CHICAGO, USA – Mar Dinkha IV, the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East who died last month, will be celebrated at a funeral memorial in Chicago today. He was born September 15, 1935 in the village of Darbandok in the Harir district of the Kurdistan Region, and was one of the World’s most respected religious figures who maintained a strong relationship with the Kurdistan Presidency. He died on March 26 at age 80, and his funeral will be held Wednesday at the St. George Church in Chicago. Throughout his life the late patriarch met many Kurdish leaders, including Mullah Mustafa Barzani, former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani and current Kurdish President Massoud Barzani. Mar Dinkha IV played a vital role in constructing Christian villages which were destroyed by the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. The Assyrian holy man was nominated patriarch on October 17, 1976, serving 39 years in that post. He was known as a warm and fatherly figure and a role model for his millions of followers, who span from the United States to China and India. He was nominated as priest and later appointed to the ministry in Urumiyeh in Iran on July 15, 1957. He was the only figure among the Assyrians of the region to reach such a senior position in the Christian world. Under his eye, efforts were made to harmonize relationships between his Church of the East and the Vatican. He met Pope John Paul II for the first time in 1978. Rudaw TV will broadcast the funeral ceremony live at 6 pm Erbil time.
