Assyrian Church of the East Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===20th century=== [[File:Церковь Мат Марьям на Дубровке.jpg|alt=|thumb|St. Mary Assyrian Church in [[Moscow]]. In spite of both ethnic and religious [[persecution]] and a serious decline in membership since their height around the fourth century, the Assyrian Church of the East has survived into the 21st century.]] Among all the tragedies and schisms which thinned the church out, no other was as severe as the [[Sayfo|Assyrian genocide]]. At that point the Assyrian Church of the East was based in the mountains of [[Hakkari (historical region)|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 [[Armenians|Armenian]] allies — out of fear of an [[Assyrian independence movement]]. In response to this, Assyrians of all denominations (the Assyrian Church of 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 peoples|Iranian]] and [[Arabs|Arab]] allies.{{sfn|Yakoub|2020|p=}} 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, 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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=354}} Those who survived fled into Iran with what remained of 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 the [[Mandate for Mesopotamia|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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=354}} ====Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai==== {{Main|Shimun XXI Eshai}} 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 the end of the British mandate in 1933{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=354}} and a [[Simele massacre|massacre]] of Assyrian civilians at [[Simele]] by the Iraqi Army, the patriarch was forced to take refuge in [[Cyprus]].{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=144}} 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–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora|Assyrian diaspora]] community there.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=144}} Due to 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.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=147-148}} In 1964, the patriarch decreed 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 the East]], based in [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]].{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=148-149}} 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|Shemon IV Basidi]] (who had died in 1497) — and it 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.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=149}} ====Patriarch Dinkha IV==== {{Main|Dinkha IV}} [[File:Mar Gewargis Cathedral Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church Of The East Chicago 2020-0235.jpg|thumb|200px|Mar Gewargis Assyrian Cathedral in [[Chicago]]: Former Patriarchal See]] Almost a year after the death of Shimun, [[Dinkha IV|Mar Khnanya Dinkha]], Metropolitan of [[Tehran]], convened a synod of seven Assyrian bishops which took place at [[Alton Abbey|St Paul's Abbey, Alton]], in England, from 12 to 17 October 1976. They were joined by two [[Church of England]] bishops, representing 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.{{sfn|Joseph|2000|p=252}} 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 the Patriarchal See to Chicago.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=150-155}} Much of his patriarchate had been concerned with tending to the Assyrian diaspora community and with ecumenical efforts to strengthen relations with other churches.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=150-155}} 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 the [[Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon|Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2015/03/26/holy-synod-announcement-passing-of-catholicos-patriarch/9534 |title=Holy Synod Announcement – Passing of Catholicos-Patriarch |publisher=Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East |access-date=2015-09-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008040634/http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2015/03/26/holy-synod-announcement-passing-of-catholicos-patriarch/9534 |archive-date=2015-10-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2015/03/28/notice-from-the-locum-tenens/9643 |title=Notice from the Locum Tenens |publisher=Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East |access-date=2015-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524201922/http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2015/03/28/notice-from-the-locum-tenens/9643 |archive-date=2015-05-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ====Patriarch Gewargis III==== {{Main|Gewargis III}} 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 [[List of patriarchs of the East|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 the ecclesiastical name [[Gewargis III]]. [[File:Assyrian Mar Narsai Church.jpg|thumb|200px|Mar Narsai Church in [[Duhok|Nohadra]]]] Church leaders proposed moving the Patriarchal See from Chicago back to Erbil.<ref>{{cite news |last= Nagl|first=Kurt |date= September 26, 2015|title= Assyrian Church of the East elects new leader|url= http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/260920151|publisher= [[Rudaw Media Network]] }}</ref> 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, mother of Jesus|Mary]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_11111994_assyrian-church_en.html |date=November 11, 1994 |access-date=January 25, 2010 |publisher=[[The Holy See]] |title=Common Christological declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104205725/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_11111994_assyrian-church_en.html |archive-date=January 4, 2009 }}</ref> In 2005, the Assyrian Church of the East had about 380,000 members,<ref name="Rassam 2005 166">{{cite book|title=Christianity in Iraq: Its Origins and Development to the Present Day|first=Suha |last=Rassam |year= 2005| isbn=9780852446331| page =166|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|quote=The number of the faithful at the beginning of the twenty - first century belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East under Mar Dinkha was estimated to be around 385,000 , and the number belonging to the Ancient Church of the East under Mar Addia to be 50,000-70,000.}}</ref> mostly living in the United States, [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Syria]], and Turkey.<ref name=Britannica>[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/409819/Nestorians "Nestorian"]. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved April 19, 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Islam| first=Juan |last=Eduardo Campo|year= 2009| isbn=9781438126968| page =142|publisher=Infobase Publishing|quote= the Assyrian Church of the East (found mainly in northern Iraq, southern Turkey, Iran, southwest India, and now the United States).}}</ref> ====Patriarch Awa III==== {{Main|Awa Royel}} 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 [[Awa III|Mar Awa Royel]], Bishop of California and Secretary of the Holy Synod, to succeed Mar Gewargis III as the 122nd [[List of patriarchs of the East|Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East]].<ref>{{cite web |title=His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia Remarks on the Election of the New Patriarch |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj9l0b2a5MY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/Gj9l0b2a5MY| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|website=Youtube |publisher=Assyrian Church of the East |access-date=9 September 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sirwan |first1=Dilan |title=The Assyrian Church of the East elects new patriarch in Erbil |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/080920216 |access-date=9 September 2021 |publisher=Rudaw Media Network |date=9 September 2021}}</ref> 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. 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