Mar Dinkha IV

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Mar Dinkha IV

Mar Dinkha IV (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܕܢܚܐ ܪܒܝܥܝܐ) is the current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. He was born Dinkha Khananya on September 15, 1935 in the village of Darbandokeh, Iraq and was baptized in the Church of Mar Qaryaqos located in the village of his birth. He is the fourth in the line of succession to the Bishopric of Urmia.

He gained his elementary education under the tutorship of his grandfather, Rev. Benyamin Soro. In 1947, at the age of twelve, he was entrusted to the care of His Beatitude Mar Yousip Khnanisho, Metropolitan and the Patriarchal representative for all Iraq, the second highest ranking ecclesiastic of the Assyrian Church of the East. After two years of study, on September 12, 1949, he was ordained deacon in the church of Mar Youkhana in Harir by Mar Yousip. Eight years later, on August 15, 1957, he was ordained to the priesthood, and appointed to minister in Tehran, Iran. As a young priest, he quickly built a very viable, well organized and progressive institution that attracted its strayed adherents by the thousands.

Responding to popular demand, His Holiness Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII consecrated Khananya as bishop on Sunday, October 17, 1968, in the church of Martyr Mar Gewargis in Tehran.

After the assassination of Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII, the Church of the East had an urgent need to restore the leadership. In 1976 the prelates of the church convened in London to elect a new Catholicos Patriarch. At this historic meeting, the conscientious choice of all the prelates in session was Mar Dinkha as the most qualified candidate to fill this high post. After his consecration, Mar Dinkha IV became the 120th successor in this line to the Apostolic See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (Babylon). He has his headquarters (along with four other houses of worship) in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

In 1994, he agreed to a Joint Christological Declaration with the Vatican. In 1996 he signed an agreement of cooperation with the Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad, Raphael I Bidawid, in Southfield, Michigan. In 1997, he entered into negotiations with the Syrian Orthodox Church and the two churches ceased anathematizing each other.

In September 2006, Mar Dinkha IV paid a historic visit to northern Iraq to give oversight to the churches there and to encourage the governor of the Kurdish region to open a Christian school in Arbil.

On Sunday, July 15, 2007 Mar Dinkha celebrated 50 years since becoming a priest. A ceremony was held at St. George Cathedral 42°0′47″N, 87°40′11″W in Chicago, where a portion of Ashland Avenue was renamed to "His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV Blvd".