Awa III

Last updated December 13, 2024

His Holiness Mar Awa III
Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East
Church	Assyrian Church of the East ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ ܕܐܬܘܖ̈ܝܐ
See	Holy Apostolic See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Appointed	8 September 2021
Installed	13 September 2021
Predecessor	Gewargis III
Other post(s)	Secretary of the Holy Synod
Previous post(s)	Archdeacon of St. Yosip Khnanisho Church
Orders
Ordination	23 May 1999
Consecration	30 November 2008, Modesto, California by Mar Dinkha IV
Rank	Catholicos Patriarch
Personal details
Born	David Maran Royel 4 July 1975 (1975-07-04) (age 49) Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	Assyrian, American
Denomination	Assyrian Church of the East
Residence	Modesto, California
Occupation	Cleric
Education	BA, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois BA, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois Contents Early life Education Service as Cor-Bishop Tenure as Bishop Advocacy Election as Catholicos-Patriarch Publications References Lic. in Sacred Theology, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome Doctorate in Sacred Theology, Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome
Alma mater	Loyola University Chicago

Ordination history of
Mar Awa III

History
Diaconal ordination
Ordained by	Mar Dinkha IV
Date	19 January 1992
Place	Assyrian Church of the East Cathedral Church of St. George, Chicago, Illinois
Priestly ordination
Ordained by	Mar Dinkha IV
Date	23 May 1999
Place	Assyrian Church of the East Cathedral Church of St. George, Chicago, Illinois
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated by	Mar Dinkha IV
Date	30 November 2008
Place	Assyrian Church of the East Cathedral Church of Mar Zaia, Modesto, California

Mar Awa III (born David Maran Royel; 4 July 1975)^[1] is an Assyrian-American prelate who serves as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.^[2] He previously served as the secretary of the Holy Synod, is one of five trustees of the Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organization (ACERO), and is president of both the Commission on Inter-Church Relations and Educational Development (CIRED) and of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Assyrian Church of the East Youth Association (ACEYA) of the United States of America.^[3]^[4]

Early life

David Royel was born on 4 July in Chicago, Illinois to Koresh and Flourence Royel. He is a first-generation Assyrian American. His involvement in the Assyrian Church of the East began at a very young age. At 16, he was ordained as a subdeacon, and the following year became a deacon. He was ordained by Mar Dinkha IV. Both ordinations took place at Mar Gewargis Cathedral (St. George Cathedral) in Chicago.^{[ citation needed ]}

Education

David Royel obtained his bachelor's degree from Loyola University Chicago in 1997 and went on to achieve his second bachelor's degree of Sacred Theology from University of St. Mary of the Lake in 1999. He later received his Licentiate and Doctorate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.^[5]

Service as Cor-Bishop

David Royel was ordained as Cor-Bishop on 15 July 2006 by Mar Dinkha IV at Mar Gewargis Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois, and as Archdeacon by Mar Dinkha IV on 23 November 2008 in Mar Yosip Khnanisho Church in San Jose, California.^{[ citation needed ]}

Tenure as Bishop

On 30 November 2008, David Royel was elevated to the rank of Bishop, taking the name Mar Awa Royel – in Assyrian, Awa means father. He is the first American-born Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East. Mar Awa was again consecrated by the Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV, assisted by Mar Sargis Yousip, Bishop of Iraq, Mar Aprim Khamis, Bishop of the Western United States, and Mar Odisho Oraham, Bishop of Europe. The ordination ceremony took place at St. Zaia Church in Modesto, California, attended by over 2,500 members of the Assyrian Church of the East, and broadcast on Assyrian National Broadcast.^{[ citation needed ]}

As of 2015^[update], Mar Awa has served as the Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East.^{[ citation needed ]}

Under his tenure, Mar Awa established the St. Issac of Nineveh Monastery in California in addition to the tonsuring and clothing of two monks. This is the only active monastery in the Church worldwide.^{[ citation needed ]}

Advocacy

As Bishop, Mar Awa has made many attempts to raise awareness for the plight of the persecuted Christians of the Middle East. In September 2014, he spoke at the inaugural In Defense of Christians Summit in Washington DC.^[6]

On 9 March 2015, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes met with Mar Awa as well as Mar Paulus Benjamin. Together, the Bishops briefed Rhodes on the dire situation facing Christian communities in Iraq and Syria. They also discussed the crisis along the Khabour River in northeastern Syria, where the terrorist organization ISIL had attacked in late February 2015, which led to thousands of displaced people and a hostage crisis. Rhodes condemned ISIL's targeting of religious minorities, and outlined the Administration's plan to protect and aid the civilians impacted by the terrorist organization.^[7]

Election as Catholicos-Patriarch

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 the Holy Synod, to succeed Mar Gewargis III as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.^[8]^[9] This was a historic decision as Mar Awa was the first Western-born Catholicos-Patriarch. 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.^{[ citation needed ]}

Publications

In 2011, Mar Awa published a treatise on the theology of the Assyrian Church of the East regarding the seven Holy Sacraments, titled Mysteries of the Kingdom: The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East.^[10]

Related Research Articles

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 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.

A catholicos is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek καθολικός, derived from καθ' ὅλου from κατά and ὅλος, meaning "concerning the whole, universal, general"; it originally designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire.

Mar Dinkha IV, born Dinkha Khanania was an Eastern Christian prelate who served as the 120th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. He was born in the village of Darbandokeh (Derbendoki), Iraq, and led the Church in exile in Chicago for most of his life.

The Chaldean Syrian Church of India is an Eastern Christian denomination, based in Thrissur, in India. It is organized as a metropolitan province of the Assyrian Church of the East, and represents traditional Christian communities of the East Syriac Rite along the Malabar Coast of India. It is headed by Mar Awgin Kuriakose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoma Darmo</span> Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East from 1968 to 1969

Thoma Darmo was the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, from 1968 to 1969. Prior to that, he served as Metropolitan of India, from 1952 to 1964, within the Church of the East.

The Ancient Church of the East (ACE) is an Eastern Christian denomination. It branched from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1964, under the leadership of Mar Toma Darmo. It is one of three Assyrian Churches that claim continuity with the historical Church of the East, the others being the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. Since 1969, the see of the Ancient Church of the East is headquartered in Baghdad.

Mār Yōsip Khnanisho, the twelfth Metropolitan or Matran of Shemsdin from 1918 to 1977.

Mar Emmanuel Yosip is a Christian Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East, presiding over the Diocese of Canada.

H.B Mar Joseph Meelis Zaia AM, known as Mar Meelis Zaia, is the Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East, presiding over the Diocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees which controls the financial affairs of the Church, and is one of five trustees of the Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organization, which he founded in 2017.

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Mar Gewargis III served as the 121st Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. On 18 September 2015, the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East elected Mar Gewargis Sliwa to succeed the late Mar Dinkha IV as the head of the Church. On 27 September 2015, he was formally consecrated and enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch.

The Nochiya are an Assyrian tribe that were based in and around the district of Şemdinli, in the province of Hakkari, Turkey.

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Mar Aprem Mooken is the Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East in India.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abimalek Timotheus</span>

Mar Abimalek Timotheus was an Assyrian priest of the Church of the East who served as Metropolitan of Malabar and All India from 1907 until his death in 1945. Born in the village of Mar Bisho in the Ottoman Empire, he was sent to India by Catholicos-Patriarch Shimun XIX after Shimun received a petition to appoint a bishop from the Chaldean Syrian Church in Trichur.

References

↑ "Assyrian Bishop Wants Friendship with Israel".
↑ Assyrian Church of the East – California
↑ "Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organization Trustees". Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
↑ National Council of Churches USA Meets with Assyrian Church of the East's CIRED
↑ His Grace Mar Awa Bishop of California Consecrated November 30, 2008
↑ "IDC Speakers: His Grace Mar Awa Royel". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
↑ Statement by National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan on Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes’ Meeting with Assyrian Christian Bishops, Bishop Mar Awa Royel meets with Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes
↑ "His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia Remarks on the Election of the New Patriarch". Youtube. Assyrian Church of the East. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
↑ Sirwan, Dilan (9 September 2021). "The Assyrian Church of the East elects new patriarch in Erbil". Rudaw Media Network. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
↑ Mysteries of the Kingdom: The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East,

Assyrian Church of the East titles
Preceded by Gewargis III	Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East 2021–	Succeeded by Incumbent

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