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119-645: The party was established in order to represent political interests of Christian minority communities in Iraq. Attempting to overcome internal divisions among those communities, the party was founded under a complex name, that refers to Chaldeans (adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church ), Syriacs (adherents of the Syriac Orthodox Church ) and Assyrians (adherents of the Assyrian Church of

238-399: 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,

357-678: A "local official language" if the majority of the region or province's residents agree to this in a general referendum. Some have also complained that adults have to join the KDP party in the KDP-majority areas of Iraqi Kurdistan in order to be granted employment and that KDP representatives are allowed to settle in Assyrian villages. Some interviewed Christian IDPs had told that the Arabs, Kurds and Islamists are fully aware that Assyrians have no means of protection in

476-512: A Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad during Sunday evening Mass, on 31 October 2010 killing more than 60 and wounding 78 Iraqi Christians. In 2011, Sunni extremists assassinated a Christian randomly using sniper rifles. Two months before the incident, 2 Christians had been shot for unknown reasons in Baghdad and 2 other Christians had been shot by a Sunni jihadist in Mosul. On 30 May 2011, a Christian man

595-462: A campaign of looting against Assyrian settlements. The Assyrians fled to Simele, where they were also persecuted. According to some studies, there were many accounts by witnesses of numerous atrocities perpetrated by Arabs and Kurds on Assyrian women. In 1987, the last Iraqi census counted 1.4 million Christians. They were tolerated under the secular regime of Saddam Hussein , who even made one of them, Tariq Aziz , his deputy. As of 21 June 2007,

714-479: 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

833-513: 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 ,

952-664: 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

1071-465: 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

1190-469: A rich and vital contribution to Christian history, and after Israel , Iraq has the most biblical history of any other country in the world. The patriarch Abraham was from Ur , in southern Iraq, modern day Nasiriya, and Rebecca was from northwestern Iraq, in Assyria . Additionally, Daniel lived in Iraq most of his life. The prophet Ezekiel was from southern Iraq and his shrine is located there. Shrines of

1309-452: A series of car bomb attacks took place during the Sunday evening Mass in churches of two Iraqi cities, Baghdad and Mosul, killing and wounding a large number of Christians. Jordanian-Iraqi Sunni Arab Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was blamed for the attacks. In 2006, an Orthodox priest, Boulos Iskander, was snatched off the streets of Sunni city of Mosul by a Sunni group that demanded a ransom. His body

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1428-575: A very small minority of Kurdish , Shabaks and Iraqi Turkmen Christians. Most present-day Iraqi Christians are ethnically, linguistically, historically and genetically distinct from Kurds, Arabs, Iranians, Turks and Turkmens (as well as from fellow Syriac Christians in Western Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and South Western Turkey). Regardless of religious affiliation ( Assyrian Church of the East , Chaldean Catholic Church , Syriac Orthodox Church , Syriac Catholic Church , Assyrian Pentecostal Church , etc.)

1547-643: Is closely affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and is mostly funded by Nechirvan Barzani . On July 22, 2023 the party joined the Athra Alliance , a political alliance representing Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac interests in Iraq. In the January Iraqi governorate elections of 2009 , the party was part of a coalition that won the Assyrian reserved seats in Baghdad and Ninawa . It officially backed

1666-515: 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,

1785-669: 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

1904-610: Is said to be at around 500,000, according to the EU Research Services on minorities in Iraq , although numbers vary from source to source due to the last Iraqi census having taken place more than 30 years ago. A census is scheduled to take place in 2020 in which the numbers of Christians in Iraq will be clarified. Christianity was brought to Iraq in the 1st century by Thomas the Apostle and Mar Addai ( Addai of Edessa ) and his pupils Aggai and Mari . Thomas and Addai belonged to

2023-457: The 2003 invasion of Iraq , violence against Christians rose, with reports of abduction, torture, bombings, and killings. Some Christians were pressured to convert to Islam under threat of death or expulsion, and women were ordered to wear Islamic dress. In August 2004, International Christian Concern protested an attack by Islamists on Iraqi Christian churches that killed 11 people. In 2006, an Orthodox Christian priest, Boulos Iskander ,

2142-511: The 2014 parliamentary elections . However, in recent years, the council has lost all elections that it has participated, due to the rise of pro-Iranian affiliated Babylon Movement , and the decline of Nechrivan Barzani's power within the KDP, leading to the rise of Ano Abdoka's Hammurabi Coalition. The Nineveh Plain Guard Forces (NPGF) is composed of former members of the Church Guards that

2261-644: The Al-Dora area of the Al-Rashid district . First, a bomb was deonated in the mainly Christian Athorien (Hay Al-Athoriyeen) neighborhood market, killing at least eleven and injuring 40. Then a bomb was detonated outside the St. John's Roman Catholic Church targeting Christmas service worshippers, killing 27 and injuring 56. In 2014, during the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive , the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) ordered all Christians in

2380-515: 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

2499-573: The Arabic letter ن ( nūn ) for Nassarah (an Arabic word that means "Christian") and a declaration that they are the property of the Islamic State. On 18 July, the Jihadists seemed to have changed their minds and announced that all Christians would need to leave or be killed. Most of those who left had their valuable possessions stolen. According to Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako , there were no Christians remaining in Mosul in 2015, for

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2618-629: 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

2737-547: 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

2856-769: 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

2975-581: 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

3094-533: 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

3213-623: The Chaldean Democratic Union for the Basra seat, which the CDU won. On July 25, 2009, the party ran for the first time on its own for the 111-member Kurdistan National Assembly (see 2009 Iraqi Kurdistan legislative election ). It received over 10,000 votes and won 3 of the 5 reserved Christian seats. On March 7, 2010, Iraq held its parliamentary elections , where the party won 2 of the 5 reserved seats. The coalition maintained their seats during

3332-556: 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

3451-644: The Islamic State of Iraq , stated that Iraq's indigenous Christians were a "legitimate target." In November, a series of bombings and mortar attacks targeted Christian Assyrian-majority areas of Baghdad. During the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive , the Islamic State issued a decree in July that all Christians in the area of its control must pay a special tax of approximately $ 470 per family, convert to Islam, or die. Many of them took refuge in nearby Kurdish -controlled regions of Iraq. Christian homes have been painted with

3570-604: The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reported that more than 40,000 Christians had moved from Baghdad, Basra and Mosul to the Iraqi Kurdistan cities. The reports also stated that a number of Christians families who are moving to the Iraqi Kurdistan is growing and they were providing support and financial assistance for 11,000 of those families, and some are employed by the KRG. In 2010, Sunni Islamist groups attacked

3689-762: 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

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3808-606: 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

3927-528: The Seljuks invaded Mesopotamia with the support of Kurdish chieftains and tribes. They "destroyed whatever they encountered" and captured and enslaved women . The historian Ibn Khaldun wrote that 'the Kurds spoiled and spread horror everywhere'. In time, Armenia and Assyria became "Kurdistan". The Assyrian Church of the East has its origin in what is now southeastern Turkey and Asoristan (Sasanian Assyria ). By

4046-547: The UK , led by Archbishop Athanasios Dawood , who has called on the government to accept more refugees. Apart from emigration , the Iraqi Christian share of the population is also declining due to lower rates of birth and higher death rates than its Muslim compatriots. Also since the invasion of Iraq, Assyrians and Armenians have been targeted by Islamist extremist organisations. Pope Francis paid Iraq an apostolic visit between

4165-504: The UNHCR estimated that 2.2 million Iraqis had been displaced to neighboring countries and 2 million were displaced internally, with nearly 100,000 Iraqis fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month. Some of those refugees and IDPs were Christians. A 25 May 2007 article noted that in the previous seven months only 69 people from Iraq had been granted refugee status in the United States . After

4284-653: 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

4403-602: The 17th century when Emir Afrasiyab of Basra allowed the Portuguese to build a church outside of the city. During World War I , the Assyrians of northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran suffered the Assyrian genocide , which accounted for the deaths of up to 65% of the entire Assyrian population. In the year of Iraq's formal independence, 1933, the Iraqi military carried out large-scale massacres against

4522-542: The 1987 census numbers. The Ba’athist rule under Saddam Hussein kept anti-Christian violence under control but subjected some to "relocation programmes". Under this regime, the predominantly ethnically and linguistically distinct Assyrian people were pressured to identify as Arabs . The Christian population fell to an estimated 800,000 during the 2003 Iraq War . During the 2013–2017 Iraq War , with ISIS rapidly sweeping through Iraq's western lands , Christian Assyrians and Armenians fled as they feared persecution by

4641-632: The 2003 Iraq War, Iraqi Christians have fled from the country and their population has collapsed under the democratic government. Majority of Christians have either fled to Iraqi Kurdistan or abroad. A population project by the Shlama Foundation has estimated that there are about 150,000 Christian Assyrians remaining in Iraq as of July 2020. This is down from about 1,500,000 in the year 2003. In 2003, Iraqi Christians were primary target of extremist Sunni Islamists. Many kidnapped Christians were forced to leave Christianity or tortured. On August 1, 2004,

4760-457: The 5–8 March 2021, during which he visited the cities Najaf , Baghdad , Ur , Mosul , Qaraqosh and Erbil . From the late 13th century through to the present time, Christian Assyrians have suffered both religious and ethnic persecution, including a number of massacres and genocides. Former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz 's death sentence was not signed by the Iraqi president in 2010 because

4879-490: 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

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4998-491: 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,

5117-499: 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

5236-481: 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

5355-553: The Assyrians ( Simele massacre ) which had supported the British colonial administration before. In the early 1930s, the Iraqi Arab ministries disseminated leaflets among the Kurds calling them to join them to massacre Assyrians. This call appealed to Islamic convictions and united Arabs and Kurds against the infidel Christians. Shortly before the August 11 Simele massacre in 1933, Kurds began

5474-503: The Assyrians, until the latter began to die out during the 4th century. In the early centuries after the Arab Islamic conquest of the 7th century, Assyria (also known as Athura and Asoristan ) was dissolved by the Arabs as a geopolitical entity, however the indigenous Assyrians (known as Ashuriyun by the Arabs) scholars and doctors played an influential role in Iraq. In the period prior to

5593-537: 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

5712-571: 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

5831-484: The East ). One of the main goals of CSAPC is to achieve administrative self-government or outright autonomy for the Nineveh Plains , a northern Iraqi region with high concentration of Christian population. The party claims the majority of the population in the Nineveh Plains suffers neglect and lack of service because they belong to minority groups, whose rights are not fully observed. The Party runs Ishtar TV and publishes several different monthly magazines. The party

5950-560: The East , 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

6069-464: 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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6188-457: 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

6307-418: 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

6426-407: 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

6545-552: 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,

6664-465: The Eastern Aramaic speaking Christians of Iraq and its surroundings are one genetically homogeneous people. They identify themselves as being a separate people, of different origins and with a distinct history of their own harking back to ancient Assyria and Mesopotamia (see Assyrian continuity and History of the Assyrians ). Christian Assyrians also have communities in northeastern Syria , southeastern Turkey , and northwestern Iran as well as in

6783-400: 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

6902-412: The Iraqi Kurdistan Region use both languages. The Constitution also stipulates that Turkmen and Syriac are official languages in the administrative units where native speakers of these languages comprise a significant proportion of the population (a law has also included the Armenian language alongside Turkmen and Syriac). The Constitution notes that any region or province can adopt an additional language as

7021-401: The Kurdish tribe of Mokri". According to Aboona, "many regions with numerous Assyrian and Armenian monuments and monasteries became completely populated by the Kurds after Chaldiran ," and Kurdish historians wrote that "the land was cleared at this time, its indigenous inhabitants driven out by force". The Kurdish historian Ali al Qurani affirmed that Sarsing had "been an Assyrian town and that

7140-571: The Kurdistan Regional Government has hindered international aid from reaching Christian Assyrians and at times attempted to prevent Assyrian Aramaic schools. However, the annual report by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) states that the KRG has rebuilt and renovated over 20 Christian churches in the region and reconstructed more than 105 Christian villages. Additionally, several reports have been written about those Christians who do not get "political" representation and therefore do not succeed in expanding their schools, and are shut out from all but

7259-410: The Kurds who settled there were immigrants from Persian Azerbaijan ." Phebe Marr noted that 'in the north too, many of the Kurdish tribes of Persia migrated to Iraq'. British traveler James Rich observed in northern Iraq the "rapid influx of Kurds from Persia... and that their advance never ceased". He noted that "some ten thousand families, comprising seventy thousand souls, were constantly moving across

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7378-408: 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

7497-456: 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

7616-462: The Shia-majority city of Najaf which housed thousands of Christians in holy Islamic shrines once they fled from ISIS, which sought to exterminate them. A large population have also returned to their homes en masse following the defeat of ISIS and were able to celebrate Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter in safety with the protection of the Assyrian Nineveh Plain Protection Units and its allies. The current number of Christians of Iraq

7735-406: 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

7854-492: 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

7973-407: 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

8092-450: The ancient city of Mosul. Ganni was driving with his three deacons when they were stopped and demanded to convert to Islam, when they refused they were shot. Ganni was the pastor of the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul and a graduate from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas , Angelicum in Rome in 2003 with a licentiate in ecumenical theology . Six months later, the body of Paulos Faraj Rahho , archbishop of Mosul,

8211-424: The area of its control, where the Iraqi Army collapsed, to pay a special tax of approximately $ 470 per family, convert to Sunni Islam, or die. Many of them took refuge in nearby Kurdish and Shia controlled regions of Iraq. Many Assyrians activists claim they have suffered not only from Arabization , but also Kurdification in Iraqi Kurdistan , mainly in KDP -controlled areas. Assyrian activists have claimed that

8330-573: 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

8449-434: 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

8568-506: The border". Southgate also observed the "rapid advance and settlement of the Kurds from Persia into northern Iraq" around that time. Dr. Grant gave an eyewitness account, he stated: "Beth Garrnae (the region of Arbil-Kirkuk) once contained a large population of Nestorian Christians, they are now reduced to a few scattered villages... Within the last six years the Koords of Ravandoos and Amadia have successively swept over it.." A new epoch began in

8687-414: The central Iraqi government. Some cases of illegal land and property seizures of Christian Assyrian lands by KDP members were also claimed. Michael Youash, an Assyrian expert, had stated in his report that the Iraqi Kurdistan government was unable to provide safe haven for all Christians. He explained this by saying that the KDP publicizes that tens of thousands of Christian Assyrian families are coming to

8806-613: 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

8925-418: 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

9044-505: 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

9163-552: 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

9282-424: The end of the 13th century, there were twelve Nestorian dioceses in a strip from Beijing to Samarkand . Northern Iraq remained predominantly Assyrian , Eastern Aramaic speaking and Christian until the destructions of the 14th-century Muslim warlord of Turco-Mongol descent, Timur (Tamerlane) , who conquered Persia , Mesopotamia and Syria ; the civilian population was decimated, and the ancient city of Assur

9401-424: 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

9520-603: 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

9639-579: 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

9758-483: The establishment of Abbasid rule in AD 750, pastoral Kurds moved into upper Mesopotamia from Persian Azerbaijan , taking advantage of an unstable situation. Cities in northern and northeastern Assyria were raided and attacked by the Kurds of Persian Azerbaijan, "who killed, looted, and enslaved the indigenous population", and the Kurds were moving into various regions in east of Assyria . The chronicler Ibn Hawqal spoke about

9877-670: The face of attacks. In 2005, the Department of State's 2005 Human Rights Country Report for Iraq stated in the January elections, there have been reports that many of the mostly non-Muslim residents of the Nineveh Plains were unable to vote and incidents of voter fraud and intimidation occurred during the Iraq War . It was reported that Kurdish security forces also prevented ballot boxes to pass to some Christian villages fearing that they will support

9996-426: 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

10115-579: The first time in the nation's history. But after Mosul's liberation in 2017, Christian families began to return. After the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies , many Iraqi Christians fled from Baghdad and other areas to the Kurdistan region. Most of them have arrived as internally displaced people . Christians who are too poor or unwilling to leave their ancient homeland have fled mainly to Erbil , particularly to its Christian suburb of Ankawa . 10,000 mainly Assyrian Iraqi Christians live in

10234-587: 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

10353-402: 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

10472-405: The most basic funding. This has been denied by Kurdish authorities. There are currently 5 Christians seated in the parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan. Assyrians who have arrived as internally displaced persons to the Iraqi Kurdistan have demanded more rights from the KRG and this has led to the serious disputes. In 2014, Assyrians International News Agency stated: Institutions and government agencies in

10591-406: 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

10710-402: 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

10829-557: The number of Christians live in Iraqi Kurdistan has declined. It is known that the Iraqi Kurdistan have accepted more than 200,000 Christians refugees and IDPs who had fled from other areas in Iraq between 2012 and 2016. It is also known that security officers and authorities who work for the Barzani tribe and his political party, the KDP, have frequently abused some local Christians and IDPs for not being loyal "enough" to them. There have also been claims levied by Assyrian organizations that

10948-602: 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

11067-520: 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

11186-538: 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

11305-494: The president "sympathise[d] with Tariq Aziz because he is an Iraqi Christian." This also came after appeals from the Holy See not to carry out the sentence. He died on 5 June 2015 in al-Hussein hospital after suffering from depression, diabetes, heart disease, and ulcers. Iraqi Christians have been victim of executions, forced displacement campaigns, torture, violence and target of Sunni Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS. Since

11424-495: The prophet Jonah and Saint George are also located there, and various other biblical prophets and saints are said to have been originally from there as well. Adam and Eve are also widely thought to have hailed from Iraq, as the biblical Garden of Eden is largely attributed to have been located in southern Iraq. Prior to the Gulf War in 1991, Christians numbered one million in Iraq. This may be an undercount by half as seen in

11543-595: 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 ,

11662-577: The safety of the north (Kurdish areas) from Arab areas, but "hundreds of thousands" of Christians are leaving the country (Iraq) entirely. He claims that this is directly connected to the problems of "illegal land seizures". 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

11781-405: 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

11900-441: 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

12019-457: The state to which the region of Shahrazoor had been reduced, describing it as a “town, which was overpowered by the Kurds, and whose environs as far as Iraq had been enjoying prosperity”. Another contemporary source described the region of Adiabene thus: '[T]he plain of Hadyab was entirely inhabited by the Nestorians but the Kurds have occupied it and depopulated it of its inhabitants'. Later,

12138-653: 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

12257-400: The terrorist organisation, as they were to ‘execute’ any person who did not believe in their Sunni sect. Thousands of Iraqi Christians fled to Baghdad , the nation's capital, where they found refuge and adequate housing, some of whom have chosen to make Baghdad their new permanent home following the full defeat of ISIS in Iraq. Thousands have also fled to other parts of southern Iraq, such as

12376-472: 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

12495-511: 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

12614-472: The twelve Apostles. Iraq's Eastern Aramaic -speaking Assyrian communities are believed to be among the oldest in the world. The Assyrian people adopted Christianity in the 1st century and Assyria in northern Iraq became the centre of Eastern Rite Christianity and Syriac literature from the 1st century until the Middle Ages. Christianity initially lived alongside the ancient Mesopotamian religion among

12733-560: The wider worldwide Assyrian diaspora . Syriac Christianity was first established in Mesopotamia, and certain subsets of that tradition (namely the Church of the East and its successor churches) were established in northern and central-southern Iraq, and would eventually spread to becoming one of the most popular Christian churches in the Middle East and Fertile Crescent Region, and would spread as far as India and China . Iraq plays

12852-528: The world. The vast majority of Iraqi Christians are indigenous Eastern Aramaic -speaking ethnic Assyrians who descend from ancient Assyria , and follow the Syriac Christian tradition. Some are also known by the name of their religious denomination as well as their ethnic identity, such as Chaldo-Assyrians , Chaldean Catholics or Syriacs (see Terms for Syriac Christians ). Non-Assyrian Iraqi Christians are largely Arab Christians and Armenians , and

12971-614: 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

13090-491: 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

13209-417: Was beheaded and mutilated despite payment of a ransom, and in 2008, the Assyrian clergyman Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Mosul was killed after being abducted. In January 2008, bombs exploded outside nine churches. In 2007, Chaldean Catholic priest Fr. Ragheed Aziz Ganni and subdeacons Basman Yousef Daud, Wahid Hanna Isho, and Gassan Isam Bidawed were killed in

13328-555: Was beheaded by a Sunni man in Mosul. On 2 August 2011, a Catholic church was bombed by Sunni extremists in Turkmen area of Kirkuk , wounding more than 23 Christians. On 15 August 2011, a church was bombed by al-Qaeda in Kirkuk center. On November 24, 2013, in Mosul, a Christian journalist was gunned down in a targeted attack. On 25 December, 2013, in Baghdad, Sunni extremists detonated two bombs targeting Christians observing Christmas in

13447-654: Was finally abandoned by the Assyrians after a 4000-year history. Timur had 70,000 Christian Assyrians beheaded in Tikrit , and 90,000 more in Baghdad . Timur rewarded the Kurds for their support by "settling them in the devastated regions, which until then had been inhabited by the followers of the Church of the East ." In the 16th century, the Ottomans reinforced their eastern frontier with what they considered loyal Sunni Kurd tribes. They settled Kurdish tribes in these regions and in 1583, Sultan Murad III "gave huge provinces to

13566-525: Was forced to disband and disarm in 2014 as Kurdish officials began confiscating weapons that belonged to local Assyrians prior to the ISIS invasion that left the Assyrians defenceless. It's estimated that they currently have 1,500 Assyrian soldiers under Peshmerga command Christianity in Iraq The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in

13685-570: 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

13804-491: Was found buried near Mosul . He was kidnapped on 29 February 2008 when his bodyguards and driver were killed. In 2010, reports emerged in Mosul of people being stopped in the streets, asked for their identity cards, and shot if they had a first or last name indicating Assyrian or Christian origin. On 31 October 2010, 58 people, including 41 hostages and priests, were killed after an attack on an Assyrian Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad. A group affiliated to Al-Qaeda ,

13923-511: Was later found, the priest's arms and legs had also been cut off. In 2007, there were reports of a push to drive Christians out of the historically Christian suburb of Dora in southern Baghdad, with some Muslim Arabs accusing the Christians of being allies of the Americans. A total number of 239 similar cases were registered by police between 2007 and 2009. In 2008, a priest named Ragheed Ganni ,

14042-585: 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,

14161-424: Was shot dead in his church along with three of his companions. At the same year, there were reports that Christian students are harassed. In 2008, the charity Barnabas conducted research into 250 Iraqi Christian IDPs who had fled to the north of the country (Iraqi Kurdistan) to seek refugee status and found nearly half had witnessed attacks on churches or Christians, or been personally targeted by violence. In 2009,

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