IRAQ: Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa Royel ordained in Ankawa as 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East

ANKAWA, Iraq — In light of the Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Gewargis Sliwa stepping down due to health issues, the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East had taken a decision to appoint a new Catholicos-Patriarch.

On Monday, the Feast of the Cross, the new Catholicos-Patriarch, Mar Awa Royel, was ordinated in the Church of St. John the Baptist in Ankawa, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

The ceremonies were held under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Australia and Lebanon, Mar Zia. SuroyoTV covered the ceremonies live.

The ordination, which began when the Metropolitans entered the church, was attended by representatives of different Churches of our Chaldean–Syriac–Assyrian people, including Mar Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf.

President of the KRI Nechirvan Barzani, along with the Minister of Transport and Communication Ano Jawhar Abdulmaseeh Abdoka, attended the ordination, in addition to several other KRI officials and representatives. Representatives from the federal government in Baghdad were also present.

Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa Royel was born in Chicago, U.S.A., in 1975. He was chosen by the Holy Synod to be the 122nd Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.

After his ordination, crowds of believers received the Catholicos-Patriarch, rejoicing and singing hymns.