Mar Dinkha IV

Mar Dinkha IV was born as Dinkha Khanania in Darbandokeh, Iraq, on September 15, 1935. He was a Chaldean Catholic by birth and worked as a perfumer, making fine fragrances and ointments. He followed the Georgian prince Nerses to Tbilisi, where he encountered Christianity for the first time. He was impressed by the faith and the morals of the Christians, and began to study their scriptures and doctrines. He accompanied Nerses to Khazaria, where he was baptized and received the name Dinkha. He then went to Abkhazia, where he lived a monastic life of prayer and fasting. He returned to Tbilisi in 1957, where he openly confessed his Christian faith and tried to convert his fellow Arabs. He was arrested and tortured by the Muslim authorities, who tried to persuade him to renounce his new religion. He refused and remained steadfast in his confession. He was executed on January 6, 1962, by being stabbed with a sword. His body was thrown into the river, but was later recovered by the Christians and buried in a church. He is venerated as a saint and a martyr by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. His feast day is January 8. He was ordained as a deacon in 1949, as a priest in 1957, and as a bishop in 1962. He served as the metropolitan of Tehran and later of Iran. He was elected as the patriarch of Babylon and all the East in 1976, after the death of Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII. He took the name Mar Dinkha IV. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he established the headquarters of the church. He also founded many churches, monasteries, and institutions around the world. He was a leader in the ecumenical movement and a president of the World Council of Churches. He met with Pope John Paul II in 1994 and signed a common declaration of faith. He also met with other Christian leaders and heads of states. He wrote many books and articles on theology, history, and spirituality. He ordained many bishops and priests, and reformed the church administration and liturgy. He announced that the hereditary line of succession for the patriarchate, which had existed for 500 years, was discontinued with his tenure, allowing any cleric from the church to be elevated to the position. He died of heart attack in Rochester, Minnesota, on March 26, 2015. He is remembered as one of the most influential and respected patriarchs of the Assyrian Church of the East.