325, and the First Council of Constantinople in 381. The Church of the East accepted the teaching of these two councils, but ignored the 431 Council and those that followed, seeing them as concerning only the patriarchates of the Roman Empire ( Rome , Constantinople , Alexandria , Antioch , Jerusalem ), all of which were for it " Western Christianity". Theologically ,

13662-571: The heritage of the Church of the East. The Church of the East organized itself initially in the year 410 as the national church of the Sasanian Empire through the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon . In 424, it declared itself independent of the state church of the Roman Empire , which it calls the 'Church of the West'. The Church of the East was headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch of the East seated originally in Seleucia-Ctesiphon , continuing

13800-610: The historical Church of the East , and it is not in communion with the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox churches. The faction of the original Church of the East in that came into full communion with the Holy See of Rome is the Chaldean Catholic Church , whose members are mostly ethnic Assyrians . After the Common Christological Declaration in 1994 between the Church of the East and

13938-522: The human and divine natures of Jesus . It was attributed to Nestorius , Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431, whose doctrine represented the culmination of a philosophical current developed by scholars at the School of Antioch , most notably Nestorius's mentor Theodore of Mopsuestia , and stirred controversy when Nestorius publicly challenged the use of the title Theotokos (literally, "Bearer of God ") for Mary, mother of Jesus , suggesting that

14076-402: The increasingly worsening position of their Christian flock by staying loyal to Ottoman authorities, but the local administration was frequently unable to provide effective protection. The Eliya line of traditionalist Patriarchs ended in 1804 with the death of Eliya XII (XIII) (1778–1804). During the second half of the 16th century, traditionalist patriarchs of the Eliya line were faced with

14214-617: The latter half of the 20th century, the traditionalist patriarchate of the church underwent a split into two rival patriarchates, namely the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East , which continue to follow the traditional theology and liturgy of the mother church. The Chaldean Catholic Church based in Iraq and the Syro-Malabar Church in India are two Eastern Catholic churches which also claim

14352-654: The location of a large Syriac Orthodox Monastery. This article about a location in Al-Hasakah Governorate , Syria is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East ( ACOE ), sometimes called the Church of the East and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ( HACACE ),

14490-406: The need for further inter-Christian dialogue that would resolve various questions in the field of comparative Christological terminology. The Nestorian nature of Assyrian Christianity remains a matter of contention. Elements of Nestorian doctrine were explicitly repudiated by Patriarch Dinkha IV on the occasion of his accession in 1976. The Christology of the Church of the East has its roots in

14628-402: The next Patriarch Eliya VIII (IX) (1617–1660). David Wilmshurst noted that his successor, Patriarch Eliya IX (X) (1660–1700) also was a "vigorous defender of the traditional faith". The Eliya line of traditionalist Patriarchs continued throughout the entire 18th century, residing in the ancient Monastery of Rabban Hormizd, which was eventually attacked and looted by muslim Turks in 1743, at

14766-563: The next decades, furthering the divide between Roman and Persian Christianity. In 484 the Metropolitan of Nisibis, Barsauma , convened the Synod of Beth Lapat where he publicly accepted Nestorius' mentor, Theodore of Mopsuestia , as a spiritual authority. In 489, when the School of Edessa in Mesopotamia was closed by Byzantine Emperor Zeno for its Nestorian teachings, the school relocated to its original home of Nisibis, becoming again

14904-639: The office of Catholicos lay vacant nearly 20 years (346–363). In 363, under the terms of a peace treaty, Nisibis was ceded to the Persians, causing Ephrem the Syrian , accompanied by a number of teachers, to leave the School of Nisibis for Edessa still in Roman territory. The church grew considerably during the Sasanian period, but the pressure of persecution led the Catholicos, Dadisho I, in 424 to convene

15042-564: The opposition to the Patriarch at that time. By the end of 1552, a pro-Catholic party had been organized in Mosul under the leadership of the priest Yohannan Sulaqa , who decided to legitimize his position by traveling to Rome and seeking confirmation by Pope Julius III (1550–1555). Receiving support from the Franciscan missionaries, he arrived in Rome and entered into full communion with

15180-536: The other hand, by the end of the 19th century some of its communities were converted to Protestantism by various western missionaries, while other communities were drawn to Eastern Orthodoxy . That movement was led by Assyrian Bishop Mar Yonan of Supurghan in the region of Urmia who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1898, through the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia . Among all

15318-547: The patriarchs temporarily resided between Urmia and Salmas , and after 1918 the patriarchs resided in Mosul . After the Simele massacre of 1933, the then Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai was exiled to Cyprus due to his agitation for independence . In 1940, he was welcomed to the United States where he set up his residence in Chicago , and administered the United States and Canada as his patriarchal province. The patriarchate

15456-526: The primacy of his see over the other Mesopotamian and Persian bishoprics which were grouped together under the Catholicate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon; Papa took the title of Catholicos , or universal leader. This position received an additional title in 410, becoming Catholicos and Patriarch of the East . These early Christian communities in Mesopotamia, Elam, and Fars were reinforced in the 4th and 5th centuries by large-scale deportations of Christians from

15594-609: The reality of the moral choices he faced. In order to preserve the impassibility of Christ's Divine Nature, the unity of his person is defined in a looser fashion than in the Alexandrian tradition. The normative Christology of the Church of the East was written by Babai the Great (d. 628) during the controversy that followed the 431 Council of Ephesus . Babai held that within Christ there exist two qnome ( Syriac : ܩܢܘܡܐ / qnômâ ,

15732-567: The region, which forbade any type of depictions of Saints and biblical prophets . As such, the Church was forced to get rid of icons. There is both literary and archaeological evidence for the presence of images in the church. Writing in 1248 from Samarkand , an Armenian official records visiting a local church and seeing an image of Christ and the Magi. John of Cora ( Giovanni di Cori ), Latin bishop of Sultaniya in Persia, writing about 1330 of

15870-459: The region. The Saint Thomas Christians traditionally credit the mission of Thomas of Cana , a Nestorian from the Middle East, with the further expansion of their community. From at least the early 4th century, the Patriarch of the Church of the East provided the Saint Thomas Christians with clergy, holy texts, and ecclesiastical infrastructure. And around 650 Patriarch Ishoyahb III solidified

16008-405: The same as other apostolic churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses and archdioceses . The Catholicos-Patriarch is the head of the church. Its synod is composed of bishops who oversee individual dioceses and metropolitans who oversee episcopal dioceses in their territorial jurisdiction. The Chaldean Syrian Church , which encompasses India and

16146-472: The same status, the church was restricted within the Caliphate, but also given a degree of protection. In order to resist the growing competition from Muslim courts, patriarchs and bishops of the Church of the East developed canon law and adapted the procedures used in the episcopal courts. Nestorians were not permitted to proselytise or attempt to convert Muslims, but their missionaries were otherwise given

16284-441: The same time, the long coexistence and rivalry between two traditionalist patriarchal branches — the senior Eliya line of Alqosh and the junior Shimun line of Qochanis — ended in 1804 when the last primate of the Eliya line, Patriarch Eliya XII (XIII) died and was buried in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery . His branch decided not to elect a new patriarch, thus enabling the remaining patriarch Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820) of

16422-547: The standard by the early 5th century. It was often said in the 19th century that the Church of the East was opposed to religious images of any kind. The cult of the image was never as strong in the Syriac Churches as it was in the Byzantine Church , but they were indeed present in the tradition of the Church of the East. Opposition to religious images eventually became the norm due to the rise of Islam in

16560-402: The standard designation for the ancient oriental church which in the past called itself 'The Church of the East', but which today prefers a fuller title 'The Assyrian Church of the East'. Such a designation is not only discourteous to modern members of this venerable church, but also − as this paper aims to show − both inappropriate and misleading". At the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410,

16698-433: The state authorities in the Roman Empire suppressed Nestorianism, a reason for Christians under Persian rule to favour it and so allay suspicion that their loyalty lay with the hostile Christian-ruled empire. It was in the aftermath of the slightly later Council of Chalcedon (451), that the Church of the East formulated a distinctive theology. The first such formulation was adopted at the Synod of Beth Lapat in 484. This

16836-599: The term "Nestorian" was applied to all doctrine upholding a strictly Antiochene Christology. In consequence, the Church of the East was labelled Nestorian, though its official Christology was in fact defined by Babai the Great , at the council that was held in 612. The church employs the Syriac dialect of Eastern Aramaic in its liturgy , the East Syriac Rite , which includes three anaphoras , attributed to Addai of Edessa and Mari , Theodore of Mopsuestia and later also Nestorius . In their homes, Christians belonging to

16974-410: The throne of the Sasanian Empire . The policies of the Sasanian Empire, which encouraged syncretic forms of Christianity, greatly influenced the Church of the East. The early Church had branches that took inspiration from Neo-Platonism, other Near Eastern religions like Judaism , and other forms of Christianity. In 410, the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon , held at the Sasanian capital, allowed

17112-472: The title Theotokos "God-bearer, Mother of God" was taken as evidence that he believed two separate persons (as opposed to two united natures) to be present within Christ. The Sasanian Emperor, hostile to the Byzantines, saw the opportunity to ensure the loyalty of his Christian subjects and lent support to the Nestorian Schism . The Emperor took steps to cement the primacy of the Nestorian party within

17250-495: The title denied Christ's full humanity. He argued that Jesus had two loosely joined natures, the divine Logos and the human Jesus, and proposed Christotokos (literally, "Bearer of the Christ") as a more suitable alternative title. His statements drew criticism from other prominent churchmen, particularly from Cyril , Patriarch of Alexandria , who had a leading part in the Council of Ephesus of 431, which condemned Nestorius for heresy and deposed him as Patriarch. After 431,

17388-491: The traditional East Syrian theology, as a term of pride by many of its defenders [...] and as a neutral and convenient descriptive term by others. Nowadays it is generally felt that the term carries a stigma". Sebastian P. Brock says: "The association between the Church of the East and Nestorius is of a very tenuous nature, and to continue to call that church 'Nestorian' is, from a historical point of view, totally misleading and incorrect – quite apart from being highly offensive and

17526-477: The traditional faith, Patriarchs of the Shimun line decided to keep their independence and after that time there were two independent lines of traditional patriarchs: the senior Eliya line in Alqosh and the junior Shimun line in Qochanis. Such division was additionally caused by the complex structure of local Assyrian communities, traditionally organized as tribal confederations with each tribe being headed by

17664-566: The tragedies and schisms which thinned the church out, no other was as severe as the Assyrian genocide . At that point the Assyrian Church of the East was based in the mountains of Hakkari , as it had been since 1681. In 1915, The Young Turks invaded the region — despite the Assyrians' plea of neutrality during the Caucasus campaign by Russia and their Armenian allies — out of fear of an Assyrian independence movement . In response to this, Assyrians of all denominations (the Assyrian Church of

17802-801: The whole work was probably done by the second century. Most of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament are found in the Syriac, and the Wisdom of Sirach is held to have been translated from the Hebrew and not from the Septuagint . The New Testament of the Peshitta, which originally excluded certain disputed books ( Second Epistle of Peter , Second Epistle of John , Third Epistle of John , Epistle of Jude , Book of Revelation ), had become

17940-575: Was a member of the Church of East, but later joined the miaphysite church of Antioch. Drawing inspiration from Theodore of Mopsuestia , Babai the Great (551−628) expounded, especially in his Book of Union , what became the normative Christology of the Church of the East. He affirmed that the two qnome (a Syriac term, plural of qnoma , not corresponding precisely to Greek φύσις or οὐσία or ὑπόστασις) of Christ are unmixed but eternally united in his single parsopa (from Greek πρόσωπον prosopon "mask, character, person"). As happened also with

18078-624: Was also decided that Shimun should be reinstated. The second matter was supposed to be settled at another synod in 1975; however, Shimun was assassinated in November 1975 by an estranged relative before this could take place. Almost a year after the death of Shimun, Mar Khnanya Dinkha , Metropolitan of Tehran , convened a synod of seven Assyrian bishops which took place at St Paul's Abbey, Alton , in England, from 12 to 17 October 1976. They were joined by two Church of England bishops, representing

18216-444: Was applied to his successors, who all took the same name thus creating the Eliya line . During his patriarchal rule, the Eliya line preserved its traditional christology and full ecclesiastical independence. His successor was Patriarch Eliya VII (VIII) (1591–1617), who negotiated on several occasions with the Catholic Church, in 1605 and 1610, and again in 1615–1616, but without any conclusion. Further negotiations were abandoned by

18354-475: Was developed further in the early seventh century, when in an at first successful war against the Byzantine Empire the Sasanid Persian Empire incorporated broad territories populated by West Syrians, many of whom were supporters of the Miaphysite theology of Oriental Orthodoxy which its opponents term "Monophysitism" ( Eutychianism ), the theological view most opposed to Nestorianism. They received support from Khosrow II , influenced by his wife Shirin . Shirin

18492-406: Was forced to take temporary refuge in Mosul . He was succeeded by Patriarch Shimun XVIII Rubil (1861–1903) who also resided in Qodshanis. In 1869, he received an open invitation from the Vatican to visit Rome to attend the First Vatican Council as an observer, but he did not accept the invitation, In following years, he also rejected other initiatives for union with the Catholic Church. By

18630-413: Was moved several times throughout history. Up to the 1804, patriarchs of the senior Eliya line resided in the ancient Rabban Hormizd Monastery , while patriarchs of the junior Shimun line resided in the Cathedral Church of Mar Shallita, in the village of Qudshanis in the Hakkari Mountains of the Ottoman Empire , and continued to do so up to the First World War . After the beginning of conflict in 1915,

18768-541: Was of the Saint Thomas Christians of the Malabar Coast in India , who alone escaped the destruction of the church by Timur at the end of the 14th century, and the majority of whom today constitute the largest group who now use the liturgy of the Church of the East , with around 4 million followers in their homeland, in spite of the 17th-century defection to the West Syriac Rite of the Syriac Orthodox Church . The St Thomas Christians were believed by tradition to have been converted by St Thomas, and were in communion with

18906-412: Was then moved to Modesto, California , in 1954, and finally to San Francisco in 1958 due to health issues. After the assassination of the patriarch and the election of Dinkha IV in 1976, the patriarchate was temporarily located in Tehran , where the new patriarch was living at the time. Church of the East The Church of the East ( Classical Syriac : ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā ) or

19044-490: Was therefore called the "Nestorian Church" by those of the Roman Imperial church. More recently, the "Nestorian" appellation has been called "a lamentable misnomer", and theologically incorrect by scholars. The Church of the East's declaration in 424 of the independence of its head, the Patriarch of the East , preceded by seven years the 431 Council of Ephesus, which condemned Nestorius and declared that Mary, mother of Jesus , can be described as Mother of God . Two of

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