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The Patriarch of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, His Holiness Khanania Dinkha IV, died Thursday at 10:04 AM at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The cause of death was a virus infection and pneumonia. The Bishop of India, Mar Aprim Mooken, will serve as acting patriarch until a new patriarch is elected.
The funeral service will be held on April 8 at St. George Church in Chicago.
Patriarch Dinkha, the 111th Patriarch of the Church of the East, was consecrated as Patriarch on October 17, 1976, serving 39 years at his post. His tenure was the tenth longest in church history. He moved the Holy See of the Church of the East to Morton Grove, a suburb of Chicago, shortly after his consecration because of political instability in Iraq.
Patriarch Dinkha was born in Iraq on September 15, 1935. He was ordained a priest on July 15, 1957 and appointed to the ministry in Urmia, Iran. He was consecrated as bishop on February 11, 1962. He became patriarch after Patriarch Eshai Shimun was assassinated in 1976.
Patriarch Dinkha is credited with rebuilding the church, which had neared the brink of destruction after the assassination of his predecessor. He translated portions of the liturgy from classical Assyrian (Syriac) to modern Assyrian and brought stability and peace to a church in turmoil.
Patriarch Dinkha was a warm, fatherly figure and a role model for members of the Church of the East. His yearly Christmas and Easter epistles would stress the national Assyrian identity of the three major Assyrian denominations -- the Church of the East, the Chaldean Church of Babylon and the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Assyrian Patriarch Passes Away
The funeral service will be held on April 8 at St. George Church in Chicago.
Patriarch Dinkha, the 111th Patriarch of the Church of the East, was consecrated as Patriarch on October 17, 1976, serving 39 years at his post. His tenure was the tenth longest in church history. He moved the Holy See of the Church of the East to Morton Grove, a suburb of Chicago, shortly after his consecration because of political instability in Iraq.
Patriarch Dinkha was born in Iraq on September 15, 1935. He was ordained a priest on July 15, 1957 and appointed to the ministry in Urmia, Iran. He was consecrated as bishop on February 11, 1962. He became patriarch after Patriarch Eshai Shimun was assassinated in 1976.
Patriarch Dinkha is credited with rebuilding the church, which had neared the brink of destruction after the assassination of his predecessor. He translated portions of the liturgy from classical Assyrian (Syriac) to modern Assyrian and brought stability and peace to a church in turmoil.
Patriarch Dinkha was a warm, fatherly figure and a role model for members of the Church of the East. His yearly Christmas and Easter epistles would stress the national Assyrian identity of the three major Assyrian denominations -- the Church of the East, the Chaldean Church of Babylon and the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Assyrian Patriarch Passes Away
