14 Facts About Dinkha IV

Dinkha IV was born in the village of Darbandokeh, Iraq, and led the Church in exile in Chicago for most of his life.

Dinkha IV was the fourth in the line of succession to the Bishopric of Urmia.

In 1962, Mar Dinkha IV moved from northern Iraq to Tehran.

Mar Dinkha IV died on 26 March 2015 in Rochester, Minnesota.

Dinkha IV was consecrated on 17 October 1976, in the West London Church of St Barnabas, Ealing.

Dinkha IV announced that the hereditary line of succession for the Patriarchy which had existed for 500 years was discontinued with his tenure, allowing any cleric from the Church of the East to be elevated to Catholicos-Patriarch.

On 15 July 2007, Mar Dinkha IV celebrated 50 years of his priesthood.

Dinkha IV made ecumenism a priority during his reign, as well as advocacy for the Assyrian people.

Dinkha IV promoted closer relations with the Catholic Church, both with the Vatican and the Chaldean Catholic Church; he first met Pope John Paul II immediately after the Pope's election in 1978 and made his first visit to the Vatican in 1984.

The Church of the East has been a member of the World Council of Churches since its 1948 inception and Dinkha IV used this membership as a vehicle for bi- and multi-lateral ecumenism that would have been impossible prior to its inception.

In 1999, Dinkha IV declared that all ordinations and orders from the Ancient Church were valid.

In September 2006, Mar Dinkha IV paid a historic visit to northern Iraq to give oversight to the churches there and to encourage the president of Iraqi Kurdistan to open a Christian school in Erbil.

Dinkha IV pursued a pragmatic political course, calling on Assyrians to work together with their respective governments.

Dinkha IV sought to de-politicize the office of Catholicos-Patriarch and expanded the church's outreach to the youth by including non-Syriac liturgies composed in local languages.