ASIA/IRAQ – Assyrian Patriarch Mar Awa III attends the closing luncheon of the Spiritual Exercises of the Chaldean clergy

ASIA/IRAQ Mar Awa III, Assyrian Patriarch, attends the closing luncheon of Spiritual Exercises for the Chaldean clergy

Ankawa (Agenzia Fides – One year after his election as patriarch, Mar Awa III the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East was the guest of honour at the lunch at the end of the spiritual exercise that saw the participation of more then eighty bishops of the Chaldean Church. Ankawa is a predominantly Christian suburb of Erbil and the capital of the autonomous area of Iraqi Kurdistan. The spiritual exercises as well as the final lunch were held there. According to the media of Chaldean, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako (Patriarch of Chaldean Church) had extended an invitation to Mar Awa. Mar Awa welcomed the Assyrian patriarch and the delegation who accompanied him. He expressed his hope that this would strengthen the bonds between the two Churches for the benefit of Christians as well as the whole Iraqi people.
Mar Awa was born David Royel and was elected the 122nd Assyrian Church of the East Patriarch on September 8, 2021. He succeeded Patriarch Mar Gewargis III Sliwa. Fides has previously reported that Mar Awa, a native of the USA, studied at Catholic academies. This includes the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome.
The Assyrian Church of the East never had a direct dogmatic dispute with the Bishop of Rome. The official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church of the East and the Assyrian Church of the East began back in 1984. It led to the 1994 Joint Christological Declaration, which acknowledged the common faith in Christ between Catholics as well as Assyrians. This fraternal theological dialogue is continuing on the topic of the sacraments, and the sacramental character of the Church. Since 2001, the Assyrian Church of the East allowed Eucharistic hospitality with the Chaldean Church to be experienced in pastoral situations that required it.
Theology and spirituality of both the Chaldean Church and Assyrian Church emphasize Christ’s human nature.
Louis Raphael Sako was the Chaldean Patriarch. He had just become Patriarch in September 2013. He invited Mar Dinkha IV, the Assyrian Patriarch, to start a dialogue to restore full ecclesial communion.
Hanna Kildani, a Jordanian priest, was a former vicar for Israel in the Latin Patriarchate. She preached the spiritual exercises for Chaldean clergy. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 9/9/2022)

Share: