![]() Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East | |
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Abbreviation | ACOE |
Classification | Eastern Christian |
Orientation | Syriac Christian |
Theology | East Syriac theology |
Catholicos-Patriarch | Mar Awa III[1] |
Region | Central Middle East, India; diaspora |
Language | Syriac,[2] Aramaic |
Liturgy | East Syriac Rite |
Headquarters | Ankawa, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq |
Absorbed | Chaldean Syrian Church (1907) |
Separations | Chaldean Catholic Church (1830), Ancient Church of the East (1968) |
Members | 400,000+ (2021)[3] |
Official website | Official website |
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The Assyrian Church of the East[a] (ACOE), sometimes called the Church of the East[5][6] and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,[5][7][b] is an Eastern Christian church that follows the traditional Christology and ecclesiology of the historical Church of the East.[9] It belongs to the eastern branch of Syriac Christianity, and employs the Divine Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari belonging to the East Syriac Rite. Its main liturgical language is Classical Syriac, a dialect of Eastern Aramaic. Officially known as the Church of the East until 1976, it was then renamed the Assyrian Church of the East,[10][11] with its patriarchate remaining hereditary until the death of Shimun XXI Eshai in 1975.
The Assyrian Church of the East is officially headquartered in the city of Erbil, in northern Iraq; its original area encompassed Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran, corresponding roughly to ancient Assyria. The current Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III, was consecrated in September 2021.
The Assyrian Church of the East claims continuity with the historical Church of the East, and is not in communion with the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox churches. The faction of the original Church of the East that came into full communion with the Holy See between the 16th and 19th centuries is the Chaldean Catholic Church, whose members are mostly ethnic Assyrians. After the Common Christological Declaration in 1994 between the Church of the East and the Catholic Church, and a 2001 theological dialogue between the churches, they drew up guidelines for the faithful to have mutual admission to the Eucharist between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East.[12]
The Assyrian Church of the East has a traditional episcopal structure, headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch. Its hierarchy is composed of metropolitan bishops and diocesan bishops, while lower clergy consists of priests and deacons, who serve in dioceses (eparchies) and parishes throughout the Western Asia, India, North America, Oceania, and Europe (including the Caucasus and Russia).[13]
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