List of patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East

This is a list of the Catholicos-Patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East. The Patriarch is the leader of the Assyrian Church of the East, that represents the traditionalist continuation of the ancient Church of the East.^[1]^[2]

During the period between the middle of the 16th century and the beginning of the 19th century, that was marked by several internal divisions, traditionalist branch of the Church of the East was represented at first by the senior Eliya line of patriarchs who resided in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh, and later also by the younger Shimun line of patriarch who resided in Qudshanis. Patriarchs of the Shimun line were traditionalists since the 17th century. In 1804, the last patriarch of the Eliya line died without successor, thus enabling the patriarch Shimun XVI (1780–1820) of the Qodshanis line to become the sole primate of the entire traditionalist branch of the Church of the East.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

List of traditionalist patriarchs of both lines

1. Eliya line
Based in the Rabban Hormizd Monastery near Alqosh.

Eliya VI (1558–1591)^[8]
Eliya VII (1591–1617)^[9]
Eliya VIII (1617–1660)^[10]
Eliya IX (1660–1700)^[11]
Eliya X (1700–1722)^[11]
Eliya XI (1722–1778)^[12]
Eliya XII (1778–1804)^[13]

2. Shimun line
Traditionalist since the 17th century, based in Qudshanis

Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638)^[14]
Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656)^[14]
Shimun XII Yoalaha (1656–1662)^[14]
Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1700)^[14]
Shimun XIV Shlemon (1700–1740)^[14]
Shimun XV Maqdassi Mikhail (1740–1780)^[14]
Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820)^[14]

List of patriarchs since 1804

Residence continued in Qudshanis

Shimun XVI Yohannan (1780–1820)^[14] – since 1804, the only traditionalist Patriarch.
Shimun XVII Abraham (1820–1861)^[14]
Shimun XVIII Rubil (1861–1903)^[14]
Shimun XIX Benjamin (1903–1918) – due to the Sayfo, the Residence in Qudshanis ended in 1915, with Patriarch residing starting from 1915 between Urmia and Salmas, Persia until his assassination in 1918 breaking up the multi-national nature of the Church of the East, leaving many non-Assyrian Bishops isolated in different parts of the world to continue their independent Churches of the East autonomously.
Shimun XX Paulos (1918–1920) – Moved the Patriarchate to Mosul, Iraq.
- Locum Tenens:
  - Yosip Khnanisho (coadjutor) (1918–1920)
  - Saint Mar Abimalek Timotheus (coadjutor) (1920)
Shimun XXI Eshai (1920–1975) – forced into exile in 1933 and thus the patriarchate was temporarily located in Cyprus before relocating to Chicago, Illinois in 1940, and finally relocating to San Francisco, California. He ended hereditary patriarchy. He renamed the Church as the Assyrian Church of the East, which along with other reforms led the Ancient Church of the East to secede. He resigned in 1973, although unofficially still remained Patriarch. He was assassinated in San Jose, California, ending the 658-year old Shimun Line.
Dinkha IV (17 October 1976 – 26 March 2015) – first canonically elected Patriarch since 1600. Consecrated and Enthroned on 17 October 1976 in the Church of St Barnabas, London, United Kingdom. Relocated the Patriarchate to Chicago, Illinois in 1980 after temporarily living in Tehran, Iran. Abolished hereditary succession upon his election.
- Locum Tenens: Aprem Mooken (26 March 2015 – 18 September 2015)
Gewargis III (18 September 2015 – 6 September 2021) – on 18 September 2015, elected Catholicos-Patriarch by the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East. Consecrated and Enthroned on 27 September 2015, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist, Erbil, Iraq. Stepped down from the Patriarchal See on 6 September 2021.
Awa III (13 September 2021 – present) – on 8 September 2021, elected Catholicos-Patriarch by the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East. Consecrated and Enthroned on 13 September 2021, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist, Erbil, Iraq.

References

^ Burleson & Rompay 2011, p. 481-491.
^ Wilmshurst 2019, p. 799–805.
^ Spuler 1961, p. 165.
^ Ebied 1972, p. 511.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999b, p. 35.
^ Baum & Winkler 2003, p. 120.
^ Hage 2007, p. 302, 400.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 243-244.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 244-245.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 245.
^ ^a ^b Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 246.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 247.
^ Murre van den Berg 1999a, p. 248.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Wilmshurst 2011, p. 477.

Sources

Baum, Wilhelm; Winkler, Dietmar W. (2003). The Church of the East: A Concise History. London-New York: Routledge-Curzon.
Baumer, Christoph (2006). The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity. London-New York: Tauris.
Burleson, Samuel; Rompay, Lucas van (2011). "List of Patriarchs of the Main Syriac Churches in the Middle East". Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press. pp. 481–491.
Coakley, James F. (1999). "The Patriarchal List of the Church of the East". After Bardaisan: Studies on Continuity and Change in Syriac Christianity. Louvain: Peeters Publishers. pp. 65–84.
Coakley, James F. (2001). "Mar Elia Aboona and the History of the East Syrian Patriarchate". Oriens Christianus. 85: 119–138.
Ebied, Rifaat (1972). "Some Syriac Manuscripts from the Collection of Sir E. A. Wallis Budge". Symposium Syriacum, 1972. Roma: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum. pp. 509–539.
Hage, Wolfgang (2007). Das Orientalische Christentum. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag.
Murre van den Berg, Heleen (1999a). "The Patriarchs of the Church of the East from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries" (PDF). Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies. 2 (2): 235–264.
Murre van den Berg, Heleen (1999b). From a Spoken to a Written Language: The Introduction and Development of Literary Urmia Aramaic in the Nineteenth Century. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
Spuler, Bertold (1961). "Die nestorianische Kirche". Religionsgeschichte des Orients in der Zeit der Weltreligionen. Leiden: Brill. pp. 120–169.
Wilmshurst, David (2000). The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913. Louvain: Peeters Publishers.
Wilmshurst, David (2011). The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. London: East & West Publishing Limited.
Wilmshurst, David (2019). "The patriarchs of the Church of the East". The Syriac World. London: Routledge. pp. 799–805.

External links

Patriarchates in Christianity

Traditional ecclesiastical jurisdictions of primates in Christianity, sorted according to earliest apostolic legacy and branched where multiple denominational claimants:
bold blue = Catholic Church, light blue = Eastern Orthodox Church, bold/light green = Oriental Orthodoxy, italic blue = Nestorianism

Early
Christianity
(Antiquity)
(30–325/476)

Pentarchy
(five
apostolic
sees)

Patriarch of Rome (1st cent.)	Holy See (since 1st cent.)
Patriarch of Constantinople (451)	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (since 330) Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople (1204–1964) Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (since 1461)
Patriarch of Antioch (1st cent.)	Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (since 518) Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (since 519) Maronite Patriarchate (since 685) Syriac Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch (since 1668) Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch (since 1724) Latin Patriarchate of Antioch (1099–1964)
Patriarch of Alexandria (1st cent.)	Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 451) Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 451) Latin Patriarchate of Alexandria (1219–1964) Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 1824)
Patriarch of Jerusalem (451)	Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 451) Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 638) Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 1099)

Other

Patriarch of Carthage (2nd cent.–1076)	Latin Catholic titular episcopate (1518–1964) Archbishop of Tunis (since 1884)
Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (280–1552)	Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad (since 1553) Assyrian Church of the East Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (since 1830) Ancient Church of the East Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (since 1968)
Patriarch of Armenia (301)	Catholicos of All Armenians (Patriarch of Etchmiadzin) (since 301) Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia (since 1058) Patriarchate of Cilicia (since 1742)