The Chaldean Heritage

1- The Chaldeans

  The Christian Catholic Chaldean community immigrated from the great country of Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. In the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent, this land known today as Iraq, can be called the cradle of ancient civilization. Legend places this as the Garden of Eden. This was the land of the hanging garden of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Here is where the first forms of writing were invented around 3000 B.C. Here is where the wheel was invented. Here is where the first system of law and order were introduced by the first legislator of the world, Hamurabi. Ancient Mesopotamia gave the world basic principles of mathematics, the 60 minutes/ hour and the 360 degree circle. This is where Aramaic, the language of Christ and the New Testament, flourished and became in the seventh century B.C. the lingua franca of the Middle East.

2- Chaldeans in the United States

  The first pioneers of the Chaldean people arrived in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century. They were few in number, but by the end of the first half of this century, they increased and were spread all over the country. Today there are fourteen Chaldean parishes with more than one hundred thousand Chaldeans in the United States. There are five Parishes in Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. There are two Parishes in Chicago, Illinois. There are six Parishes in California: two in San Diego (EL Cajon), one in Los Angeles, one in Turlock, one in Campbell and one in santa  Ana.  There is also a parish in Scottsdale Arizona.  There are also two missions, in Sacramanto, California and Las Vegas, Nevada Many more Chaldeans are scattered throughout the states that are unaccounted for.

  On January 26, 1982, His Holiness Pope John Paul II established the Apostolic Exarchate for the Chaldean faithful residing in the United States of America. He appointed Rev. Ibrahim Ibrahim as the first Apostolic Exarch. On March 7, 1982, Rev. Ibrahim Ibrahim was ordained Bishop in Baghdad. On April 18, 1982, Bishop Ibrahim was installed as the first Bishop of the new Exarchate. Pope John Paul II elevated the Apostolic Exarchate of the Chaldeans in the United States to the rank of Eparchy (Diocese) on August 3, 1985. The official title of this diocese is “Chaldean Diocese of Saint Thomas the Apostle.”   

On July 18, 2002, Reverend Sarhad Jammo was ordained as a Bishop of St. Peter the Apostle, Chaldean Diocese in the United States.  The installation of the new Bishop took place on July 25, 2002.

3- The Chaldeans in the World

  The Chaldean Church, as of October 1994, consists of Middle Eastern Christians who use Aramaic as their mother tongue. It is one of the twenty-two Eastern Rites recognized by the Holy See in Rome, but different in customs. The head of the Chaldean Church today is Patriarch Raphael Bidawid I, the Patriarch of Babylon. He resides in Baghdad, Iraq (Mesopotamia). Throughout the world, Chaldeans exceed one half million (which does not include those living in Malabar, India).

  According to the 1994 census, there are nine Archdioceses and eight Dioceses with nineteen Chaldean Bishops throughout the world. There are one hundred and five parishes served by one hundred and twenty priests. There is one religious order of men consisting of forty monks, and one seminary with thirty theology students as well as seventy college students preparing for priesthood in Baghdad. There is one order of religious women called Chaldean Sisters, of the Daughters of Immaculate Mary.

  According to our sources, the 2000 census, Chaldeans number more than one hundred thousand throughout the United States.

4- The Chaldean Church

  Since the second century A.D. Christianity has flourished in Mesopotamia among the descendent of the two great and ancient nations of Assyria and Chaldea. Once they were baptized, both nations preferred the name “Christian” to their old national name. Thus the church which was compromised of these two nations was called simply  “the Church of the East”. Our church of Mesopotamia prospered and expanded into the whole area of Assyria, Chaldean, Persia, Arabia, the steppes of Mongolia in Asia, the Malabar Coast of India, and even into China.

During the first five centuries A.D. the Chaldean-Assyrian church was in communion with Rome. It had control over its people while their jurisdiction was exercised independently from the Patriarchate of Antioch. A school for Christian learning was even established in (modern Urfa-Tur). This school reached its highest glory under Mar Aprem (St. Ephrem) in 363 A.D. Sixty years later, however, the school and the church, fell prey to the Nestorian teaching. In 489 A.D. Nissibin became the new intellectual center of Mesopotamia by imperial order.

The head of the newly independent Church of the East in Mesopotamia was called “Katholikos.” He resided in Seleucia-Cteisphon, near Baghdad, Iraq. In the seventh century, Mesopotamia was conquered by the Moslems. In 780 A.D. the Catholikos Timetheos I moved his residence to the new capital of Baghdad.

  Historians acknowledged the important role which the scholars of the Church of the East played in the formation of the Arab culture. By the end of the tenth century, there were fifteen Metropolitan Provinces in Mesopotamia and five beyond the border, including Malabar in India, China, Iran, Syria and Egypt. The provinces even extended into Eastern Siberia and Mongolia.

The first official attempt on the part of the Church of the East in Mesopotamia to be reunited with the Catholic Church of Rome was realized when the elected Patriarch John Sulaka went to Rome and made his profession of the Catholic Faith before Pope Julius III in 1553. By 1592, however, most Mesopotamian Catholics had fallen back into Nestorian groups had reunited with Rome only to break ties again after a few years. By the 19^th century, reunited Catholics out numbered those who refused to unite.The term “Chaldean Church” was first used in 1445 A.D. by Pope Euginus V to distinguish the Nestorians of Cyprus, who were newly reconciled with Rome, from the Nestorians in general, henceforth called Assyrians.

5- The Chaldean-Assyrian Rite

  The Chaldean-Assyrian Rite is used by the people whose homeland is Mesopotamia; Babylonia and Assyria. They received the Gospel message from St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Addai (one of the seventy disciples), and two of Addai’s disciples Sts. Aggai and Mari. Sts. Addai and Mari are accredited with establishing the first liturgical forms originating from Antioch.

6- The Liturgical Year According to the Chaldean Rite

  The liturgical cycle used by Chaldeans today was arranged in the 7^th century A.D. during the Patriarchate of Esho’-yab Hdhayawaya. The Chaldean liturgical cycles reflects the plan of God in the salvation of mankind from the annunciation through Parousis (the Second Coming of Christ). The cycle is divided into Shawo’eh.

  Most Shawo’eh consist of seven weeks. Some have a fixed number of weeks and never change and others vary from year to year. The first and the last Shawo’a always consist of four weeks to symbolize the sign of the cross. This sign represented the Christian custom of beginning and ending all prayers with the sign of the cross.

  The Chaldean Liturgical (Cycle) Year Consists of the Following (Shawo’eh) Seasons:

1.                     Advent (Soubra): Four weeks

2.                     Christmas (Yalda): Two weeks

3.                     Epiphany (Denha): Eight weeks

4.                     Lent (Sauma): Seven weeks

5.                     Easter (Qyamta): Eight weeks

6.                     Apostles ( Shleeheh): Seven weeks

7.                     Summer (Qaita): Seven weeks

8.                     Elia ( Elia): Seven weeks

At the fourth week the Cross (Sleewa) season joins Elia.

9.                     Moses ( Mosheh): Four weeks

10.                 The Church (Qoodash Aiyta): Four weeks.

Prepared by

Most Rev. Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim

                                   Rev. Father Michael J. Bazzi