09/09/2021

Archbishop Mar Awa Royel elected as the new Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East

ANKAWA, Iraq — On the third day of its meeting in Ankawa, the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East announced the election of His Grace Mar Awa Royel, Archbishop of California, as the new Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East after a nearly unanimous vote.

Mar Awa Royel becomes the 122nd Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, succeeding Mar Gewargis III Sliwa who stepped down last year for health reasons and who served the church for the past six years.

The ordination of the new Patriarch is scheduled to take place on the coming Feast of the Holy Cross, 13 September, in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Ankawa in the presence of the church priests, representatives of the various Churches, and the Iraqi government.

The newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch, whose secular name is David Royel, was born in Chicago, U.S., in 1975 to Goresh and Florence Royal. Mar Awa Royel is an Assyrian U.S. citizen and began his involvement in the Assyrian Church of the East at the age of 16.

In 2008, he was elevated to Archbishop of California by the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East Mar Dinkha IV, taking the name of Mar Awa Royel — Awa in the Eastern Syriac dialect meaning Father.

Since 2015, Mar Awa Royel held the position of Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East.

He received a BA from Loyola University in Chicago in 1997 and a BA in Sacred Theology from St. Mary of the Lake University in 1999.

He later earned his Ph.D. in Sacred Theology from Pontifical Eastern University in Rome.