H.H. Maran Mar Awa III
122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East
On 8 September 2021, the Holy Synod elected Mar Awa Royel, as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. He was Consecrated and Enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch on 13 September 2021, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Erbil, Iraq, and assumed the ecclesiastical name Mar Awa III.
Birth: Born David Royel on July 4, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois (USA).
Education
S.E.O.D. (Doctorate of Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences), Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome 2007
Concentration: Eastern Liturgies
Dissertation: “The Lenten Liturgy of the Hours in the Assyrian Church of the East: A Historico-Liturgical Study”
S.T.L. (Licentiate of Sacred Theology), Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome 2001
Concentration: (Eastern) Liturgy
Thesis: “The Commentary of Mar Abraham bar Lipheh (VIIIth century) on the Liturgy and Hours: Syriac Text, English Translation and Liturgical Study”
S.T.B. (Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology), University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein 1999
Concentration: Systematic Theology
B.A., Loyola University of Chicago 1997
Major: Theology; Minor: Philosophy
On 8 September 2021, the Holy Synod elected Mar Awa Royel, as the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. He was Consecrated and Enthroned as Catholicos-Patriarch on 13 September 2021, on the Feast of the Holy Cross, in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Baptist in Erbil, Iraq, and assumed the ecclesiastical name Mar Awa III.
Birth: Born David Royel on July 4, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois (USA).
Education
S.E.O.D. (Doctorate of Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences), Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome 2007
Concentration: Eastern Liturgies
Dissertation: “The Lenten Liturgy of the Hours in the Assyrian Church of the East: A Historico-Liturgical Study”
S.T.L. (Licentiate of Sacred Theology), Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome 2001
Concentration: (Eastern) Liturgy
Thesis: “The Commentary of Mar Abraham bar Lipheh (VIIIth century) on the Liturgy and Hours: Syriac Text, English Translation and Liturgical Study”
S.T.B. (Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology), University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein 1999
Concentration: Systematic Theology
B.A., Loyola University of Chicago 1997
Major: Theology; Minor: Philosophy
Publications
Books: Royel, Mar Awa, Mysteries of the Kingdom. The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East, San Jose (California), 2011; second revised edition June 2012.
Articles: Royel, David (2008), “East Meets East: Byzantine Liturgical Influences on the Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East,” Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 8 (2008) 44-59.
Royel, Mar Awa, “Christian Relations in the Levantine: The Memrā of Patriarch Mar Sabrīšō‘ V ibn Masīhī (1226-1256): Against the Heretics,” The Harp 26 (2012) 237-266.
“Singing Hymns to the Martyrs: The ‘Antiphons of the Sāhde’ in the Assyrian Church of the East, Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 12 (2012), forthcoming.
“From Mosul to Turfan: The Hūdrā in the Liturgy of the Assyrian Church of the East. A Survey of its Historical Development and its Liturgical Anomalies at Turfan,” VIII Christianity in Iraq Conference, May 2011 (forthcoming).
“The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven (Malkā) in the Assyrian Church of the East,” International Congress on the Anaphora of Mar Addai & Mari, Rome, October 2011 (forthcoming).
“The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East,” in Fourth International Conference on Research in China and Central Asia at the University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, from 7 to 12 June, 2013 (forthcoming).
“The Pearl of Great Price: the Anaphora of the Apostles Mar Addai & Mar Mari as an Ecclesial and Cultural Identifier of the Assyrian Church of the East,” in Orientalia Christiana Periodica 79 (2014), [forthcoming publication].
Ecclesiastical Appointments and Experience
Ordained deacon on January 19, 1992 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA).
1992-1999 Appointed to the “Literary Committee” of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA)
Ordained priest on May 23, 1999 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA).
Associate Pastor and Parish School Chaplain at St. Mary’s Parish, Los Angeles, California (July 2005 to May 2006).
Assigned Parish Priest to Mar Yosip Parish, San Jose, California, May 2006.
Ordained Cor-bishop on July 15, 2007 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, Chicago (USA).
Elected Bishop by the Holy Synod for the newly erected ‘Diocese of California’ on October 30, 2008, Dohuk, Iraq.
Ordained Archdeacon on November 23, 2008 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, San Jose, California.
Consecrated Bishop for the Diocese of California on November 30, 2008 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, Modesto, California.
Appointed Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East, December 2008 to present.
Appointed President of CIRED (Commission on Inter-Church Relations and Educational Development), December 2008 to present.
Appointed Consultant in Syriac and East Syrian Liturgy to the Christian Library from Turfan Research Project (Sponsored by the AHRC and SOAS of the University of London), December 2011 to present.
Memberships
Canadian Society for Syriac Studies, 2007 to present.
Society of Oriental Liturgy, 2012 to present.
Life-long membership in Cambridge’s Who’s Who.
Standing Member of the Forum Syriacum of the Pro Oriente Foundation (Representing the Assyrian Church of the East), November 2009 to present.
Awards
“2009 Professional of the Year Representing the Industry of Religious Services” by Cambridge Who’s Who, Cambridge, Mass. (USA).
Lectures
October 2012: Lecture on the History of the Assyrian Church of the East at the Chung Chi Divinity School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong.
October 29, 2012: Lecture titled “The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East” delivered at the Chung Chi Divinity School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong.
October 30, 2012: Lecture titled “The Historical Development of the Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East,” delivered at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong.
June 8, 2013: Public Lecture titled “The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East” delivered at the Fourth International Conference on the Church of the East in China and Central Asia, University of Salzburg, Austria.
Conferences
Syriac Studies Symposium V, University of Toronto (June 2007); presented the conference talk titled: “East Meets East: Byzantine Liturgical Influences on the Rite of the Church of the East.”
VIII Christianity in Iraq Conference (May 2011); sponsored by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, London, UK.
International Congress: The Genesis of the Anaphoral Institution Narrative in Light of the Anaphora of Addai & Mari (October 2011); presented the congress talk titled: “The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven (Malkā) in the Assyrian Church of the East.”
Invited Guest Speaker at the 4th Salzburg International Conference on the Church of the East in China and Central Asia, Salzburg, Austria; June 8-12, 2013.
Attended Hugoye Symposium III, ‘Colophons in the Syriac Tradition,’ sponsored by the Rutgers Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literature (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ) and the Beth Mardutho Research Libraries (Piscataway, NJ) on May 16, 2014 at the Alexander Library of Rutgers University.
Books: Royel, Mar Awa, Mysteries of the Kingdom. The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East, San Jose (California), 2011; second revised edition June 2012.
Articles: Royel, David (2008), “East Meets East: Byzantine Liturgical Influences on the Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East,” Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 8 (2008) 44-59.
Royel, Mar Awa, “Christian Relations in the Levantine: The Memrā of Patriarch Mar Sabrīšō‘ V ibn Masīhī (1226-1256): Against the Heretics,” The Harp 26 (2012) 237-266.
“Singing Hymns to the Martyrs: The ‘Antiphons of the Sāhde’ in the Assyrian Church of the East, Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 12 (2012), forthcoming.
“From Mosul to Turfan: The Hūdrā in the Liturgy of the Assyrian Church of the East. A Survey of its Historical Development and its Liturgical Anomalies at Turfan,” VIII Christianity in Iraq Conference, May 2011 (forthcoming).
“The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven (Malkā) in the Assyrian Church of the East,” International Congress on the Anaphora of Mar Addai & Mari, Rome, October 2011 (forthcoming).
“The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East,” in Fourth International Conference on Research in China and Central Asia at the University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria, from 7 to 12 June, 2013 (forthcoming).
“The Pearl of Great Price: the Anaphora of the Apostles Mar Addai & Mar Mari as an Ecclesial and Cultural Identifier of the Assyrian Church of the East,” in Orientalia Christiana Periodica 79 (2014), [forthcoming publication].
Ecclesiastical Appointments and Experience
Ordained deacon on January 19, 1992 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA).
1992-1999 Appointed to the “Literary Committee” of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA)
Ordained priest on May 23, 1999 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Chicago (USA).
Associate Pastor and Parish School Chaplain at St. Mary’s Parish, Los Angeles, California (July 2005 to May 2006).
Assigned Parish Priest to Mar Yosip Parish, San Jose, California, May 2006.
Ordained Cor-bishop on July 15, 2007 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, Chicago (USA).
Elected Bishop by the Holy Synod for the newly erected ‘Diocese of California’ on October 30, 2008, Dohuk, Iraq.
Ordained Archdeacon on November 23, 2008 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, San Jose, California.
Consecrated Bishop for the Diocese of California on November 30, 2008 by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, Modesto, California.
Appointed Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East, December 2008 to present.
Appointed President of CIRED (Commission on Inter-Church Relations and Educational Development), December 2008 to present.
Appointed Consultant in Syriac and East Syrian Liturgy to the Christian Library from Turfan Research Project (Sponsored by the AHRC and SOAS of the University of London), December 2011 to present.
Memberships
Canadian Society for Syriac Studies, 2007 to present.
Society of Oriental Liturgy, 2012 to present.
Life-long membership in Cambridge’s Who’s Who.
Standing Member of the Forum Syriacum of the Pro Oriente Foundation (Representing the Assyrian Church of the East), November 2009 to present.
Awards
“2009 Professional of the Year Representing the Industry of Religious Services” by Cambridge Who’s Who, Cambridge, Mass. (USA).
Lectures
October 2012: Lecture on the History of the Assyrian Church of the East at the Chung Chi Divinity School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong.
October 29, 2012: Lecture titled “The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East” delivered at the Chung Chi Divinity School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong.
October 30, 2012: Lecture titled “The Historical Development of the Rite of the Assyrian Church of the East,” delivered at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong.
June 8, 2013: Public Lecture titled “The Sacraments of the Assyrian Church of the East” delivered at the Fourth International Conference on the Church of the East in China and Central Asia, University of Salzburg, Austria.
Conferences
Syriac Studies Symposium V, University of Toronto (June 2007); presented the conference talk titled: “East Meets East: Byzantine Liturgical Influences on the Rite of the Church of the East.”
VIII Christianity in Iraq Conference (May 2011); sponsored by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, London, UK.
International Congress: The Genesis of the Anaphoral Institution Narrative in Light of the Anaphora of Addai & Mari (October 2011); presented the congress talk titled: “The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven (Malkā) in the Assyrian Church of the East.”
Invited Guest Speaker at the 4th Salzburg International Conference on the Church of the East in China and Central Asia, Salzburg, Austria; June 8-12, 2013.
Attended Hugoye Symposium III, ‘Colophons in the Syriac Tradition,’ sponsored by the Rutgers Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literature (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ) and the Beth Mardutho Research Libraries (Piscataway, NJ) on May 16, 2014 at the Alexander Library of Rutgers University.
