| Addai Scher | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of the Eparchy of Siirt | |
| See | Archeparchy of Siirt |
| In Office | 13 November 1902—21 June 1915 |
| Predecessor | Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas |
| Successor | Ceased to exist |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 15 August 1889 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 March 1867 Shaqlawa |
| Died | 21 June 1915 (aged 48) Siirt |
| Previous post | Priest |
Addai Scher (Syriac: ܐܕܝ ܫܝܪ, IPA: [ʔadðˈðaːj ʃeːr]) Also written Addai Sher, Addaï Scher and Addai Sheir (3 March 1867 – 21 June 1915), was the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Siirt.[1] He was killed by the Ottomans during the Assyrian Genocide.
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Addai was born in Shaqlawa to Chaldean Christian parents on 3 March, 1867. His father was the local priest of the village, and he helped him at teaching Syriac at a young age.[2] The early death of his mother made him concentrate on ascetic life and he joined the Domenican Seminar in Mosul in 1880 where he studied Syriac, Arabic, French, Latin and Turkish as well as theology and philosophy. and after nine years he was appointed a priest and sent to his hometown Shaqlawa where he once more worked as a teacher in the Church's school.[2]
He was later appointed as a bishopric assistant in Kirkuk and he spent his time learning Hebrew, Greek, Persian, Kurdish and he authored as well in German and English.[2]
In 13 November, 1902 he was elected as the next bishop of Siirt, a position that was vacant for two year. In 1908 he journeyed to Istanbul where he met the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. From there he took off to Rome and met pope Pius X, and during his stay in Paris he managed to make contacts with French orientalists and print some of his works.[2]
In 1915, the Ottoman Army was initially defeated in the Caucasus during the Great War, and fearing an internal uprising from its Christian population orders were given to exterminate the Armenian and Assyrian population of Anatolia. Initially Addai Sher managed to bribe the governor of Siirt with 500 pounds of gold in order to save his congregation. This enabled some of the Christians of the City to flee. The bishop himself was helped by a Kurdish Agha who hid him in his house.[3]
The Archbishop remained hidden for several days but Kurdish band discovered his hideout. rev. Joseph Naayem cites a witness of the last hours of Addai Scher's life:[4]
One day when we were at Sairt I was present at a horrible scene, the chief figure in which was His Grace, Mar Addai, the Chaldean Archbishop of that town. He was in a pitiable state, pale and thin. The soldiers began by jeering at him, pulling his beard and striking him with their rifle butts, firing their revolvers into the air in front of him. They then took the Archbishop outside the town, and, having slain a servant of his protector, Osman Agha, killing him with a fatal blow on the head, the butchers cut off the head of the Archbishop in order to show it to the Governor.
— Joseph Naayem, Shall This Nation Die?