The Shimun line In 1553, Mar Yohannan Sulaqa, willing to separate from the
Church of the East's
Patriarchal See of
Alqosh, an Assyrian town in the
Assyrian homeland, went to Rome asking for his appointment as Patriarch. He was consecrated in
St. Peter's Basilica on 9 April 1553. • 93.
Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa (1553–1555) — fixed the See in
Amid • 94.
Abdisho IV Maron (1555–1570) — moved the See near
Siirt • Vacant (1570–1572) • 95.
Yahballaha IV (1572–1580) • 96.
Shimun IX Dinkha (1580–1600) — moved the see to
Urmia, was the last patriarch of the Shimun line to be formally recognized by Rome, reintroduced the hereditary succession • 97.
Shimun X Eliyah (1600–1638) — moved the see to
Salmas; never recognized by Rome • 98.
Shimun XI Eshuyow (1638–1656) — never recognized by Rome • 99.
Shimun XII Yoalaha (1656–1662) — never recognized by Rome • 100.
Shimun XIII Dinkha (1662–1692; died in 1700) — moved the see to
Qochanis, formally broke
full communion with Rome in 1692, while continuing as patriarch to be independent of the Alqosh patriarchal line. His successors in the Shimun line eventually became the sole line remaining within what later adopted the name
Assyrian Church of the East The Josephite line of Amid The Catholic Patriarchs based in
Amid, now
Diyarbakır in southeastern
Turkey, began with Joseph I who in 1667 became Catholic, obtained from the Turkish civil authorities in 1677 recognition of his independence from the non-Catholic patriarchal see of Alqosh. In 1681, Joseph I was recognized by Rome as "patriarch of the Chaldean nation deprived of its patriarch", because of the irregular situation in which the Shimun line had fallen since Shimun X. The numbering of the ensuing list reflect this conflict. • 97.
Joseph I (1681–1696) • 98.
Joseph II Sliba Maruf (1696–1713) • 99.
Joseph III Timothy Maroge (1713–1757) • 100.
Joseph IV Lazare Hindi (1757–1780) •
Joseph V Augustine Hindi (1780–1827), (never patriarch, but patriarchal administrator from 1802, apostolic delegate for the Patriarchate of Babylon from 1812). From 1830, the post of Catholic patriarch continued under
Yohannan VIII Hormizd as
Patriarch of Babylon and head of what is now called the
Chaldean Catholic Church.
The Alqosh/Mosul line In the 17th and 18th centuries,
Alqosh was the seat of what, until the setting up of the Shimun line, had been the only patriarchal line, tracing its origins from the
Apostle Thomas in the 1st century. This line is called the Eliyya line, because of the name that each of its successive patriarchs assumed. In 1771, the Alqosh Patriarch Eliyya XII Denkha (1722–1778) entered communion with the Catholic Church. However, on his death in 1778, his successor Eliyya XIII Ishoʿyahb, after obtaining recognition by Rome, quickly repudiated the union and returned to the traditional doctrine. His cousin
Yohannan VIII Hormizd professed the Catholic faith and won others to the same faith. When Eliyya IX Ishoʿyahb died in 1804, no successor was elected and Yohannan Hormizd remained the only representative of the line. Rome recognized him in 1783 as
metropolitan bishop of Mosul and administrator of the Alqosh/Mosul patriarchate. Only in 1830, after the death in 1827 of Augustine Hindi, the representative of the Josephite line, who had also been under consideration for recognition as the Catholic patriarch, was he acknowledged by Rome as patriarch. • 101.
Yohannan VIII Hormizd (1830–1838) — had his see in
Mosul • 102.
Nicholas I Zaya (1839–1846) • 103.
Joseph VI Audo (1847–1878) • 104.
Eliya XIV Abulyonan (1878–1894) • 105.
Audishu V Khayyath (1894–1899) (Georges Ebed-Iesu) • 106.
Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas (1900–1946) • 107.
Yousef VII Ghanima (1946–1958) — moved the see to
Baghdad • 108.
Paul II Cheikho (1958–1989) • 109.
Raphael I Bidawid (1989–2003) • 110.
Emmanuel III Delly (2003–2012) (retired on 19 December 2012), elevated to cardinal in 2007 • 111.
Louis Raphaël I Sako (31 January 2013–10 March 2026, resigned), elevated to cardinal in 2018 • 112.
Paul III Nona (since 12 April 2026) On 19 February 2022, Pope Francis acceded to the request of the Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean Church and changed this title to Patriarch of
Baghdad of the Chaldeans. ==See also==