The Apostolic Succession of Mar Greghor Holley
Metropolitan Archbishop
Gregory L. Holley LLC, OCE, OSJ
_________________________________________________________________________________
In keeping with the spirit of the document ‘Dominus Iesus‘ the following valid
apostolic succession, as traced from the Assyrian Church of the East and the ancient
Mar Thoma Church of India, is provided below for
His Excellency
Mar Greghor Holley
Gregory L. Holley LLC, OCE, OSJ
Church of the East Apostolic Succession
of Mar Greghor Holley
Maran Eshu M'Shikha(Our Lord Jesus Messiah)
33-73 AD Tooma Shlikha (Thomas, Apostle)
The Apostle Thomas established churches in Mesopotamia and Persia then went
on to India where, having established several churches, he was martyred by being
run through with a spear while in prayer. This occurred on a high hill outside
Mylapore near Madras. According to ancient tradition, he sold himself as a slave to
the master of a ship. In this way, serving as ship's carpenter, he was able to reach
southern India. It may have been that he went as a slave of Jesus, responding to a
call from India for carpenters. It is known that around this time, Greek carpenters
were held in high regard by Indian rulers and many made their way there. There
are two ancient traditions about where Thomas went in India. One has him
travelling to the north, the Punjab, and preaching to Gundaphar, king of all
northern India. The other has him traveling in the south and establishing seven
churches in the area of Cochin and Madras. There remains a Christian community
in the Cochin area that, to this day, looks back to Thomas. Neither tradition is
impossible. In recent years the previously unknown Gundaphar has become known
to history as a great king living at precisely the time and place of the tradition. It is
also possible that both are true and that Thomas traveled in both areas. His arrival
in India was probably sometime from AD 50 to 52.
33 Bar Tulmay Shlikha (Bartholomew)
The Apostle Bartholomew, according to tradition, was a missionary to India and
to Lycaonia and Armenia. In Armenia he was martyred by being flayed alive at
Alanopolis, now Derben in Azerbaijan.
33-45 Addai Shlikha (Taddai, Thaddeus)
There is some confusion as to whether this person was Judas Thaddeus (also
known as Jude and Lebbeus) one of the Twelve or a different Thaddeus, one of the
Seventy. (Different sources vary.) Under the direction of St. Thomas, he preached
the Gospel in Osrhoene, a small Syriac-speaking, Arabian buffer kingdom
between the Roman Empire and Persia, founding the church in its capital, Edessa
(modern Urfa in south western Turkey), which became one of the greatest centers of
the Church of the East. It is believed that he died there after appointing his disciple
Aggai to be his successor. He is also credited with founding the Church in Nisibis
as well as travelling and preaching to Mesopotamia. According to the tradition of
the Church of the East, he brought leaven from the bread of the Last Supper
(actually served and eaten prior to Passover as in the Gospel of John). It is
understood that the leaven used to make communion bread in the churches
throughout the East is descended from this same yeast.
45-81 Aggai (Haggai)
Disciple of Addai and one of the Seventy commissioned by Jesus in Luke 10:1. He
may have been martyred by the king of Osrhoene.
48-81 Mari
Disciple of Addai and one of the Seventy. The major liturgy of the Church of the
East is attributed to Addai and Mari. Their feast day is honored in the Western
Church. He may have been martyred by the king of Osrhoene. Early traditions
attribute to Addai and Mari the evangelism of the neighboring kingdom to the east,
the Persian Adiabene with its capital at Arbela (modern Irbil in Iraq), the only
Assyrian city to be continuously occupied from ancient times to the present day..
They are also thought to have continued into the Persian Empire itself and as far
as the borders of India.
90-107 Abris
A relative of the Virgin Mary. In 1909 a fascinating document, The Odes of
Solomon, was discovered. It dates from this period (possibly as early as AD 80)
and appears to be the first Christian hymn book. During this period, Osrhoene was
under Roman domination. It may have been under the Emperor Trajan that the
first martyrdoms occurred in Edessa.
In Arbela, the Parthian king Xosroes martyred the second bishop of that city in
107 In 115, the Romans invaded Adiabene and named it Assyria.
130-152 Oraham (Abraham)
Native of Kashkar, a city in western China.
171-190 Yacob I (Jacob)
Jacob I was a relative of Joseph the Carpenter, earthly father to Jesus. About the
year 172 Tatian the Assyrian (ca. 110-180) returned from Rome—where he had
gone some twenty years earlier and had studied under Justin Martyr—to the area
of Adiabene and founded a catechetical school there. His writings and teaching were
to have a profound and long lasting effect on the Syriac Church. He wrote the
Syriac harmony of the Gospels known as the Diatessaron. This was the first
translation of a major part of the New Testament into another language.
He was later accused by Western Church Fathers, especially Jerome, of being Father of
the Encratites, monks who followed a path of overly ascetic self-denial. His own
extant writings, while emphasizing asceticism do not go to the extremes of which he
was accused; however the Syrian monks through the succeeding centuries were
known for their extreme asceticism.
In AD 177 Abgar VIII ascended to the throne of Osrhoene. He may have been a
Christian for, though he was known as .a friend of Rome. he protected the
Christians during the periods of Roman persecution of the Church. Abgar‘s
boyhood companion, Bardaisan, himself a deacon in the Church, in his Book of the
Laws of Countries, refers to .when King Abgar had come to the faith.. Abgar‘s
faith is also corroborated by Roman historian, Sextus Justus Africanus who
visited Edessa in 195 , who refers to Abgar as a .holy man,. an unusual
complement from one of the Romans who generally despised the Osrhoeneians as a
deceitful people. It may be said that from this time Osrhoene was the first Christian
kingdom.
Around AD 180 or 190 (depending on the dating of the death of John Mark),
Pantaenus of Alexandria was sent to India by Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria,
in response to the request from that land for a deputation. Upon his return to
Alexandria, he reported that he had met Christians in India who had the Gospel of
Matthew in Hebrew (possibly Aramaic) brought there by the Apostle Bartholomew
when he evangelized in India. Pantaenus, a Jewish convert to Christianity, well
schooled in Greek philosophy, was head of the great Catechetical School of
Alexandria.He was acknowledged as the greatest scholar of his day and was teacher to Clement
of Alexandria and Origen from whom they learned much about the Indians.
191-203 Ebed M'shikha
"Servant of the Messiah"
The Chronicle of Edessa records a great flood in the year 201 in the city which
destroyed the palace of King Abgar and damaged the nave of the Christian church
building. This is the earliest historical record of a church building. We do not know
when this church was built. Prior to this the Christians had assembled in homes or
large houses converted for worship such as the one excavated in Dura-Europus on
the Euphrates.
205-220 Akhu D'awu
224-244 Shakhlupa
of Kashkar. In the year 226, the religiously tolerant Parthian dynasty fell to the
Persian Sassanids who were initially indifferent of Christianity but became
persecutors of the Church. They ruled the empire for the next four centuries. By
this time, the Chronicle of Arbela reports more than twenty bishops in the Persian
empire with jurisdictions from the mountains of Kurdistan in the east to the
Caspian Sea in the west. At some point during this period, the Didascalia
Apostolorum (Teaching of the Apostles) was written in Syriac by a bishop living
between Antioch and Edessa. It is the oldest manual of church order extant.
Though composed within the Roman Empire, it circulated throughout Persia. In
241, during the first year of the reign of the second Sassanid emperor, Shapur I, a
new prophet, Mani, began preaching. His followers were the Manichaeans.
His new religion spread throughout the Persian empire, into India, and into China.
247 (or 285)-326 Papa Bar Gaggai
Papa bar Gaggai was the first to hold the title of Catholicos ("Holder of All"). In
280 (or 285), he was made the first bishop of the see of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, about
20 miles south of Baghdad and some 50 miles north of ancient Babylon. His
consecrators were the bishops of Arbela and Susa. To this day, the Catholicos of
the East has been titular primate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Papa sought to bring all
other bishoprics into submission to him as bishop of the capital city, including the
deeply revered Miles, bishop of the ancient imperial city of Susa and his own
consecrator. At the synod called by Papa to settle this issue, Miles chastised him
severely, where upon he, in a fit of anger, pounded on the Book of the Gospels
calling on it to speak. At this, he suffered a paralyzing stroke which was considered
a judgement on his sacrilege. He was deposed and his archdeacon,
Shimun Bar Sabbai was made bishop in his stead.
In spite of this beginning, the need for a single Catholicos to lead the whole
church was recognized and the position that Papa established has continued to the
present day. Upon the death of Shapur I, the Zoroastrian priest, Kartir, rose very
rapidly to the highest position within the official imperial religion.
He immediately set about destroying the Manichaeans. After an initial persecution
that included the capture and execution of Mani, there was a brief respite, but
during the reign of Varahran (Bahram) II, a fresh persecution of the Manichaeans
broke out. This time it spilled over to include the Christians, even to the emperor‘s
Christian wife. In the Syriac Acts of the Martyrs, this is called the First
Persecution. In 301 Tiridat I, King of Armenia, was converted to Christianity.
It is from this that Armenia lays claim to the title of first Christian kingdom. As
Osrhoene ceased to exist as a Kingdom or a people, the Armenians may claim to be
the first Christian nation still in existence. Sometime around the year 306, Ephrem
the Syrian , Mar Aprem, was born in Nisibis. He lived until 373. A deacon and
founder of the catechetical school in Nisibis, he is considered to have been the
greatest hymn writer of the ancient Church, Eastern and Western. In 350, he
helped repel a Persian attack on Nisibis. In 363, he moved to Edessa which, at
that time was under Roman rule. He composed such hymns as The Father of
Truth and The Pearl. In 325, Constantine convened the first ecumenical council,
the First Council of Nicea.
326-341 ( or 344/5)
Shimun Bar Sabbai (Simon, Simeon)
Shapur II began a severe persecution of the Church that lasted forty years.
Shapur was at war with the Byzantine Empire and decided to impose a severe tax
on the Christians as a means to raise money for his war and to crush the Christian
community which was growing steadily. The Zoroastrian priesthood was deeply
incensed by such growth and instigated this action. Shimun bar Sabbai, the
Catholicos refused to implement the tax on his people whereupon he, along with the
rest of the Church, was accused of being friends of Rome and traitors to the empire.
Refusing to recant he was martyred outside Susa on Good Friday (the year may
have been 339, 341, or 345) after being forced to watch the execution of five bishops
and about one hundred priests. His sister, Mart Tarbula, followed some time later.
The period from 340 to 363 and 379 (or 383) to 401 is known as the Great
Persian Persecution. It ended with the death of Shapur II. During this period,
16,000 names of martyrs were recorded.
In addition to the 16,000 known, there
were countless numbers whose names were not recorded.
344-345 Shahdost
Martyred under Shapur II
345-346 Bar Bashmin
Tortured and beheaded with many others.
346–364 (vacancy in the Catholicate)
There follows a break in the line of the Catholicate (but not the Apostolic
succession—there were other bishops to carry that on) because of the extensive
persecution that the Church underwent within the Persian Empire. About 370,
Ephrem celebrated the translation of the bones of St. Thomas from India to
Edessa with the following words:
“I stirred up death., the devil howled. . .
“But now I am struck all the harder.
The Apostle whom I slew in India
Has overtaken me in Edessa..
364-373 Tomarsa
372-380 Qaiyuma
Persecution renewed.
380-399 (vacancy in the Catholicate)
399-410 Eskhaq (Isaac)
Mar Isaac's reign was a period of respite from persecution. Peace was brought to
the Church through the diplomatic support of Mar Maruta, sent by the Emperor of
Rome to Yezdegard I, Shah of Iran from 399 to 410. Yezdegard I gave
permission for a synod to be called at Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410 at which his Edict
of Toleration was read bringing great rejoicing to the Church (even as the Western
Church was grieving at the fall of Rome to Alaric the Goth). The Shah's approval
for the appointment of successors to the Cathilocos was agreed to. Bishops were
given official status in the realm. Yezdegard I never embraced Christianity but he
caused many churches to be rebuilt. General and severe persecution returned upon
the deaths of Yezdegard and Mar Isaac. The decrees of the First Council of Nicea
(AD 325) and the First Council of Constantinople (AD 381) were published and
accepted in the East at the council of 410. This made these first councils truly
ecumenical (world wide) and are the only ones that are so recognized by the Church
of the East. The Nicene Creed was formulated at these two councils and is accepted by the
Church of the East as the primary credal statement of the Faith. At this same
council in 410, along with accepting the doctrines of the first two councils the Church
of the East asserted it‘s right to govern itself and not be governed from the Roman
Empire.
By the time of the Council of Ephesus in 431 (which is considered to be ecumenical
by the Byzantine and Western Churches), political and linguistic barriers had
permanently separated the Catholic Church of the West from the Catholic Church of
the East in the Persian Empire.
411-414 Akhi (Akha, Ahai)
415-420 Yoalaha I (Yaballaha) "The Lord is God."
After many years as a missionary to the pagans, Yoalaha returned to build a
monastery on the Euphrates where he longed to devote his life to praising God,
singing songs and hymns, but this was not to be. He was called to the Catholicate
and then sent on a diplomatic mission to the Constantinople. Returning from that,
he had to deal with schisms in his own church. He called a council in 420 which
accepted the canons of the Western councils. In the year 420, the last of
Yezdegerd‘s reign, he who had been a friend of the Christians turned against the
Church and instituted a persecution that lasted for several years and, while not
seeing the martyrdom of as many as under Shapur II, outdid it in ferocity and
cruelty.
420 Maana
Varahan V (Bahram) was Shah from 420 to 438. Maana was banished by the
Shah for refusing to rebuke Christians who had burned a Zoroastrian fire temple.
421 Qarabukht
Qarabukht was forced upon the Church by the Shah after which, he was deposed.
421-456 Dad Ishu "Beloved of Jesus”
In 422 Vharhan‘s war with the Byzantine empire was brought to an end and with it
the persecution of the Church. A treaty decreeing freedom of religion in both
empires, Zoroastrians in the Byzantine and Christians in the Persian. This was
most likely helped by the generosity of the Byzantine ambassador, Acacius, bishop
of Amida, a city just across the border on the Tigris. Mar Acacius sold the golden
vessels of his church to succor 7000 Persians, prisoners of the Romans. Dad Ishu
was imprisoned early in his Catholicate under the accusation of being pro-Roman.
During his imprisonment a pseudo-catholicos attempted to create an alliance with
the anti-Christian Zoroastrians. Upon his release, Dad Ishu refused to lead the
Church and went off to a hermitage in the northern mountains to pray for and
mourn the spiritual fall of the Church of God. Only the petition of thirty-six
penitent and weeping bishops induced him to return and preside at a council to
reform the Church.
Mar Dad Ishu was called Patriarch, equal to any in the West, at the council of
Markabda in 424, the third council of the Church of the East. In so doing this
Church declared itself free of and of equal standing with the Church in the Roman
Empire. This was a declaration of independent equality not of separation. Upon the
death of Varahan V (438/9), persecution of the Church once again swept the land,
and once again, it was connected with war with Byzantium. Yazdegerd II (438 to
457) began his reign by declaring war. Even though this war was short and
inconclusive, the persecution continued. The worst years of the persecution were
445 to 448.
In the latter year, in Kirkuk, a horrendous massacre occurred. Ten
bishops and 153,000 clergy and laity were slaughtered on the mound outside of
town over a period of several days. The Persian executor, Tamasgerd, was so
moved by the steadfastness of the Christians that he finally joined them to be
baptized in his own blood. Within the Byzantine Empire, the Third Ecumenical
Council, that of Ephesus, in 432 condemned Nestorius, Patriarch of
Constantinople for the heresy that came to bear his name. For centuries he bore this
stigma in the West, his own writings had all been destroyed. In 1889 a Syrian
priest discovered an eight-hundred-year-old manuscript of a Syriac translation of
Nestorius‘s own Greek account of his controversies. This manuscript of the
Bazaar of Heracleides had been made about 540. (Bazaar or market, was a term
used to refer to an anthology.) Modern scholarship has come to recognize that
Nestorius was actually much more Orthodox than he been given credit for.
Coming from a Syrian background and using Aramaic language, Nestorius, who
was strongly influenced by Theodore of Mopsuestia, used terminology that did not
translate well into Greek (or Latin). It is now understood that the conflict was
more the result of political maneuvering and linguistic misunderstanding than real
differences. The Church of the East was not represented at the Council of Ephesus
and never accepted it‘s statements, or those of any succeeding councils. As far as the
Church of the East is concerned their have been only two truly ecumenical councils,
Nicea in 325 and Constantinople in 381. Nestorius was never condemned in the
East. Because of this and because of the fact that it used the same terminology that
Nestorius had, the Church of the East became known as the Nestorian Church.
This is a complete misnomer for it was not .Nestorian. in doctrine (as that was
understood) nor did Nestorius ever rule in it. His jurisdictions were all within the
Byzantine realm.
457-484 Bawai I (Babowai, Babu)
Bawai spent the majority of his patriarchate in prison. He also had a series of
clashes with Barsauma, Bishop of Nisibis. Barsauma also clashed with bishops
on the western side of the border. One of the issues was on the two natures of
Christ. He was strongly .Nestorian. or diophysite while they were monophysite.
He was also married which brought him into conflict with both the Western bishops
and Bawai. In an attempt to appease the Western bishops and solicit their support
in putting pressure on Peroz the Shah to grant the Church greater freedom, Bawai
secretly sent them a letter which was intercepted by Barsauma who revealed it to
Peroz who then had Bawai executed for treason. Unfortunately for Barsauma,
before he could be appointed Patriarch by the Shah, Peroz perished in battle with
the Huns on his eastern border. His successor, Vologases (Balash, 484-488)
sought peace in the empire and appointed Acacius as Patriarch.
484-496 Aqaq (Acacius)
In 486, Acacius convened the fourth general synod of the Church of the East which
condemned Monopysitism, confirmed the formula of Nestorius concerning the two
natures of Christ and affirmed the right of all Christians to marry regardless of
whether they were laity, priests, or bishops. What was remarkable about this synod
was that the three main prelates of the Church, Acacius, Papa of Beit Lapat, and
Barsauma of Nisibis, all present, and all representing differing stances,
maintained the unity of the Church and accepted the authority of this synod while
maintaining relations with the Byzantine Church.
There was in the Eastern Church truly diversity within unity. To this day, the Church of the East has been
More tolerant of diversity than the Western Church, both Greek and Latin.
496-502 Bawai II
Mar Bawai II assumed the title Patriarch of the East in 498. It then became
standard for the primate of the Church of the East to be known as Catholicos-
Patriarch. This practice is still followed. Bawai was a prolific writer.
505-523 Shila (Silas)
In 519, in the Kingdom of Himyar (modern Yemen), there was a fierce persecution
of the Christians. Men, women, and children were forced into the Church, some
2000 of them, so packed in that there was no room to move.
The Church was then set to the flame and all perished. Those who were not in the
Church were hunted down from house to house.
524-538 Elisha
Period of dual patriarchate. Elisha was appointed by Silas, his father-in-law, to be
his successor.
524–535 Narsai (Narses)
The bishops of the Church, rejecting Silas‘ s nepotism, elected Narses to be
Patriarch. Both parties appealed to Shah Kavad to decide the issues which he
refused to do.
539-540 Polos (Paul)
540–552 Aba I
Aba , a convert from Zoroastrianism, was in a precarious position, not only
because of his conversion (a capital offense in Persia) but because in the year of his
accession, Persia launched a war against Constantinople—a state of affairs that
was always treacherous for the Christians. Aba ruled the Church from prison or
exile for seven years during his reign, yet managed to do so with great ability. Aba
is known for four great accomplishments. They were a thoroughgoing
reorganization of the Church by means of a grand tour of all provinces, a
reinvigoration of theological studies, a successful calling of the Church back from
decadence to spiritual rejuvenation, and the work of reunion within the sadly divided
Body, healing the wounds within his own church and reaching out to restore broken
relationships between Christians east and west. Shortly after his conversion, Aba
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Egypt, Greece, and Constantinople where he was
received to communion as a matter of course.
552-567 Yosip (Joseph)
Joseph was personal physician to Shah Chosroes I and proposed to the bishops by
him. They accepted him as Patriarch but soon regretted his unscrupulous and
autocratic rule. Eventually, they were able to put enough pressure on him that he
called a council in 554, the church‘s seventh. This council laid restrictions on the
Patriarch‘s ability to act alone and condemned secular governmental influence in the
affairs of the Church. Finally, in 566 or 567, the bishops called a synod to depose
Joseph; however he remained in power until removed by the Shah in 570.
570-581 Khazqiyil (Ezekiel)
581-595 Eshuyow I, Arzunaya (Yeshuyab) "Jesus has given"
He wrote against heresies and on the sacraments.
596-604 Sorishu I, Garmaqaya (Sabr Ishu) "Hope of Jesus"
He was more effective as a hermit and a missionary than as Patriarch.
605-608 Greghor, Partaya (Gregory)
The Shah nominated Gregory, Bishop of Nisibis, but the bishops preferred
another Gregory and tricked the Shah, Chosroes II, into thinking they had elected
his man. In fury at the deception, the Shah refused to confirm any more Patriarchs
for the rest of his reign.
608-628 (vacancy in the Patriarchate)
During this period, which ended with the death of Chosroes, no bishops or
metropolitans were consecrated. The Shah‘s death followed his downfall and
removal in favor of his son, Siroes, Kavad II, as a consequence of the failure of
his war with the Roman Byzantine empire. Babai the Great, abbot of the Great
Monastery on Mt. Izla, was elected by a number of metropolitans and bishops to
the post of Inspector of Monasteries which enabled him to travel freely. His
prestige was such that he was able to function as administrator of the whole church.
With the end of Chosroes‘ reign, he was chosen to be Catholicos but refused the
honor and returned to the solitary life of his monastery.
628-644 Eshuyow II, Gdalaya
Mar Eshuyow was an Arab. The early part of his reign was marked by political
chaos within the Persian Empire and the threat of war with Rome. He was sent by
the imperial family, along with a delegation of bishops to sue for peace with the
Romans. He also negotiated with Mohammad the first agreement on the favorable
status of the Church of the East under Islam. In 637, Seleucia-Ctesiphon fell to
the Arabs. He created the first metropolitanate of India and sent out the first known
mission to China ( Peking) in 635. During his patriarchate there began a
revitalization of the Church and flowering of evangelism.
647-650 Immeh
650-660 Eshuyow III, Kdayawa
661-680 Gewargis I (George)
Mar George wrote hymns and poetry. During his Patriarchate, the Church
suffered persecution at the hands of the Ummayad Caliph, Muawiyyah. Mar
George was imprisoned and many churches destroyed.
681-683 Yokhannan I, Bar Marta (John)
683–685 Vacancy in the Patriarchate
685-693 Khnanishu I "The Mercy of Jesus"
Martyr.
693-694 Yokhannan II, Garba
694–714 Vacancy in the Patriarchate
714-728 Sliwazkha "The Victory of the Cross"
728–731 (vacancy in the Patriarchate)
731-740 Pethyon
In 737, Caliph Mahdi decreed that all churches built since the Muslim conquest be
destroyed. Some 5000 Christians were forced to convert to Islam or face death.
741-751 Awa
Awa translated the Old Testament into Syriac from Greek for scholarly use, not to
supplant the Peshitta (the ancient Syriac version of the Bible, still the official
translation of the Church of the East. He also wrote a number of commentaries,
hymns, letters on discipline and canons.
752-754 Surin
Surin was deposed by the new Caliph, Mansur, the second of the Abbasid dynasty.
During his reign (754 – 775) Mansur built his new capital near the ruins of
Seleucia-Ctesiphon, using its stones. Its official name was Madinat as-Salam or
.City of Peace,. but it was known by the name of the Persian village that had been
there before— Baghdad.
754-773 Yacob II
In 762 the physical seat of the Catholicos-Patriarch was moved to Baghdad.
774 -780 Khnanishu II
780-820 Timotheus I (Timothy)
In 781 a monument, known as the Nestorian Monument, was erected in China to
commemorate 150 years of Christianity in that country. The erectors stated that
Khnanishu was Patriarch. The news of his death some three years prior had not
yet reached China. The monument, discovered by Jesuits in 1625 and still in very
good condition, documents the early spread of Christianity in China during the
Tang Dynasty. It was financed by a Chinese Christian nobleman and prepared by
Syrian monks from a monastery in Peking. Surmounting the monument is a
Cross, known as the "Nestorian Cross," which forms the main device of the seal
of the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America. On the monument, the
Cross is above clouds and a lotus blossom to show the superiority of the Cross over
Islam and Buddhism. Above it is a flame representing the Holy Spirit. Modern
copies of the monument stand in Diamond Mountains of North Korea and in a
Buddhist cemetery in Japan.
820–824 Eshu Bar Non (Joshua Son Of Nun)
He wrote theology, Inquiries into the Bible, philosophical and liturgical works.
825–832 Gewargis II
832-836 Soreshu II
837-850 Oraham II, Margaya
In 845, Wu Tsung, Emperor of China, set about to destroy Buddhism in China
which had been growing rapidly during the same period as Christian missions
there. At the time of his decree, there were some 44,600 Buddhist monasteries in
China occupied by more than 265,000 monks and nuns. By the end of his
persecution Buddhism had been nearly wiped out in China. It was during this
same period that Christianity, equated to Buddhism in the Chinese mind because of
its monks and monasteries, was eliminated. Just as Christians had been caught up
in the persecution of the Manichaeans in Persia, so they once again suffered in a
persecution of another religion.
850-852 Teadasis (Theodosius)
During the Patriarchate of Theodosius, Caliph Mutawakkil imprisoned the
Patriarch on the false charge of being a Byzantine spy. The Caliph also decreed
that the Christians wear identifying badges.
852–860 (vacancy in the Patriarchate)
860-872 Sargis, Suwaya
873-884 Annush D'beth Garmay
884-892 Yokhannan III, Bar Narsai
892-898 Yokhannan IV
Nephew of Theodosius
900-905 Yokhannan V, Bar Ogare
906-937 Oraham III, Abraza
937-949 Ammanoel I (Emmanuel)
961-962 Esrail ( Israel), Karkhaya
963-986 Odishu, Garmaqaya "Servant of Jesus"
967-1000 Mari Aturaya
1001–1012 Yokhannan VI
1013-1022 Yokhannan VII, Bar Nazuk
In 1014, during the reign of Caliph Qadr, the Church was persecuted, buildings
were destroyed, the people tortured and murdered.
1023–1027 Eshuyow IV, Bar Khazqiyil
During Eshuyow‘s Patriarchate, Kurds attacked Edessa and took about 3000
captives.
1028–1049 Elia I, Terhan
1049-1057 Yokhannan VIII, Bar Tragala
1057-1072 Sorishu III, Bar Zanbur
1072-1090 Odishu II, Bar Ars, Aturaya
1092–1109 Makkikha I, Bar Shlemon "Lowly One, Son of Solomon"
1111–1132 Elia II, Bar Maqli
1133-1135 Bar Soma of Suwa
1135-1136 Bar Gabbara
1138-1147 Odishu III
nephew of Elia II
1148-1175 Eshuyow V
from Beth Zodia, Baladaya
1176-1190 Elia III, Abukhalim
1191–1222 Yoalaha II, Bar Qaiyuma
During this period, the Mongols began their conquests of east, northern and central
Asia. Jenghiz Khan began his conquests in 1206 and continued until his death in
1227. The Mongols, for the most part (and until Timur Lenk) were not hostile to
Christian. Their number included many Christians. Jenghiz Khan had a Christian
wife and the mother of his grandson, Kublai Khan, who became emperor of China,
was also a Christian. As a matter of principle Jenghiz Khan did not embrace any
religion, treating them all with equality. Even so, as the Mongols expanded their
conquests destroying city after city, many Christians were caught up in the general
slaughter. References to the slaying and martyrdom mentioned below are only those
where Christians were singled out for specific persecution.
1222-1226 Sorishu IV
1226-1256 Sorishu V from Baghdad
Jenghiz Khan was succeeded by his son Ogotai Khan who took his conquests into
Europe, overrunning Poland and Hungary. He died in 1241 and was succeeded by
the election of his son Guyuk to be ruler of the Mongols.
Guyuk Khan was a professing Christian and immediately brought an end to the
massacres and devastation that had characterized the reigns of Jenghiz and Ogotai.
The fact of his faith is probably the single most important factor in the sparing of
Christian Europe from destruction at the hands of the Mongol armies.
In 1248Guyuk died and was succeeded by his cousin, Hulaku Khan, son of Tulu, brother
of Ogotai.
1257-1265 Makkikha II
In 1258 the seat of the Catholicos-Patriarch was moved to Mosul. During that
same year, Hulaku Khan had one of every twentieth Christian man and his family
put to death in the city of Tikrit.
1265-1281 Dinkha I, (Epiphanius) Arbilaya
Dinkha was from Arbela. In 1268, the Sultan of Egypt slew all Christian men in
Syrian Antioch and had the churches torn down. He also took many children into
captivity.
1281-1318 Yoalaha III, Bar Turkaye (Yahbalaha Morkos)
Yoalaha "Son of the Turks" was the son of a Uighur (a Mongol tribe)
archdeacon. He was born in Koshang, northern China. (Uighur is still the
predominant language of Sinkiang province, China.) Around 1255 he went on
pilgrimage to Jerusalem with another monk, Bar Sauma. Because of fighting,
they were unable to get to Jerusalem so returned to Baghdad where they settled. He
was raised to Patriarchate in 1281. In 1287, Argun, Il-Khan of Persia sent
Rabban Bar Sauma, under Yoalaha‘s direction, on a mission to Western Europe
to seek an alliance against the Moslems for a new Crusade. Bar Sauma met with
Andronicus II, Palaeologus, Emperor of Byzantium, Phillip IV of France and
Edward I of England. Because of the press of internal affairs, none were
interested. In 1289, Kurds attacked over 70 Assyrian Christian villages, killing
over 500 men and taking over 1000 children captive. In 1295, the Mongol, Kazan
Khan, ordered the destruction of all churches in Mesopotamia. Yoalaha was
imprisoned and tortured by Arabs carrying out the Khan‘s orders. Two years later
(1297), Ala Al-Din, son of a Mongol, massacred the Christian inhabitants of the
city of Amedia and burns the churches. He took over 12,000 into captivity. In 1310,
Arabs, with Mongol assistance, captured Arbela and slew all inhabitants that could
not be sold into slavery. Many died of starvation in the siege that took place.
1318-1328 Timotheus II, Arbilaya
With Timothy of Arbela, a hereditary patriarchate began. The office of Catholicos
was passed from uncle to nephew. This was continued until 1976 when the present
Catholicos was elected by the Episcopal college.
1329-1359 Dinkha II
1359-1364 Dinkha III
1365-1392 Shimun III
During this period, the Mongol, Tamerlane (Timur Lenk, 1336? - 1405),
rejecting Christianity and embracing Islam, launched a war of extermination
against the Church. Within a generation the Church of the East, numbering some
84 million souls at it peak, was reduced to about two million. These were scattered
and isolated in Southern India and Kurdistan (eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and
northwestern Iran). He established his power in 1369 by usurping power from
Chagatni Khan in Samarkand.
Thirteen years later he had established his rule through out central Asia. Examples of his ruthless policy are the pyramid of 70,000 heads after taking the city of Isfahan, the 90,000 head pyramid on the ruins of
Baghdad, and his total destruction of the Christian city of Tikrit after a weeks long
siege, some 72,000 souls.
1392–1403 (vacancy in the Patriarchate)
1403-1407 Shimun III
1407-1437 (vacancy in the Patriarchate)
1437 Elia IV
1437–1497 Shimun IV, Basidi
In 1450, Shimun Basidi began a hereditary Patriarchate within the Bar Mama
(Abuna) family known as the Patriarchate of Hormizd after the monastery where he
lived and where he and many of his line were buried. He began this practice through
enacting a canon because of the decimation of the Church under the attacks of Timur
Lenk (Tamerlain), the Mongol. Mar Shimun Basidi felt that the only way to
assure the survival of the Church was to keep the patriarchate within his family.
Unfortunately, because this new canon violated the established canons of the church
that no bishop may nominate a successor, this sowed seeds of contention that lasted
until the 20 th Century.
1497-1502 Shimun V
In 1500, the Portuguese arrived in India, beginning a period of tumultuous
relations between the Church of the East in India and the Church of Rome. The
first Roman missionaries were Franciscans who worked among the non-Christian
Indians and, for the most part, left the ancient Christianity community alone.
1502–1504 Elia V
1504–1538 Shimun VI
From this point until 1976, all Catholicos-Patriarchs of the Church of the East
were named Shimun (Simon), generally with another name preceding, but the
number referring to the generation of Shimun.
1538–1558 Eshuyow Shimun VIII
During this period the Patriarchal see was moved from Alkosh, near Mosul, Iraq,
to Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran. It was then moved to Qudshanis,
Hakkari, in Turkish Kurdistan. The remnants of the Church hung on in the far
mountains of Kurdistan, enduring severe persecution down to and including the
present. The Patriarchal see remained in this isolated area until many Chaldeans
fled from Turkish persecutions to the United States at the time of World War I.
At that time the see was translated to San Francisco, California. In 1542,
Francis Xavier arrived in India heading up a Jesuit mission. In 1551, the
Portuguese governors, through the Jesuits, began putting pressure on the
indigenous Christians to accept Roman doctrine and practice.
1558–1572 unclear
From about this time, there were two separate patriarchal lines, that of Hormizd
remaining in the Bar Mama family, which eventually became the Chaldean Catholic
line, and this one outside the family. Within the Bar Mama family, Eshuyow
Shimun was succeeded by Eliya VI, Giwargis. Different sources give different
names within the other line. This was the period when Roman doctrines began to be
introduced into the Church, largely through the work of the monk, Rabban Sulaka
d'beth Ballo. With this influence, deep and enduring divisions entered into the
Church of the East, already weakened by persecutions and the fact that during the
generations following Tamerlane's massacre of the Church there were attempts to
seek support and strength from Roman, Byzantine, Jacobite and Armenian
sources. All this contributed to the present multiplicity of separate Eastern churches
having a common history back to the Apostles.
However, with the signing of the Common Christological Declartation by Pope
John Paul II and Mar Dinkha IV on November 11, 1995, a period of
cooperation between the independent Church of the East and the Uniate Chaldean
Catholics has begun, seeking to repair the rents in the fabric of Eastern
Christianity.
1572 (1558?)-1580 Yolaha Shimun VIII
In 1578 a Kurdish force of 10,000 attacked the Assyrian city of Urmi (in modern
Iran) and carried off over 1000 prisoners. A short time later the Turkish Pasha of
Rawandoz sacked the villages of Alqosh and Tel Kepe and pillaged the monastery
of Robban Hormizd, killing many monks and a bishop. In 1599, at the Synod of
Diamper, the majority of Indian Christians, yielding to Portuguese pressure,
professed allegiance to Rome. Some 30,000 refused to submit and the Church was
divided. These dissenters continued as the core of the Syro-Chaldean Christians in
southern India down to the present day.
1580-1600 Dinkha Shimun IX
He was recognized by Rome.
1600-1638 Elia Shimun X
1638–1656 Eshuyow Shimun XI
Eshuyow Shimun may have been removed because of attempts at union with Rome.
In India, by 1653, the rule of the Jesuits over the Indian Church had become so
harsh and Portuguese power so weakened by their defeat at the hands of the Dutch,
that the vast majority of those who had submitted to Rome in 1599 pledged to reject
Roman authority at the Coonen Cross Secession. The Indian Christians made
this pledge on the large granite cross, called the “coonen” or “bent” cross, in front
of the Church at Matancheri, Cochin, India. Long ropes were tied to the cross so
that more people could .touch. the cross. Of some 200,000 Indian Christians, only
a few hundred stayed within the Roman fold.
1656–1662 Yoalaha Shimun XII
In 1657, the Pope sent a Carmelite bishop and a number of Carmelite priests to
bring the Indians back into allegiance to Rome. Through these efforts some two
thirds of those who had recanted returned.
1662–1700 Dinkha Shimun XII
In 1665, the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch sent Mar Gregory, Metropolitan of
Jerusalem to India managing to get to Malabar where he was welcomed warmly.
Those of the secessionists who did not return to the Roman Church, accepted the
new Jacobite leadership. This Jacobite Orthodox Syrian Church is today the
largest portion of the ancient Chaldean Church in India. The Chaldean Catholics
are next in size. The remnant which remained true to the Church of the East is now
the smallest church. In 1681 Yosep I received Papal recognition and started a
third patriarchal line, this one in full communion with Rome. In 1830, the
Patriarchate of Hormizd (Bar Mama) was recognized by the Pope in this
succession, bringing the two lines together. This is the line of the Chaldean
Catholic Church. The present Chaldean Patriarch is Raphael I Bidawid.
1700–1740 Shlemon Shimun XIV (Sulaiman)
1740–1780 Mikhail Shimun XV (Mukhattis)
1780–1820 Yokhanan Shimun XVI
1820–1860 Oraham Shimun XVII
In 1829, Kurds attacked Alqosh and other Christian villages. Several hundred
Christians were killed amidst numerous acts of barbarism throughout the region.
In 1842, Badr Khan Bey, a Hakkari Kurdish Amir, combined with Kurdish
forces led by Nurallah, attacked the Assyrians in order to exterminate them from
the mountains. They seized the Patriarch‘s aged mother, raped her, then cut her
body in two and through it in the river Zab. This persecution lasted until the fall of
1846. During that time well over 10,000 Christians were brutally and
treacherously murdered and another 10,000 women and children taken captive to be
sold into slavery. In 1860, Druze and Kurdish forces launched a persecution of the
Christians in Lebanon. One Ottoman garrison commander offered sanctuary to a
large number of Maronites, then slaughtered them all when they were together and
unarmed. This persecution spread from Lebanon to Damascus. By the time it was
over some 12,000 Christians had been killed in Lebanon and another 11,000 slain
during the burning of Damascus‘s Assyrian Quarter.
1860-1903 Ruwil Shimun XVIII (Reuben)
On New Year‘s Day, 1895, Kurdish forces attacked the city of Urfa, slaughtering
13,000 Christians. During the course of the year well over 100,000 more were
killed.
1903-1918 Binyamin Shimun XIX (Benjamin)
During the period from 1915 to 1918, a fierce persecution of the Christians
occurred throughout the region. The number of martyrs is unknown but runs well
into the tens of thousands, possibly hundreds. Whole villages and regions were
depopulated. A massive exodus of Assyrians and Armenians fleeing the genocide
took many of the survivors to Europe, America and Australia. On March 3, 1918,
Mar Binyamin Shimun was gunned down treacherously by some 700 Kurdish
marksmen as he and his retinue were departing from a .friendly. meeting with the
Kurdish chieftain, Simkoo.
1918–1920 Polos Shimun XX (Paul)
1920–1975 Eshai Shimun XXI
Eshai Shimun had the office of Catholicos-Patriarch thrust upon him at the age of
twelve upon the murder of his uncle, Polos Shimun. To escape Turkish
persecutions, he moved his see to San Francisco, California. In 1973, he abdicated
and in 1975 was assassinated. The hereditary Patriarchate ended with his death.
He called himself the XXIIIrd. This is the result of confusion over the members of
this line in the turbulent 16 th Century. Persecutions and murders of Assyrian
Christians continued in the Middle East (though not on the scale of the previous
years) including incidents in the years 1923, 1930, 1933, 1945, 1962 and 1969.
1975- Dinkha IV
Mar Dinkha IV was elected by one party within the Church of the East, .the
Patriarchal group., but was not accepted by .the Metropolitan group.. Tensions
between these two groups had lasted for several decades. On November 17, 1995
the separate parties declared their reconciliation and unity under Mar Dinkha IV at
a special celebration in Trichur, India at the Mart Maryam Big Church, the oldest
in Trichur. At that time it was reported that .the Chaldean Syrian Community [in
India] has about 30,000 members, mainly in and around Thrissur. There are
small Churches in Cochin, Calicut, Coimbatore, Madras, Bangalore, etc.. Within
India, there are two Metropolitans, Mar Timotheus, the Patriarchal delegate and
Mar Aprem, Metropolitan of India. Both live in Trichur, Kerala, India. Since
the reconciliation, they have been in cooperation. Mar Dinkha resides in Chicago,
USA. On November 11, 1994 Mar Dinkha IV and Pope John Paul II jointly
signed a Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the
Assyrian Church of the East which declared that both the Church of Rome and the
Church of the East held a common understanding of Jesus Christ, fully God and
fully man, eternally begotten of God the Father and born of the Virgin Mary.
It recognized that the titles of the Virgin Mary used by each communion—.Mother
of Christ our God and Savior. used by the Church of the East and .Mother of
God. used by the Church of Rome—are both acceptable as portraying the truth and
to be respected by both communions. It rejected the anathemas and divisions of the
past as arising from misunderstanding and not true doctrinal difference.
In November, 1996 the Roman Catholic National Conference of Catholic
Bishops issued Guidelines for the Reception of Communion for Catholics. In this
document is the following statement. .’According to Roman Catholic discipline, the
Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of communion by Christians of
these Churches (canon 844 §3).. The Churches referred to are the Orthodox
Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic
Church. (The . Assyrian Church of the East. is the Church of this apostolic line
with Mar Dinkha IV as Catholicos Patriarch.’ On July 8, 1997, Mar Dinkha
IV, at the commencement of the Third Non-Official Consultation on Dialogue
Within the Syriac Tradition sponsored by the Pro Oriente Foundation, decreed
.that every clause containing anathemata be removed from the Divine Office and
other liturgical texts, for we were created to bless with our mouth and not to curse..
On August 15, 1997 Mar Dinkha IV and Mar Raphael I Bidawid, Catholicos
Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church promulgated a Joint Synodal Decree
for Promoting Unity Between the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean
Catholic Church which declares full cooperation between the two Churches in the
preparation of educational and liturgical materials, pastoral ministry and other
areas while pursuing a more fuller union which respects on the one hand the full
independence of the Church of the East and, on the other hand the Chaldean Catholic
Church‘s full communion with the See of Rome.
1918-1920 AD Polos Shimun XXII (Paul)
In order to restore the Syro-Chalean jurisdiction in India, in the Church of Mar
Saba, Ipper Tiari, Kurdistan, continuing in this line, consecrated (with dates of
consecration where available):
Mar Abdeeso Antonios
Consecrated Metropolitan of the Syro-Chaldean Christians of Malabar, India
Mar Basilius
Metropolitan of India, Ceylon, Mylapore, Socotra and Messina and The Most
Reverend Luis Mariano Soares July 24, 1899. This consecration took place in
the Syro-Chaldean Cathedral, Trichur, Cochin, India.
The above "Annotations to the Apostolic succession presented here, through the
reign of Binyamin Shimun XXI, are the work of The Rev. Ben Torry,
Archdeacon, Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (unless otherwise
noted) and are ©copyright of the EACNA, 1992, 2000, all right reserved. Used
with permission."
The continuing annotations to the Apostolic succession come from the records of
Mar Yokhannan, The Most Rev. John M. Stanley, Metropolitan of North
America, and are added to the above.
Mar Jacobus (The Most Reverend Ulric Vernon Hereford)
November 30, 1902 consecrated by Mar Basilius in the Church of the Epiphany,
Pallithanam, Madura District, South India. He consecrated:
Mar Paulus (The Most Reverend William Stanley McBean Knight)
October 18, 1931, in the Chapel of St. John, Pembridge Castle, Monmouth,
England. Bishop of Kent. He consecrated:
Mar Hedley
August 15, 1938, Bishop of Siluria, succeeding as Administrator of the Syro-
Chaldean Metropolitan See of India, Ceylon, Mylapore, Socotra, and Messina.
He consecrated:
Mar Georgius I
May 20, 1945. Patriarch of Glastonbury, Apostolic Primate of the West,
Administrator of the Syro-Chaldean Metropolitan See of India, Ceylon,
Mylapore, Socotra, and Messina in the Chapel of St. John, Pembridge Castle.
Mar Georgius, I, is George De Willmont Newman, Patriarch of Glastonbury.
Bishop Newman‘s orders were examined by a Roman Catholic panel of scholars
headed by Yves Congar in 1954. They declared that he was ‘Orthodox in faith and
practice and possessed an effective power of orders.’ He consecrated
(conditionally):
Mar Boltwood (The Most Reverend Dr. Charles Boltwood)
April 13, 1952, a Bishop of another catholic communion, in London, England. He
consecrated:
Mar Yokhannan (The Most Reverend John M. Stanley)
May 3, 1959 (conditionally). Bishop of Washington in the pro-Cathedral Church
of St. Andrews, London, England. A year later Mar Boltwood granted Mar
Yokhannan full power and authority to rule an autocephalous church. As
Ecumenical Patriarch, Mar Georgius elevated Mar Yokhannan to Metropolitan of
the United States, on April 10, 1963. On December 4, 1965 he was made
Metropolitan of North America. The church in the United States was first given
the Syro-Chalean Diocese of Washington. Then as part of the North American
Archdiocese, the church used the name Chaldean Church of the East (similar to the
Chaldean-Syrian Church of India. After the death of Wolodymer I, the church
body under the jurisdiction of Mar Yokhannan, having voted at the Holy Synod in
1978, changed their official church name to the Orthodox Church of the East or
O.C.E. He consecrated:
On the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1989, Mar Yokhannan (John M. Stanley), Arch-Bishop Metropolitan of all North America together with The Right Reverend Dr. Lewis A. White, Bishop of Northern Washington, and The Right Reverend Robert W. Burgess, Bishop of Seattle, Washington, Consecrated the Right Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus) in the Church of the Resurrection in Bremerton, Washington, United States of America.
On the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord 1999, Mar Yokhannan; Mar Carolus, Mar Joel Wesley (in abstentia), Bishop Bernard Bismarc consecrated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas.
On The Graduation of the Right Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus), from this present life, October 19, 2002, Mar Yokhannan elevated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas.
On the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord 2005, Mar Yokhannan elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of Arch-Bishop Exarch Plenipontentiary Administrator of the
Continent of Africa and of All of Latin America.
under the jurisdiction of Mar Yokhannan, He consecrated:
together with Mar Joel Wesly ( in absentia ) on June 16th 2008 in the Church of the Valley San Jose California Mar Colum Cille (meaning :Dove of the Church) Bishop of California and Great Britain and Suffragan Bishop to the Diocese of Texas, Latin America and Africa.
· Mar Colum Cille on January 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod as Archbishop Coadjutor to Catholicos Mar Yokhannan
On The retirement of Mar Yokhannan
Mar Colum Cille on June 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod and consecrated and anointed by Emeritus Catholicos Mar Yokhannan as his successor to the office of
Metropolitan and Presiding Bishop
Orthodox Church of the East.
On June 11th 2009 He elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas such Province to include Great Britain and Europe, all the Russias, The Middle and Far East, and the nations of the Pacific Rim.
By decree of the Synod, meeting at Port Orchard on May 18th 2010
Mar Colum Cille was elevated to the office of Exarch.
Greek Orthodox Apostolic Succession
of Mar Greghor Holley
• Bishop Joachime Souris of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of New York and
Archbishop Theodotus of the Syro-Russian Orthodox Church consecrated Bishop
Walter Myron Propheta in 1964, in the Cathedral Church of the Holy
Resurrection.
• Archbishop Theokiltos, Old Calendar Greek Orthodox of Salamis, Greece, and
Archbishop Theodotus (Syro-Russian Orthodox) elevated and consecrated as
Archbishop, Bishop Walter Myron Propheta in 1965, in the Cathedral Church of
the Holy Resurrection.
• Archbishop Bishop Walter Myron Propheta was elected Patriarch by the Holy
Synod of the American Orthodox Catholic Church. He took the name Wolodymer
I, as Patriarch.
• Wolodymer I with Economia consecrated (sub-conditione) on November 18,
1971 in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Resurrection, Mar Yokhannan (the
Most Reverend John Marion Stanley) and appointed him as Exarch
Plenipotentiary.
After the death of Wolodymer I, the church body under the jurisdiction of Mar
Yokhannan, having voted at the Holy Synod in 1978, changed their official church
name to the Orthodox Church of the East or O.C.E.
On the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1989, Mar Yokhannan (John M. Stanley), Arch-Bishop Metropolitan of all North America together with The Right Reverend Dr. Lewis A. White, Bishop of Northern Washington, and The Right Reverend Robert W. Burgess, Bishop of Seattle, Washington, Consecrated the Right Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus) in the Church of the Resurrection in Bremerton, Washington, United States of America.
On the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord 1999, Mar Yokhannan; Mar Carolus, Mar Joel Wesley (in abstentia), Bishop Bernard Bismarc consecrated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas.
On The Graduation of the Right Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus), from this present life, October 19, 2002, Mar Yokhannan elevated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas
On the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord 2005, Mar Yokhannan elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of Arch-Bishop Exarch Plenipontentiary Administrator of the
Continent of Africa and of All of Latin America.
under the jurisdiction of Mar Yokhannan, He consecrated:
together with Mar Joel Wesly ( in absentia ) on June 16th 2008 in the Church of the Valley San Jose California Mar Colum Cille (meaning :Dove of the Church) Bishop of California and Great Britain and Suffragan Bishop to the Diocese of Texas, Latin America and Africa.
· Mar Colum Cille on January 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod as Archbishop Coadjutor to Catholicos Mar Yokhannan
On The retirement of Mar Yokhannan
Mar Colum Cille on June 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod and consecrated and anointed by Emeritus Catholicos Mar Yokhannan as his successor to the office of
Metropolitan and Presiding Bishop
Orthodox Church of the East.
On June 11th 2009 He elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas such Province to include Great Britain and Europe, all the Russias, The Middle and Far East, and the nations of the Pacific Rim.
By decree of the Synod, meeting at Port Orchard on May 18th 2010
Mar Colum Cille was elevated to the office of Exarch.
Russian Orthodox Apostolic Succession
of Mar Greghor Holley
• Archbishop Tikhon of the United States (later Patriarch of the Russian
Orthodox Church) consecrated Bishop Raphael and Archbishop Evdokin (who
succeeded Tikhon as Archbishop for the United States).
• Archbishop Tikhon and Archbishop Evdokin consecrated Archbishop Aftimos
Orfeish and Bishop Zuk (Ukranian Orthodox).
• Archbishop Evdokin and Bishop Zuk consecrated Archbishop Ignatius Nikols
and Bishop Ambrosius(Russian Orthodox).
• Archbishop Ignatius Nikols and Bishop Ambrosius consecratedArchbishop
Theodotus (Syro-Russian).
• Archbishop Theodotus and Archbishop Theokiltos (Old Calendar Greek
Orthodox, Salamis, Greece) consecrated Archbishop Walter Myron Propheta, in
1965.
• Archbishop Walter Myron Propheta was elevated to Patriarch by the Holy
Synod of the American Orthodox Catholic Church, taking the name Wolodymer I.
• Wolodymer I with Economia consecrated (sub-conditione) on November 18,
1971 in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Resurrection, Mar Yokhannan (the
Most Reverend John Marion Stanley)and appointed him as Exarch
Plenipotentiary.
After the death of Wolodymer I, the church body under the jurisdiction of Mar
Yokhannan, having voted at the Holy Synod in 1978, changed their official church
name to the Orthodox Church of the East or O.C.E.
On the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1989, Mar Yokhannan (John M. Stanley), Arch-Bishop Metropolitan of all North America together with The Right Reverend Dr. Lewis A. White, Bishop of Northern Washington, and The Right Reverend Robert W. Burgess, Bishop of Seattle, Washington, Consecrated the Right Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus) in the Church of the Resurrection in Bremerton, Washington, United States of America.
On the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord 1999, Mar Yokhannan; Mar Carolus, Mar Joel Wesley (in abstentia), Bishop Bernard Bismarc consecrated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas. On The Graduation of theRight Reverend Charles Francis Mitchell ( Mar Carolus), from this present life, October 19, 2002, Mar Yokhannan elevated the Right Reverend Gregory Lee Holley (Mar Greghor) as Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas.On the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord 2005, Mar Yokhannan elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of Arch-Bishop Exarch Plenipontentiary Administrator of the Continent of Africa and of All of Latin America.
under the jurisdiction of Mar Yokhannan, He consecrated:
together with Mar Joel Wesly ( in absentia ) on June 16th 2008 in the Church of the Valley San Jose California Mar Colum Cille (meaning :Dove of the Church) Bishop of California and Great Britain and Suffragan Bishop to the Diocese of Texas, Latin America and Africa.
· Mar Colum Cille on January 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod as Archbishop Coadjutor to Catholicos Mar Yokhannan
On The retirement of Mar Yokhannan
Mar Colum Cille on June 11th 2009 in Port Orchard WA. was elected by the Holy Synod and consecrated and anointed by Emeritus Catholicos Mar Yokhannan as his successor to the office of
Metropolitan and Presiding Bishop
Orthodox Church of the East.
On June 11th 2009 He elevated Mar Greghor, Bishop Gregory Lee Holley to the Office of
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Missionary Diocese of Texas such Province to include Great Britain and Europe, all the Russias, The Middle and Far East, and the nations of the Pacific Rim.
By decree of the Synod, meeting at Port Orchard on May 18th 2010
Mar Colum Cille was elevated to the office of Exarch.
