Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa | |
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Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria[1] Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul[2] Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians[3] | |
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Church | Church of the East/Chaldean Catholic Church |
See | Amid of the Chaldeans |
Installed | 28 April 1553 |
Term ended | January 1555 |
Successor | Abdisho IV Maron |
Personal details | |
Born | Yohannan Sulaqa Circa 1510 |
Died | January 1555 Amadiya |
Residence | Amid, Ottoman Empire (now Diyarbakır, Turkey) |
Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa (Classical Syriac: ܫܡܥܘܢ ܬܡܝܢܝܐ ܝܘܚܢܢ ܣܘܠܩܐ; Latin: Simeon Sulacha; also Yohannan d'Bēth Bello (Syriac: ܝܘܚܢܢ ܕܒܝܬ ܒܠܘ), John Soulaqa, Sulaka or Sulacha; circa 1510–1555) was the first Patriarch of what was to become the Shemʿon line of Chaldean Catholic Church, from 1553 to 1555, after it absorbed this Church of the East patriarchate into full communion with the Holy See and the Catholic Church.[4]
Yohannan Sulaqa's ascension as Patriarch was part of the 1552 schism in the Church of the East which resulted in the establishment of rival patriarchates and ultimately a permanent rift in the Church of the East. He was elected by those who opposed the hereditary patriarchal succession within the Eliya family, and he took an unprecedented step in the Church of the East: he traveled to Rome, accepted the Catholic creed and was consecrated as Patriarch in 1553, after at first failing in an attempt to join the Syriac Orthodox Church.[5][6] [dubious – discuss]His reign did not last long though. Upon his return, due to strong opposition by the opposing Patriarch, Sulaqa was imprisoned by the Ottoman leader of Amadiya, tortured, and executed in January 1555.[7] He is considered a martyr of the Catholic Church.[8]