Assyrian Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East
Emblem of the Assyrian Church of the East
Founder	Traces ultimate origins to Thomas the Apostle, Addai and Mari; emerged from a schism in the Church of the East in 1552.
Independence	Apostolic Era;[1][2] 1552
Recognition	Assyrian Church of the East
Primate	Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East, Mar Dinkha IV Khanania
Headquarters	Morton Grove, Cook County, Illinois, United States of America
Territory	Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Europe, Russia, Georgia, Australia & New Zealand, United States, Canada, India, People's Republic of China.
Possessions	—
Language	Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
Adherents	400,000[3][4]
Website	http://www.assyrianchurchnews.com/

The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,^[5] (in Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ܥܕܬܐ ܩܕܝܫܬܐ ܘܫܠܝܚܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܪ̈ܝܐ, ‘Ittā Qaddishtā wa-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē) (in Arabic كنيسة المشرق الاشورية الرسولية الجاثلقية المقدسة), is an ancient Christian church currently centered in Chicago, Illinois, United States, but with most members in Mesopotamia. One of the modern churches that claim continuity with the historical Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon – the Church of the East – the Assyrian Church emerged as a distinct body following a schism in the Church of the East in 1552. Unlike most other churches that trace their origins to antiquity, the modern Assyrian Church of the East is not in communion with any other churches, either Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Catholic.

The church is headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, currently Mar Dinkha IV. Since 1940 the Catholicos-Patriarch's residence has been in Chicago, but had historically been located in various cities in Iraq. Below the Catholicos-Patriarch are a number of metropolitan bishops, diocesan bishops, priests, and other religious who serve dioceses and parishes in the Middle East, North America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the world. Theologically, the church is associated with the doctrine of Nestorianism, leading to the church also being known as the "Nestorian Church", though church leadership has at times rejected the Nestorian label. The church employs the Syriac language in its liturgy, the East Syrian Rite, which includes three anaphoras, attributed to Theodore of Mopsuestia, Nestorius, and Addai and Mari.^[6]

The Church of the East developed from the early Christian communities in Persia, and at its height had spread from its Mesopotamian heartland as far as China and India. In 1552 a dispute over patriarchal succession led to a schism, resulting in there being two rival Patriarchs. One of the factions that emerged from this split became the modern Assyrian Church of the East, while the other became the church now known as the Chaldean Catholic Church, which entered into communion with the Catholic Church.

History

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Early years of the Church of the East

The Church of the East traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Mesopotamia, (present-day Iraq). Tradition holds the See to have been founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle (Tooma Shlikha), Saint Mari and Saint Addai in AD 33. Christian communities have existed in the regions of Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia from the 1st century. Official recognition was first granted to the Christian faith in the 4th century with the accession of King Yezdegerd to the throne of the Persian Sassanid Empire.

In 410, the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, held at the Sassanid capital, allowed the Church's leading bishops to elect a formal Catholicos, or leader. The Catholicos, Mar Isaac, was required both to lead the Christian community, and to answer on its behalf to the King.^[7][8]

Under pressure from the King of Persia, the Assyrian Church sought increasingly to distance itself from the Roman Catholic Church. In 424 the bishops of the Persian Empire met in council under the leadership of Catholicos Mar Dadisho I (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.^[9]

As such the Mesopotamian and Persian Churches were not represented at the various Church Councils attended by representatives of the Western Church. Accordingly the leaders of the Persian Church 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 Nicea (325); affirming the full divinity of Christ; were formally accepted at the Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.^[10] The Church's understanding of the term 'hypostasis' differs from the definition of the term offered at the Council of Chalcedon. For this reason, the Assyrian Church has never approved the Chalcedonian definition.^[10]

The theological controversy that followed the First Council of Ephesus, in 431, proved a turning point in the Church's history. The Council condemned as heretical the Christology of Nestorius, whose reluctance to accord the Virgin Mary the title 'Theotokos' ('God-bearer' or 'Mother of God') was taken as evidence that he believed two separate persons (as opposed to two united natures) to be present within Christ. For the theological issues at stake, please see Is the Assyrian Church Nestorian?

The King of Persia, hostile to the Roman Empire, saw the opportunity to ensure the loyalty of his Christian subjects and lent support to the Nestorian schism. The King took steps to cement the primacy of the Nestorian party within the Assyrian Church, granting its members his protection,^[11] and executing the pro-Roman Catholicos Babowai, replacing him with the Nestorian Bishop of Nisibis, Barsauma. The Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Babai I (497–503) confirmed the association of the Persian Church with Nestorianism.

Eastern Expansion

During the medieval period the geographical horizons of the Church of the East extended well beyond its heartland in present-day Iraq. Assyrian and Nestorian communities sprang up throughout Central Asia, and missionaries took the Christian faith as far as China and the Malabar Coast of India.^[12]

Yohannan Sulaqa and the Chaldean Catholic Church

The massacres of Tamerlane (1336–1405) devastated several bishoprics. The Church of the East, which had previously extended as far as China, was reduced to a remnant living in the triangular area^[13] between Amid, Salmas and Mosul. The See was moved to Alqosh, in the Mosul region, and Mar Shimun IV Basidi (1437–1493) appointed Patriarch, establishing a new, hereditary, line of succession.^[14]

Growing dissent in the church's hierarchy over hereditary succession came to a head in 1552, when a group of bishops from the Northern regions of Amid and Salmas elected Mar Yohannan Sulaqa as a rival Patriarch. Seeking consecration as Patriarch by a Bishop of Metropolitan rank, Sulaqa traveled to Rome in 1553, and entered into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. On being appointed Patriarch, Sulaqa took the name Mar Shimun VIII and was granted the title of "Patriarch of Mosul and Athur (Assyria)". Later this title became "Patriarch of the Chaldeans".^[15]

Mar Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned to the Near East the same year, establishing his seat in Amid. Before being put to death by partisans of the Patriarch of Alqosh [12], he ordained five metropolitan bishops, thus establishing a new ecclesiastical hierarchy, a line of patriarchal descent known as the Shimun line.

Sees in Qochanis, Amid, and Alqosh

Relations with Rome weakened under Shimun VIII's successors, all of whom took the name Shimun. The last of this line of Patriarchs to be formally recognized by the Pope died in the early 17th century. Hereditary accession to the office of Patriarch was reintroduced, and by 1660 the Church of the East had become divided into two Patriarchates; the Eliya line, based in Alqosh (comprising that portion of the faithful which had not entered into Communion with Rome), and the Shimun line. In 1672[15] the Patriarch of the Shimun line, Mar Shimun XIII Denha, moved his seat to the village of Qochanis in the mountains of Hakkari. In 1692 the Patriarch formally broke communion with Rome and allegedly resumed relations with the line at Alqosh[citation needed], though retaining the independent structure and jurisdiction of his line of succession.

The Chaldean Patriarchate was revived in 1672 when Mar Joseph I, then metropolitan of Amid, entered into communion with Rome, thus separating from the Patriarchal See of Alqosh. In 1681 the Holy See granted Mar Joseph the title of "Patriarch of the Chaldeans deprived of its Patriarch", thus forming the third Patriarchate of the Church of the East. It was this third Patriarchate that was to become known as the Chaldean Catholic Church.

The Josephite line of Amid

Each of Joseph I's successors took the name Joseph. The life of this Patriarchate was difficult; stricken early on with internal dissent, the Patriarchiate later struggled with financial difficulties due to the tax burden imposed by Turkish authorities. Despite these difficulties, the influence of the Patriarchate expanded from its original base of Amid and Mardin towards the area of Mosul, where ultimately the See was relocated.

Yohannan Hormizd, the last of the Eliya hereditary line in Alqosh, made a Catholic profession of faith in 1780. Though entering full communion with the Roman See in 1804, he was not recognized as Patriarch by the Pope until 1830. This move merged the majority of the Patriarcate of Alqosh with the Josephite line of Amid, thus forming the modern Chaldean Catholic Church.

The Shimun line of Patriarchs, based in Qochanis, remained independent of the Chaldean Church. The Patriarchate of the present-day Assyrian Church of the East, with its see in Chicago, forms the continuation of this line.^[16]

20th Century

The British Empire employed Assyrian troops to put down Arab and Kurdish rebellions in the aftermath of World War I. In consequence, Assyrians endured persecution under the Hashemite monarchy, leading many to flee to the West. During this period the British-educated Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII; born into the line of Patriarchs at Qochanis; agitated for an independent Assyrian state. Following the end of the British mandate in 1933^[17] and a massacre of civilians at Simele by the Iraqi Army, the Patriarch was forced to take refuge in Cyprus. Mar Eshai later moved to Chicago before settling near San Francisco.

In 1964, the issue of hereditary succession was again the cause of schism within the Church, with bishops opposed to hereditary succession establishing the Ancient Church of the East under Patriarch Mar Thoma Darmo.

Mar Shimun XXIII

Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun became convinced that nothing in the Canon Law of the Church of the East prohibited the Patriarch from taking a wife. He therefore married in August 1973, announcing his resignation in that year, but was asked to stay in office. Mar Eshai Shimun was assassinated in 1975 while negotiations were being carried out over the conditions of his reinstatement.

Mar Dinkha IV

In 1976, the current Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Dinkha IV, was elected as Shimun's successor. He announced the permanent end of hereditary succession. This move removed the underlying dispute, though the rift between the rival Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East and the rival Ancient Church of the East, currently led by Patriarch Mar Addai II, still exists.

Is the Assyrian Church Nestorian?

The Nestorian nature of Assyrian Christianity remains a matter of contention. Nestorianism was explicitly repudiated by Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV on the occasion of his accession in 1976.^[18]

The Christology of the Church of the East has its roots in 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.^[19]

Antiochene theology emphasised Christ's humanity and the reality of the moral choices he faced. In order to preserve the impassibility of Christ's Divine Nature, the unity of His person was defined in a looser fashion than in the Alexandrian tradition.^[19] The normative Christology of the Assyrian church was written by Babai the Great (551–628) during the controversy that followed the First Council of Ephesus (451). Babai held that within Christ there exist two qnome (essences, or hypostases), unmingled, but everlastingly united in the one parsopa (personality).

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 union of will. Nestorianism has come to mean dyaphysitism; in which Christ's dual natures are eternally separate; though it 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 - not merely two natures - in Jesus Christ; but there exists no evidence that Nestorius denied Christ's oneness.^[20] In the controversy that followed the Council of Ephesus, the term 'Nestorian' was applied to all upholding a strictly Antiochene Christology. In consequence the Church of the East was labelled 'Nestorian', though its theology is not dyaphisite.

Structure

The Church is governed by Episcopal polity, which is the same as other Catholic churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into archdioceses and dioceses. The patriarch is head of the church, and under him there are four archdioceses in the Assyrian Church: one for Australia and New Zealand, one for Lebanon, Syria, and Europe, another for India, and one that serves Iraq and Russia. Individual dioceses exist in the eastern USA (including Chicago), western USA, California, Canada, Syria, Iran and Europe. Several congregations exist in Georgia, India, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Syria. A single parish exists in the People's Republic of China, whose existence stretches back to antiquity, and another in Moscow.^[21] The present Patriarch, Mar Dinkha IV, has his headquarters (along with four other houses of worship) in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Archdiocese of Australia & New Zealand

Overseen by Metropolitan Mar Meelis Zaia - The Archdiocese of Australia & New Zealand consists of 4 Churches, a Mission, Ss Peter and Paul English Parish,and an Assyrian Primary School. It is the first ever archdiocese outside the Middle East, in the western hemisphere. The [St. Hurmizd Assyrian Primary School] provides education for over 3,600 students. Mar Narsai Assyrian college was also established in Sydney (the first Assyrian high school) and land has been bought for the construction of the multimillion dollar high school.^[22] Currently, the Assyrian Church in Australia is working on building an Assyrian Medical Centre, a retirement village, Mar Narsai Assyrian College, and a church building for the rapidly growing Ss. Peter and Paul English Parish under Reverend, Father Genard Lazar.^[23] The Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand under the leadership of Metropolitan Mar Meelis Zaia is the fastest growing Assyrian church diocese and community in the world.

Archdiocese of Lebanon, Syria & Europe

Under Metropolitan Mar Narsai D'Baz

• Diocese of Europe - Overseen by Bishop Mar Odisho Oraham, the Diocese of Europe consists of 9 Churches and 3 Missions.
• Diocese of Syria - Overseen by Bishop Mar Aprem Natniel.

Archdiocese of India

Overseen by Metropolitan Mar Aprem,and two Episcopas Mar Yohannan Joseph and Mar Augin Kuriakose, the Archdiocese of India consists of over 24 Churches in Kerala and 5 Churches outside Kerala (one each at Coimbatore, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi). The only parish outside India which comes under the Archdiocese of India is in U.A.E. In India, this church is known by the name Chaldean Syrian Church of the East. The Archdiocese in India has about than 30,000 faithfuls in South India. Head Quartered at Thrissur in Kerala. This Church traces back its origin from St. Thomas who is believed to have established Christianity in India.

Archdiocese of Iraq & Russia

Overseen by Metropolitan Mar Gewargis Sliwa who resides in Baghdad, Iraq.

• Diocese of Baghdad - Overseen by Bishop Mar Sargis Yosip
• Diocese of Nohadra and Russia - Overseen by Bishop Mar Iskhaq Yosip

Individual Dioceses

• Diocese of Canada - Overseen Bishop Mar Emmanuel Yosip, the Dioceses of Canada consists of 4 Churches and a Mission.
• Diocese of Eastern United States - Overseen by Mar Dinkha IV Catholicos Patriarch, the Diocese of Eastern United States consists of 9 Churches.
• Diocese of Iran - Overseen by Mar Dinkha IV Catholicos Patriarch, the Diocese of Iran consists of over 3 Churches and 15 Missions.
• Diocese of California - Currently overseen by Bishop Mar Awa Royel, the Diocese of California consists of 5 Churches.
• Diocese of Western United States - Overseen by Bishop Mar Aprim Khamis, consists of over 6 Churches and a Mission.

Ecumenical Relations

The Catholic Pope John XXIII invited many other Christian denominations, including the Assyrian Church of the East, to send "observers" to the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). These observers, graciously received and seated as honored guests right in front of the podium on the floor of the council chamber, did not formally take part in the Council's debate, but they mingled freely with the Catholic bishops and theologians who constituted the council, and with the other observers as well, in the break area during the council sessions. There, cordial conversations began a rapproachment that has blossomed into expanding relations among the Catholic Church, the churches of the Orthodox Communion lead by the Ecumenical Patriarch, and the other ancient churches of the east.

On November 11, 1994, a historic meeting of Mar Dinkha IV and Pope John Paul II took place in Rome. The two patriarchs signed a document titled Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. One side effect of this meeting was that the Assyrian Church's relationship to the Chaldean Catholic Church began to improve.^[24]

In 1996, Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV signed an agreement of cooperation with the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad, Raphael I Bidawid, in Southfield, Michigan. In 1997, he entered into negotiations with the Syrian Orthodox Church and the two churches ceased anathematizing each other.

The lack of the Words of Institution used by Jesus at the Last Supper ("This is my body"..."This is [the cup of] my blood") in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, which dates to apostolic times, has caused many Western Christians (especially Roman Catholics) to consider the sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East to be invalid. However, in 2001, after a study of this issue, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, then being prefect) promulgated a declaration approved by Pope John Paul II stating that this is a valid liturgy, opening the door for Chaldean Catholics to receive the Eucharist in an Assyrian Church if unable to attend their own churches.

The hierarchies of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church subsequently promulgated a joint synodal decree implementing the present Guidelines for Admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East on 20 July 2001. These guidelines permit liberal sharing in sacraments of communion (qurbana), reconciliation, and anointing of the sick for the diaspora of the respective churches.

This document includes following provisions: (1) Assyrian faithful are permitted to participate and to receive Holy Communion in a Chaldean celebration of the Holy Eucharist (2) Chaldean faithful are permitted to participate and to receive Holy Communion in an Assyrian celebration of the Holy Eucharist, even if celebrated using the Anaphora of Addai and Mari in its form without the Words of Institution. (3) Assyrian ministers are invited (but not obliged) to insert the Words of Institution in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari when Chaldean faithfuls are present to the liturgy.

The provisions above are intended exclusively to pastoral necessity, i.e. when it is not possible for a Assyrian or Chaldean faithful to attend their own Church. This document does not express a relationship of Full Communion, even if it marks the mutual recognition of the validity of the apostolic succession of the other Church, as well as its priesthood and sacraments, a recognition by the way never contested. It also has been possible because the Anaphora of Addai and Mari, even without the Words of Institution, has been officially declared valid by the Holy See with the very same document.

From a canonical point of view this document hasn't brought breaking news: actually canon 671 of the 1991 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches of the Catholic Church already stated that "If necessity requires it or genuine spiritual advantage suggests it and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, it is permitted for Catholic Christian faithful, for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, to receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers, in whose Churches these sacraments are valid. 3. Likewise Catholic ministers licitly administer the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick to Christian faithful of Eastern Churches, who do not have full communion with the Catholic Church, if they ask for them on their own and are properly disposed" (see also canons 843 and 844 of the Latin rite Catholic Code of Canon Law). It shall also be noted that the Assyrian Church of the East follows an Open Communion approach allowing any baptized Christian to receive its Eucharist.^[25]

From an ecumenical point of view this document wanted to mark a further step in the relation between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, possibly beginning a pastoral collaboration. Anyway in the following years the dialog between the two Churches slowed down and was suspended in 2002 and not yet resumed.

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See also

• East Syrian Rite
• List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East
• Chaldean Syrian Church in India

References

Bibliography

• Christoph Baumer, The Church of the East, an Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity (London and New York: I. B. Tauris, 2006), ISBN 184511115X
• Baum, Wilhem, and Dietmar Winkler, The Church of the East: A Concise History (London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003)
• Mar Aprem Mooken, The Assyrian Church of the East in the Twentieth Century. Mōrān ’Eth’ō, 18. (Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, 2003).
• Jenkins, Phillip "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia — and How It Died (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008)
• Weatherford, Jack (2004). Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80964-4.
• Erica Hunter, "The Church of the East in Central Asia," Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 78, no.3 (1996), 129-142.
• W. Klein, Das Nestorianische Christentum an den Handelswegen durch Kyrgyzstan, Silk Road Studies 3 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000).
• A. C. Moule, Christians in China before the year 1550, (London: SPCK, 1930).
• P. Y. Saeki, Nestorian Documents and Relics in China, 2nd ed., (Tokyo: Maruzen, 1951).

Notes

External links

• Official Website of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Assyrian Church of the East
• Article on the Assyrian Church of the East – from the Catholic Near East Welfare Association
• An Unofficial Website on the Church of the East – An informational site
• Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East – Commission on Inter-Church Relations and Education Development: Is the theology of the Church of the East Nestorian?
• Documentary film 'The last Assyrians', a history of Aramaic speaking Christians
• Qambel Maran- Syriac chants from South India- a review and liturgical music tradition of Syriac Christians revisited
• Traditions and rituals among the Syrian Christians of Kerala
• Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East from Vatican.va
• Guidelines for Chaldean Catholics receiving the Eucharist in Assyrian Churches
• Dialogue between the Syrian and Assyrian Churches
• Khader Khano, the first native-born Assyrian to be ordained priest in Jerusalem in over 100 years