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By La Croix International staff‏ |‏June 14, 2023‎

Mar Georges III Younan is the new patriarch of the church, an Eastern Christian denomination of the Eastern Syriac tradition, headquartered in Baghdad

Mar Georges III Younan, who was born in Iraq but lived his entire life in the United States, has been elected patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East. The Church is an Eastern Christian denomination of the Eastern Syriac tradition, headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq. 

Mar Georges III Younan has appointed Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, in a ceremony held at Holy Mary Cathedral in Baghdad on June 9. 

The Ancient Church of the East is one of several Assyrian churches that claim continuity with the historical Church of the East (the ancient Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon) and draws on the heritage of the first ancient Church of the East, the one that brought Christianity to Persia, India and China. The Church of the East is now divided into three Syriac churches: the Chaldean Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East. 

Cardinal Louis Sako, head of the Chaldean Church, the branch of the Church of the East in communion with Rome, visited Mar Younan following his appointment, and wished him a "fruitful" period in office.

Mar Georges III Younan succeeds Thoma Darmo (1968–1969) and Addai II Giwargis (1972–2022).

"The appointment of a young and educated Patriarch like Mar Younan, is a positive development for the church and its followers," Mar Shomun Daniel, Bishop of the Ancient Church of Iraq and the Middle East, told SBS Assyrian. Mar Younan has obtained his master's degree from the University of Liola in Chicago.

According to Bishop Daniel, "The inauguration of Mar Younan is an essential event for the Ancient Church of the East, which has a long history in Iraq dating back to the early centuries of Christianity," Bishop Daniel said, and expressing the hope that his leadership will bring renewed energy and vision to the Ancient Church of the East as it navigates the challenges of the modern world while staying true to its ancient traditions and heritage.

One of the oldest continuously existing Christian groups in the world, Christians in Iraq have recently encountered many difficulties, including persecution and terrorism. Church leaders have issued a warning that unless things change, their communities might disappear.

The Ancient Church of the East is a small but not insignificant ecclesial group of about 70,000 baptized. It has metropolitans and parishes in North America, Europe, Australia.

The schism that led to the formation of the Ancient Church of the East took place in 1964 in opposition to reforms introduced in the Assyrian Church of the East using the new Roman liturgical calendar rather than the traditional calendar.

The Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East have never had direct dogmatic conflicts with the Bishop of Rome. Official theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East began in 1984 and resulted in the Common Christological Declaration of 1994, which confesses the common faith in Christ fully shared between Catholics and Assyrian Christians.