Berwari (East Syrian Diocese)

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Berwari was an East Syriac diocese of the Church of the East between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries.

East Syriac Rite

The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, or Syro-Oriental Rite is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that uses the East Syriac dialect as its liturgical language. It is one of two main liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity.

Church of the East an Eastern Christian Church that in 410 organised itself within the Sasanid Empire and in 424 declared its leader independent of other Christian leaders; from the Persian Empire it spread to other parts of Asia in late antiquity and the Middle Ages

The Church of the East, also known as the Nestorian Church and the Persian Church, was an Eastern Christian denomination that in 410 organised itself within the Sasanian Empire and in 424 declared its leader independent of other Christian leaders. From the Persian Empire it spread to other parts of Asia in late antiquity and the Middle Ages.

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The Nestorian diocese of Berwari

Early history

Before the fourteenth century the Berwari region, sometimes called Julmar (probably after the town of Julamerk) or Beth Tannura (the name of a large Jewish village in the Beduh valley) in Syriac colophons, was part of the diocese of Dasen. Nothing is known of the region's history in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but a diocese of Berwari is mentioned in a manuscript of 1514 by the scribe Sabrishoʿ bar Galalin, 'brother of the bishop Yahballaha of Julmar'. A manuscript of 1575 contains several poems composed at an unknown date by the metropolitan Sabrishoʿ of Berwari.

After the Chaldean schism

After the schism of 1552 the region appears to have been contested by the Eliya and Shimun lines for several decades. Manuscripts were copied at Alqosh in 1562 and in the Berwari monastery of Mar Qayyoma in 1602 by bishop Yahballaha of the Pinyanish village of Azyanish which mention the patriarchs Eliya VII and Eliya VIII respectively. Bishop Yahballaha of Beth Tannura, also dependent on the patriarch Eliya VIII and almost certainly the same man, is mentioned in the report of 1607. On the other hand, a metropolitan Sabrishoʿ 'of Julmar' is also mentioned in the report of 1607, almost certainly to be identified with the metropolitan Sabrishoʿ of Berwari listed among the hierarchy of Shemʿon X in the report of 1610.

The Schism of 1552 was an important event in the history of the Church of the East. It divided the church into two factions, of which one entered into communion with Rome becoming part of the Catholic Church at this time and the other remained independent until the 19th century. Although the Eliya line, which emerged as a result of this schism, did eventually enter into communion with Rome, various Spiritual Christian sects with their origins in the Church of the East emerged as a result of this schism. Ironically, the Shimon line whose entry into full communion with Rome caused this schism, in fact became independent again by the 17th century. The circumstances of the 1552 schism were controversial at the time and have been disputed ever since.

Alqosh Place in Ninawa, Iraq

Alqōsh, alternatively spelled Alkosh, Al-qosh or Alqush, is an Assyrian town in northern Iraq and is within Nineveh Plains. It is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Mosul.

Eliya VII

Eliya VII was Patriarch of the Church of the East from 1558 to 1591, with residence in Rabban Hormizd Monastery, near Alqosh, in modern Iraq.

There are no further references to bishops of Berwari for more than a century, but the region was claimed by Mar Shimon XI Ishoʿyahb in 1653. In 1731 a manuscript was commissioned from Alqosh by bishop Yahballaha, Therefore, suggesting that he was possibly dependent on the Mosul patriarch Eliya XII.

The metropolitan Ishoʿyahb of 'Beth Tannura, who was dependent on the Qodshanis patriarchate, is mentioned in manuscripts dating from 1817, 1829 and 1831. Considering those dates, He was probably the "elderly metropolitan Ishoʿyahb of Berwari" mentioned by British missionaries Ainsworth in 1841 and Badger in 1850.

William Francis Ainsworth was an English surgeon, traveller, geographer and geologist, known also as a writer and editor.

George Percy Badger (1815–1888) was an English Anglican missionary, and a scholar of oriental studies. He is mainly known for his doctrinal and historical studies about the Church of the East.

Ishoʿyahb, already elderly in 1850, probably died shortly afterwards. By 1868 Berwari had three bishops: Ishoʿyahb's young natar kursyas Yahballaha and Ishoʿyahb, who had been jointly consecrated after his death and resided together in the same house at Dure, and a bishop named Yonan, who resided in the village of ʿAqri. A petition in 1868 to the Archbishop of Canterbury was signed by Yonan 'of ʿAqri' and Ishoʿyahb 'of Dure', and all three men were mentioned by the Anglican missionary Edward Cutts in 1877. Yahballaha died before 1884, but Ishoʿyahb and Yonan are included in Maclean's hierarchy in 1884, and Riley's in 1888. Yonan is last mentioned in 1903 as a Catholic sympathiser by Rhétoré. Ishoʿyahb converted to Chaldean Catholicism on 31 March 1903 in a public ceremony in ʿAmadiya, but reverted to Nestorianism shortly afterwards. In 1907 he was deposed by Shimun XXI Benyamin, who consecrated the eighteen-year-old Yalda Yahballaha as bishop of Berwari in his place. The consecration of a 'boy of slight education' offended the Anglican Mission, which was trying to persuade the young patriarch to reform the clergy and episcopate, but it did not protest. Yalda Yahballaha was one of the few surviving members of the Qudshanis hierarchy after the First World War, and remained bishop of Berwari until his death in 1950.

Dooreh is an Assyrian village in the Barwari region of Dohuk of northern Iraq. The town is very old, with its church purported to have been founded in 909 AD, although it was mostly destroyed in 1975, with a newer church being built in the 90s on its remaining foundation. The village is located on the slope of a mountain in a large valley, where the villages fields are located. The village has two churches, the one which was rebuilt in the 90s and another one, a cave church, in a gorge lying north of the village.

Amadiya Place in Kurdistan, Iraq

Amadiya is a Kurdish town and popular summer resort and Hill station along a tributary to the Great Zab in the Dahuk Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan. The city is situated 4,600 feet (1,400 m) above sea level.

The episcopal family of Mar Yahballaha was maintained by Mar Yosip Khanisho. After Yalda's death, two nephews Andreos and Shallita aspired to the office, but neither was old enough in 1951 to be consecrated. The see remained vacant for six years; then Mar Khananisho consecrated Andreos (at age 19) as Bishop. Andreos Yahballaha served as Bishop until his death in June 1973 at the age of 35. It has been theorized that his young death was due to assassination as a result of the role he played in the Kurdish wars against the Iraqi government.

However, Andreos consecration caused division in the community as some expected Shallita to be consecrated due to his seniority. Shallita and followers did not want to become Catholic, but aspired a union between Syrians and Assyrians. Timothaus Mar Shallita Yahballaha ended up joining the Syriac Orthodox Church as a result, and was consecrated Archbishop by Patriarch Ignatius Yaqub III on October 23, 1958, in Beirut. However, He did not join the Holy Synod and still kept contact with the Patriarchate of the Assyrian Church of the East and even returned to Barwari-Bala after his consecration and stayed there until war broke out in 1963, relocating to the Patriarchate in Damascus. In 1967 he was invited to Germany by the World Council of Churches, where he has remained since. Shallita ceased his relationship with the Syrian Orthodox Church later on. In 1969 he joined the Ancient Church of the East and recognized Mar Addai II as patriarch, joining its holy synod in 1995, being appointed as Metropolitan of Europe with his see in Mainz-Kastel. He also played a prominent role in Assyrian refugee aid for well over 20 years, and advocated successfully for Assyrians looking to gain asylum in Europe.

In 1999, Mar Isaac Yousif was consecrated bishop by Mar Dinkha IV, assigning him the new Diocese of Dohuk-Arbil, which has been considered a modern revival of the diocese of Berwari.

Statistics

The diocese of Berwari included twenty-seven East Syrian villages in Berwari itself and in the adjacent Sapna and Nerwa districts, containing 348 families, 18 priests and 20 churches in 1850 (Badger). In 1841, according to Ainsworth, it also included the Berwari villages of Alqoshta, Musakan, Robara and Dargeli, the Sapna villages of Meristak and Inishk (a Chaldean village shortly afterwards), and the Zibar village of Erdil. [1] Musakan, though not included in his statistics, was also mentioned as a village in the diocese of Berwari in 1843 by Badger, in which a number of villagers from the Lower Tiyari town of Ashitha had taken refuge after the massacre earlier in the year. [2]

A recently published book by Youel Baaba has supplied the Syriac names of the villages in the diocese of Berwari. [3]

East Syrian communities in the diocese of Berwari, 1850

Name of VillageName in SyriacNo. of FamiliesNo. of PriestsNo. of ChurchesName of VillageName in SyriacNo. of FamiliesNo. of PriestsNo. of Churches
ʿAmadiya ܥܡܝܕܝܐ2510ʿAina d'Nune2011
Deiri 1201Hayyat511
Komaneܟܘܡܢܐ1301Beth Shmiyaye611
Dirgini4021 Dure 2042
Bilejan800Helwaܗܠܘܐ711
Bebadi2011Malakthaܡܠܐܟܬܐ500
Hamziyyaܗܡܙܝܐ601ʿAqri2011
Dehe 1001Beth Baloka1011
Tarshish2011Hayyis1511
Jdida500Qaru1011
Beth Kolke500ʿAlih201
Tutha Shamaya1000Bash1211
Maya1500Wila1011
Derishke1500Total3481820

Notes

  1. ↑ Ainsworth, Visit to the Chaldeans, 29, 35 and 38
  2. ↑ Badger, Nestorians, i. 283
  3. ↑ Baaba, The Assyrian Homeland, 56 (Syriac section)

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