East Syriac Rite

In Brief

Four Churches pray the same rite in Syriac. The Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church are in full communion with Rome; the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East are not — but all four share the Holy Qurbana and the anaphora of Addai and Mari, the East Syriac family's most ancient eucharistic prayer. In 2001 the Holy See judged it valid, though no institution narrative stands in its books: the institution words are present, the Guidelines say, "in a dispersed euchological way".^1,2

Where to Experience It

The rite's centre of gravity is still where it was born: in Iraq, Iran and Syria, and in Kerala on India's south-west coast, where the Thomas Christians have prayed it since the Church of the East carried it there. Persecution has made it a travelling rite. The Chaldean Church keeps its patriarchate at Baghdad; the Assyrian Church's is at Erbil; the Ancient Church's at Baghdad; the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest by far, keeps its major-archiepiscopal see in Kerala. And the Qurbana follows the diaspora: about 400,000 Assyrian faithful worldwide, about 650,000 Chaldean, about 70,000 of the Ancient Church, and nearly five million Syro-Malabarians — in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe as at home.^6,8,9,10

Your First Visit

Which Church you are visiting matters: The Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syro-Malabar Church are in full communion with Rome; the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East are not.^4,7

At a Chaldean or Syro-Malabar Qurbana, a Catholic may receive, as in any Catholic rite. The usual conditions hold — confession first for one conscious of grave sin, a Latin Catholic's one-hour fast — and it fulfils the Sunday obligation.¹⁶

At an Assyrian or Ancient Church Qurbana, a Catholic visitor should not receive. The 2001 arrangement between the Chaldean and Assyrian Churches is no blanket rule: the law admits a Catholic only where necessity or true spiritual advantage requires, no Catholic minister can be reached, and there is no danger of error or indifferentism. The Sunday obligation remains.^16,17

Watch for the Lakhu Mara, "To Thee, Lord"; the three readings; the kiss of peace after the Creed; the anaphora of Addai and Mari; Communion under both kinds — all in Classical Syriac. The East Syriac year keeps the Rogation of the Ninevites, three days of fasting and prayer before the Great Fast.^11,13

The Shape of the Liturgy

The order below is the Urmia witness of 1890, the rite's great printed book — not a composite of what all four Churches do today. The loaves are prepared and baked leavened; in the Assyrian Church they are signed with the Holy Leaven, the Malka. The service opens with the Lakhu Mara and the Trisagion, then comes the word: a reading from the Old Testament or the Acts, the Apostle, and the Gospel. After the Gospel the Creed, and after the Creed the kiss of peace — before the anaphora, not after the Lord's Prayer as at Rome.

The anaphora of Addai and Mari opens with the dialogue and the thanksgiving for creation and redemption, rises to the Sanctus, and continues through the post-Sanctus to the commemoration. In the 1890 printing no institution narrative stands at this point: the narrative in the copy examined for this entry is a separately printed leaf bound in there, and Brightman brackets the English one as supplied from observed practice. Then the epiclesis, the fraction — the bread broken and signed with the chalice before the Lord's Prayer — the Sancta sanctis, "the holy things to the holy", Communion under both kinds, the dismissal, and the giving of blessed bread.^2,13; @Brightman1896: p. 285]

The order of the Holy Qurbana, from the Urmia Takhsa of 1890

1. The loaves, and the Holy Leaven
   Before the Liturgy the leavened loaves are prepared and baked, and in the Assyrian Church they are signed with the Holy Leaven, the Malka.^2,12
2. Lakhu Mara
   "To Thee, Lord": the opening glorification that gives the first part of the service its movement toward the readings.¹³
3. The Trisagion
   The "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal" sung as the service gathers itself for the word.¹³
4. The readings
   Three readings: from the Old Testament or the Acts of the Apostles, then the Apostle, then the Gospel.¹³
5. The Creed
   The profession of faith follows the Gospel, before the anaphora begins.¹³
6. The kiss of peace
   The peace is exchanged after the Creed, before the anaphora, as in the other Eastern rites and unlike the Roman.¹³
7. The anaphora: dialogue and thanksgiving
   The eucharistic prayer opens with the dialogue and the great thanksgiving for creation and redemption.^2,18
8. The Sanctus
   The "Holy, holy, holy" joins the thanksgiving to the angels' praise.¹⁸
9. The post-Sanctus
   The prayer continues after the Sanctus with praise of God's work in Christ.¹⁸
10. The commemoration and anamnesis
    The memorial of Christ's work is made. In the 1890 Urmia text no coherent institution narrative stands here: the narrative in the examined copy is a separately printed leaf bound in at this point, and Brightman brackets it as supplied from observed practice.^2,13,18
11. The epiclesis
    The invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the offering, before the intercessions in the older order; in the Chaldean books as Royel reports them, the institution narrative stands after the intercessions and before the epiclesis.^18,19
12. The fraction and consignation
    The bread is broken and signed with the chalice, before the Lord's Prayer.¹³
13. The Lord's Prayer
    The Our Father follows the fraction, as in the East and West Syrian rites.¹³
14. Sancta sanctis
    "The holy things to the holy": the elevation before Communion.¹³
15. Communion under both kinds
    The faithful receive the Body and the Blood.¹³
16. The dismissal and the blessed bread
    The people are dismissed, and blessed bread is given out.¹³

The shape of its anaphoras

• Opening dialogue
• Preface / thanksgiving
• Pre-Sanctus
• Sanctus
• Post-Sanctus
• Institution narrative
• Anamnesis
• Epiclesis (after anamnesis)
• Intercessions
• Doxology

Each colour is one part of the eucharistic prayer, in the order the prayer says it. Compare every anaphora.

What makes it distinctive

• Addai and Mari without the institution narrative: the 1890 Urmia printing carries none; the 2001 Guidelines judge the institution words present 'in a dispersed euchological way'.^1,2
• The Holy Leaven, the Malka: an Assyrian sacramental signed into the loaves. The 2017 Common Statement says the Chaldean and Syro-Malabar Churches do not practise it.¹²
• Three readings before the Creed: the Old Testament or Acts, the Apostle, and the Gospel.¹³
• The kiss of peace after the Creed, before the anaphora; the fraction before the Lord's Prayer.¹³
• Leavened bread, baked for the Liturgy; Communion under both kinds.^2,13
• The Rogation of the Ninevites, the three days of fasting and prayer before the Great Fast.¹¹

History

The Church of the East grew beyond the empire's frontier, in Persia, and its founding tradition names the apostles Addai and Mari — and, for India, Thomas. Its theologians belonged to the Antiochene school, and the Council of Ephesus in 431, which condemned Nestorius, never governed them: they kept Theodore and the teachers Ephesus had rejected. The Church spread east to a scale the West forgets: the stele at Xi'an, erected in 781, is the monument of a Church of the East alive in Tang China.^15,20

In 1552 Yohannan Sulaqa was elected against a living patriarch — Shem'un VII bar Mama lived until 1558 — and in 1553 he made his profession of faith at Rome. But the line that begins with Sulaqa is not the Chaldean line. It became the Shim'un line, continued today by the Assyrian Church of the East; the Chaldean Catholic patriarchate descends from the other line, the Eliya line of Alqosh, and was consolidated in 1830. Between the two ran the Catholic line of Diyarbakir, 1681–1828. The names "Chaldean" and "Assyrian" are constantly confused; the lines themselves are not confused, and this entry keeps them straight.^20,21

In India the Thomas Christians prayed the East Syriac Qurbana until the Portuguese came; the Synod of Diamper in 1599 "considerably dislocated" their books, in Brightman's phrase. The Urmia Takhsa of 1890 — printed in Syriac by the Lazarists of Urmia — is the great printed witness the entry's order is built on.^2,18

The twentieth century was cruel. The Assyrian Church's own history records the killing of the Catholicos Mar Benyamin Shimun XIX in 1918 and "tens of thousands" of its people lost in the flight from Urmia between 1918 and 1920; then Simele, 11 August 1933, when the Iraqi army killed the Assyrians of Simele and its surroundings, and the young patriarch was deported, his family exiled to Cyprus. The see moved to Chicago in 1980, and after 2003 back to the homeland, to Erbil. In the 1960s the Ancient Church of the East formed over the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and changes to the fasting rules; Thoma Darmo, consecrated patriarch in 1969, died the same year and was succeeded by Addai II — the exact year of whose succession the sources read do not agree on.^10,21,22,23

The dialogue has a century of its own. John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV signed the Common Christological Declaration in 1994; in 2001 the Holy See's Guidelines judged the anaphora of Addai and Mari valid and opened the Eucharist, in necessity, between Chaldean and Assyrian faithful; in 2017 the two Churches signed the Common Statement on Sacramental Life. The heads today: Mar Awa III, elected Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in September 2021; Mar Gewargis III Younan, installed at Baghdad in June 2023; Raphael Thattil, elected Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church in January 2024; and Polis (Paul) III Nona, elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans in April 2026 after Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako.^{1,4,5,7,12,24,25,26,27}

Milestones

1. 431The Council of Ephesus condemns Nestorius; the Church of the East, beyond the empire's borders in Persia, keeps the theologians of the Antiochene school²⁰
2. 781The stele at Xi'an is erected, the monument of the Church of the East in Tang China²⁰
3. 1552Yohannan Sulaqa is elected against the living patriarch Shem'un VII bar Mama (d. 1558); he makes his profession of faith at Rome in 1553²¹
4. 1681The Diyarbakir line of Catholic patriarchs begins; it runs to 1828²⁰
5. 1830The present Chaldean Catholic patriarchate is consolidated, descending from the Eliya line²⁰
6. 1890The Takhsa is printed at Urmia, the great printed witness of the rite in Syriac²
7. 1933The Simele massacre, 11 August: the Iraqi army kills Assyrians at Simele and its surroundings; the patriarch is deported and exiled to Cyprus²²
8. 1964The Assyrian Church of the East adopts the Gregorian calendar; the Ancient Church of the East forms in the 1960s, Thoma Darmo being consecrated patriarch at Baghdad in 1969^10,23
9. 1978The Assyrian Holy Synod allows the words of institution to be inserted in Addai and Mari¹⁹
10. 1994John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV sign the Common Christological Declaration at Rome (11 November)²⁴
11. 2001The Holy See's Guidelines judge the Anaphora of Addai and Mari valid and open the Eucharist, in necessity, between Chaldean and Assyrian faithful (20 July)¹
12. 2005The Chaldean synod approves the reformed Qurbana (12 November); recognition is reported 18 February 2006, the appointed beginning 6 January 2007¹⁹
13. 2010The Thrissur synod of the Assyrian Church repeals the 1978 option (January)¹⁹
14. 2017The Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East sign the Common Statement on Sacramental Life (24 November)¹²
15. 2021Mar Awa III is elected Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East (8 September) and consecrated at Ankawa (13 September); the synod affirms Erbil as the patriarchal diocese^25,28
16. 2023Mar Gewargis III Younan is installed as Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East at Baghdad (9 June)⁷
17. 2024Raphael Thattil is elected Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church (9 January) and confirmed by Francis the same day⁵
18. 2026Leo XIV accepts the resignation of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako (10 March); Amel Shamon Nona is elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans (12 April), takes the name Polis III, and receives ecclesiastical communion (24 April)^4,26,27

Texts & Books

Three anaphoras. Addai and Mari is the ancient one, ascribed by tradition to the apostles, and the oldest known text of it survives in the Mar Esha'ya Hudra; Macomber's study reads a seventh-century revision of it ascribed to Isho'yahb III. The other two are "so called": the anaphora ascribed to Theodore of Mopsuestia, and the anaphora ascribed to Nestorius — ascriptions, never authorships. Addai and Mari is for most days of the year, though Urmia and the 2001 note differ over Holy Week: the Urmia rubric begins it on the Sabbath of the Resurrection, the note on Palm Sunday. Theodore runs from the beginning of the liturgical year. Nestorius is for five occasions; for the fifth, Urmia says "the Passover" and glosses it as Maundy Thursday, while Renaudot has in Pascha — probably the same Syriac name, not "Easter", and the entry does not settle it. No source read gives the current calendar of the anaphoras' use in any of the four Churches.^1,2,14,29

The books: the Takhsa, the order of the Qurbana — the 1890 Urmia printing in Syriac is the one read here; the Hudra, the book of the year's variable propers; and the reformed Chaldean Qurbana, synodally approved in November 2005, recognised in February 2006 and appointed to begin in January 2007, placing the institution narrative after the intercessions and before the epiclesis. The 2014 Chaldean missal is known to this entry only through a critical article; it has not been read.^2,14,19

Theology & Spirit

The 2001 judgment is the entry's centre of gravity, and it must be given whole. The Guidelines judge the Anaphora of Addai and Mari valid: its words of institution are present "not in a coherent narrative way and ad litteram, but rather in a dispersed euchological way, that is, integrated in successive prayers of thanksgiving, praise and intercession". Pastoral consequence, and only for Chaldean and Assyrian faithful: where necessity requires and no priest of their own Church can be reached, Assyrian faithful may receive from a Chaldean minister, and Chaldean faithful from an Assyrian priest — the faithful manifesting, as far as possible, the Catholic faith in the Eucharist, and being in proper moral disposition. The Guidelines add, in both directions, that deacons and laity should preferably celebrate with their own priests. It is an arrangement for necessity, not a blanket rule: nothing in it extends to the faithful of other Churches or to ordinary Latin Catholics.¹

Two more documents shape the doctrine. The 1994 Common Christological Declaration confesses the same faith in the mystery of the Incarnation and declares both "Mother of Christ our God and Saviour" and Theotokos legitimate and right. The 2017 Common Statement on Sacramental Life rules out co-celebration of the sacraments by the two Churches' clergy and records what the Churches share and do not: the Holy Leaven, the Malka, is an Assyrian sacramental — the Chaldean and Syro-Malabar Churches do not practise it. Who renews the Leaven the two documents describe differently: the 2001 note says the local bishop, who distributes it to the parishes of his diocese; the 2017 Statement says the local parish priest. The entry reports both, and resolves neither.^12,24,29

Sacred Arts

The Qurbana is sung throughout, and the books carry the evidence. As the priest breaks the bread, the deacons chant, "I am the bread which came down from on high"; the thanksgiving hymns after Communion alternate nave and sanctuary. The variable hymns of the year belong to the Hudra, the great book of the cycle — the Mar Esha'ya manuscript of which is the oldest known witness of Addai and Mari.^14,18

Family & Relations

One rite, four Churches — and the Index keeps the names straight. The Chaldean Catholic Church, Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans Polis (Paul) III Nona, about 650,000 faithful, in full communion with Rome; the Syro-Malabar Church, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, nearly five million, in full communion with Rome; the Assyrian Church of the East, Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III at Erbil, about 400,000, not in communion with Rome; the Ancient Church of the East, Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Gewargis III Younan at Baghdad, about 70,000, not in communion with Rome. "Chaldean" is the name of the CCEO tradition and of the Chaldean Catholic Church; it is never the Assyrian Church's name, and "Assyrian" is never the Chaldean Church's. A Church is not a rite.^{4,5,6,7,8,9,10,25}

Compare with

• Roman Rite: the rite most visitors know; here the kiss of peace comes after the Creed and before the anaphora, the fraction before the Lord's Prayer, and in the 1890 books the institution narrative is absent^1,13
• West Syriac Rite: the other Syriac family; the East Syriac keeps the anaphora of Addai and Mari, leavened bread, and Communion under both kinds^1,2

The Rite Today

The heads are current as of September 2026: Polis III Nona at Baghdad, Mar Awa III at Erbil, Mar Gewargis III Younan at Baghdad, Raphael Thattil for the Syro-Malabar Church. The dialogue goes on: the 2023 plenary of the Joint Commission, thirty years after the 1994 Declaration, opened a new phase on "Liturgy in the Life of the Church". And the year keeps its own rhythm: in the Assyrian Church's 2026 calendar the Rogation of the Ninevites fell on 26 January, the Great Fast began on 15 February, the Thursday of Passover on 2 April, and the Resurrection on 5 April.^11,26,30

As of 20 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

The 2001 Guidelines in full, on the Council's own site, and the 1994 Declaration on the Vatican's; the 2017 Common Statement, signed by Cardinal Koch and Metropolitan Mar Meelis Zaia. For the books: the 1893 English of the Urmia Takhsa, and Brightman's three anaphoras, where the bracketed institution narrative sits at p. 285; Macomber on the oldest known text of Addai and Mari; Mar Awa Royel's study of the 1978 option, its 2010 repeal, and the Chaldean reform. The Churches' own pages: the Assyrian Church's histories and its 2026 calendar; PRO ORIENTE's profiles of the Chaldean, Assyrian and Ancient Churches; the Holy See bulletins for the heads elected and changed in 2023–2026.^{1,11,12,14,18,19,24}

On Domus Dei

• The West Syriac RiteThe other Syriac family, of the Antiochene tradition

Official resources

• The Assyrian Church of the East
• The 2001 Guidelines on the Eucharist between the Chaldean and Assyrian Churches

Recommended reading

• Lazarists of Urmia (ed.), Takhsa d-Quddasha: the Order of the Holy Qurbana, Urmia, 1890.The great printed witness of the rite in Syriac, and the book on which the entry's order is built
• Brightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896.The three anaphoras in English; the bracketed institution narrative is at p. 285 Read online
• Macomber, William F., “The Oldest Known Text of the Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari”, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 1966.The oldest known text of the anaphora of Addai and Mari
• Royel, Mar Awa, The Pearl of Great Price, 2014.Mar Awa Royel's study of the rite: the 1978 option, its 2010 repeal, and the Chaldean reform
• Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Guidelines for admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, Rome, 2001.The Holy See's judgment on the anaphora, in full, on the Council's own site Read online
• Fortescue, Adrian, The Lesser Eastern Churches, London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913.The older Catholic account of the East Syrians (dated in places; quote with a note)

Sources

1. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Guidelines for admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, Rome, 2001. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · the Guidelines read in full on the Council's own site: Rome, 20 July 2001; the institution words are 'not in a coherent narrative way and ad litteram, but rather in a dispersed euchological way, that is, integrated in successive prayers of thanksgiving, praise and intercession'; guidelines 1-4, the whole applying exclusively to Chaldean and Assyrian faithful
2. Primary textLazarists of Urmia (ed.), Takhsa d-Quddasha: the Order of the Holy Qurbana, Urmia, 1890.Verified 2026-09-19 · the 1890 Urmia printing read in Syriac: its text of Addai and Mari prints no institution narrative; the narrative exists in the examined copy only as a separately printed leaf of unknown printer and date bound in at that point
3. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990, can. 28 §2. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · URL repointed 18 Sep 2026 to the Latin text on vatican.va (part 1; cann. 656–657 are in part 2, codex-can-eccl-orient-2), because the caedm.ca English extract (616A) carries cc. 27–38 only; cann. 28, 40 §1, 656, 657 read there in the Latin, 18 Sep 2026. English translation: cann. 27–28 read in the caedm.ca PDF; cann. 671, 697, 707, 710, 713 read in the IntraText English edition; can. 881 §1 in IntraText, 2026-09-14
4. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, Elezione del Patriarca di Baghdad dei Caldei (Iraq), 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · the 13 April 2026 bulletin read: the synod of bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, meeting in Rome, elected Amel Shamon Nona Patriarch on 12 April 2026, and he took the name Polis III; born at Alqosh 1 November 1967, ordained priest 11 January 1991, elected archbishop of Mosul 13 November 2009 (ordained 8 January 2010), named bishop of the eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney 15 January 2015 with the personal title of archbishop
5. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, Election of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church (10 January 2024 bulletin), 2024.Verified 2026-09-19 · the 10 January 2024 bulletin: Raphael Thattil elected Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church by the synod on 9 January 2024 and confirmed by Pope Francis the same day
6. ReferencePRO ORIENTE (Vienna), Assyrian Church of the East. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: 'approx. 400,000' faithful; Mar Awa III (Royel), in office since 2021; 15 bishops, 12 dioceses; East Syrian rite; Syriac liturgical language; Gregorian calendar; the see at Erbil
7. ReferenceAssyrian International News Agency, Ancient Church of the East Appoints New Patriarch, 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: Mar Georges III Younan, born in Iraq and raised in the United States, elected Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East and installed at Holy Mary Cathedral, Baghdad, on 9 June 2023; succeeds Thoma Darmo (1968-1969) and Addai II Giwargis (1972-2022)
8. Primary textDiocese of Palghat (Syro-Malabar Eparchy), The Syro Malabar Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · the diocesan page's account of the Church's own statistics: 4,442,852 Syro-Malabarians within the 34 Syro-Malabar eparchies and 1 exarchy, about 480,638 living as migrants outside any eparchy, 4,923,490 in all ('nearly 5 million'); 62 bishops, 8,547 priests, 32,114 women religious, 1,214 major seminarians
9. ReferencePRO ORIENTE (Vienna), The Chaldean Catholic Church. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: 'approx. 650,000' believers; 24 bishops, 19 dioceses; East Syrian rite; Syriac liturgical language; Gregorian calendar; the see at Baghdad
10. ReferencePRO ORIENTE (Vienna), The Old Apostolic Church of the East. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: 'approx. 70,000' faithful; 9 bishops, 8 dioceses; East Syrian rite; Syriac liturgical language; Julian calendar; the see at Baghdad; the Church came into existence in 1968 over the Gregorian calendar and the fasting rules. The page still names the patriarch elected in June 2022, who later abdicated; it is not used here for the present head
11. Primary textAssyrian Church of the East, Ecclesiastical Calendar 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-19 · the Church's 2026 calendar read: the Rogation of the Ninevites 26 January; the Great Fast from 15 February; the Thursday of Passover 2 April; the Resurrection 5 April
12. Magisterial / canonicalJoint Committee for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, Common Statement on 'Sacramental Life', Rome, 2017. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read in full: signed 24 November 2017 by Cardinal Kurt Koch and Metropolitan Mar Meelis Zaia; the Holy Leaven is not practised by the Chaldean or Syro-Malabar Church; the Leaven is renewed by the local parish priest; no co-celebration of the sacraments and rites by the two Churches' clergy (n. 28)
13. Primary textMaclean, Arthur John; Browne, William Henry (tr.), Interleaved English translation of the Urmia Takhsa, Urmia, 1893, p. [23; p. [23]; the Theodore text; Renaudot1847: II, p. 610; the Nestorius text; Renaudot1847: II, p. 620.Verified 2026-09-19 · the interleaved English translation dated July 1893: the institution narrative is bracketed on p. [23] as material absent from the printed Takhsa; the bema in the 1890s Urmia usage is the narrow space between the sanctuary wall and a parallel low wall; the whole order read
14. ScholarshipMacomber, William F., “The Oldest Known Text of the Anaphora of the Apostles Addai and Mari”, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 1966.Verified 2026-09-19 · read: the seventh-century revision of Addai and Mari ascribed to Isho'yahb III (the 'II' on p. 348 is corrected on p. 349); the Mar Esha'ya Hudra is the oldest known witness of the anaphora
15. Primary textAssyrian Church of the East, Ancient History. LinkVerified 2026-09-19 · the Church's own history page: the apostolic founding tradition, the Persian Church, the spread to India and China
16. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, cann. 916, 919 §1, 923; can. 1248 §1; can. 844 §2; can. 919 §1; cann. 916, 919 §1, 923, 1248 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
17. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, 1993, n. 115; nn. 123-124; nn. 123-124, 115. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§122–125 read verbatim on christianunity.va; §115 read 2026-09-14
18. Primary textBrightman, F. E., Liturgies Eastern and Western, vol. 1: Eastern Liturgies, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1896, p. 285; pp. 247-305; Guidelines2001AddaiMari: the institution words; p. lxxviii; pp. 290, 299-301. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · archive.org full text; pp. lxxxiii, lxxxv, lxxxviii–lxxxix checked; order locators spot-checked 13 Sep 2026 (pp. 362, 377–378, 393, 394; glossary s.v. Zeon, Cancelli, Ektene). Checked 19 Sep 2026 for the Ge'ez entry: Preface p. xiii, the Ethiopic translations are the Rev. C. J. Ball's ('the Rev. C. J. Ball for the Ethiopic (including the collation of the British Museum manuscripts)'); p. lxiii, the Egyptian rite; pp. lxxii-lxxiii, the Rome printing of 1548 ('Testamentum novum.. Missale') and the Lord's anaphora there; pp. 194-244, the Ethiopic Liturgy of the Apostles from BM Or. 545 (1670-75); p. 232, 'THIS bread… IS MY BODY' (a rubric between) and 'DRINK… THIS CUP'
19. ScholarshipRoyel, Mar Awa, The Pearl of Great Price, 2014.Verified 2026-09-19 · Mar Awa Royel's study read: the 1978 Assyrian synod's option to recite the institution words and its repeal by the January 2010 Thrissur synod; the Chaldean reform, synodally approved 12 November 2005, recognition reported 18 February 2006, appointed beginning 6 January 2007; in the Chaldean books the narrative stands after the intercessions and before the epiclesis
20. ScholarshipFortescue, Adrian, The Lesser Eastern Churches, London: Catholic Truth Society, 1913.Verified 2026-09-20 · Chs XII–XIV read at each passage 19 Sep 2026 via OCR: 'the Byzantine rite in Armenian' (p. 441), Iudica/Confiteor (p. 442), 'certainly a Latin infiltration' (p. 442, his dated judgement), Valarshapat 491 / Dvin 'apparently in 554' (pp. 412–413). Dated pre-conciliar Catholic view; quote with a note
21. Primary textAssyrian Church of the East, Modern History. LinkVerified 2026-09-19 · the Church's own history page: the 1552-53 union line, the patriarchal successions, the modern persecutions
22. Primary textStafford, Ronald Sempill, The Tragedy of the Assyrians, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1935, pp. 92, 140-141, 144, 166.Verified 2026-09-19 · the 1935 book read in the re-edition hosted by the Assyrian International News Agency: the Simele narrative (pp. 140-141, 144), the deportation account (p. 92) and the Cyprus exile (p. 166); no casualty figures taken from it
23. ReferenceAgenzia Fides, Mar Yakoob III Danil elected new Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, 2022. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: Mar Yakoob III Danil elected patriarch in June 2022 and later abdicated; the Holy Synod elected Mar Gewargis Younan on 12 November 2022, his enthronement set for Baghdad in June 2023; the split dates to 1964, when Patriarch Shimun XXII adopted the Gregorian calendar; Thoma Darmo consecrated patriarch in 1969; Mar Addai II elected in 1970, against a 1972 dating found elsewhere, which is left unresolved
24. Magisterial / canonicalJohn Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV, Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, Rome, 1994. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read in full on vatican.va: signed at St Peter's, 11 November 1994; the common confession of the same faith in the mystery of the Incarnation; 'Mother of Christ our God and Saviour' and 'Theotokos' both legitimate and right; a Mixed Committee for theological dialogue established
25. Primary textAssyrian Church of the East, Catholicos-Patriarch. LinkVerified 2026-09-19 · the Church's own patriarch page: Mar Awa III, elected 8 September 2021 and consecrated 13 September 2021 at Ankawa
26. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, Concessione dell'Ecclesiastica Communio al Patriarca di Baghdad dei Caldei, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · the 28 April 2026 bulletin read: Pope Leo XIV, on 24 April 2026, granted the ecclesiastical communion requested by Polis III Nona, canonically elected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans on 12 April 2026, under can. 76 section 2 CCEO
27. Magisterial / canonicalHoly See Press Office, Resignation of the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans (10 March 2026 bulletin), 2026.Verified 2026-09-19 · the 10 March 2026 bulletin: Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans under can. 126 section 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
28. Primary textAssyrian Church of the East, Decrees of the Holy Synod, 2021. LinkVerified 2026-09-19 · the 2021 synod decrees: Erbil affirmed as the patriarchal diocese
29. Magisterial / canonicalPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Explanatory note to the 2001 Guidelines on Addai and Mari and admission to the Eucharist, Rome, 2001.Verified 2026-09-19 · the explanatory note read in full and kept distinct from the Guidelines themselves: it treats the anaphora's shape and states the Holy Leaven is renewed by the local bishop, who distributes it to the parishes of his diocese
30. ReferenceZENIT, Vatican welcomes representatives of Assyrian church and advances ecumenical dialogue, 2023. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: the 15th plenary session of the Joint Commission, Rome, 22-24 November 2023; a 2022 document 'Images of the Church in the Syriac and Latin Patristic Traditions'; a new phase on 'Liturgy in the Life of the Church', with a meeting set for 6-8 November 2024, the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Declaration
31. ReferenceVatican News, Missionary and migrant: a glimpse of the Syro-Malabar Church, 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read: almost five million faithful; East Syriac/Addai and Mari heritage; Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil elected in 2024
32. ReferenceCatholic World Report (CNA), Syro-Malabar Catholic Church leaders want a uniform liturgy. Why are they facing resistance?. LinkVerified 2026-09-20 · read in full: interviews Mar Joseph Srampickal (Eparchy of Great Britain) — the 1999 synodal compromise (Word facing the people, Anaphora facing the altar); John Paul II inaugurated the restored Holy Qurbana during his 1986 India visit; the Church raised to major archiepiscopal in 1992; Synod of August 2021 mandated the 1999 formula from Advent 2021; Ernakulam-Angamaly kept the status quo on a Vatican dispensation; diaspora eparchies in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand