Thoma Darmo

His HolinessMar Thoma II Darmo
Catholicos Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East
His Holiness Mar Thoma II Darmo
Church	Ancient Church of the Eastܥܕܬܐ ܥܬܝܩܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ
See	Apostolic SeeofSeleucia-Ctesiphon
Installed	11 October 1968
Term ended	7 September 1969
Successor	Mar Addai II
Orders
Ordination	11 October 1968 atSt. Zaia Cathedral(Baghdad,Iraq)
Rank	Catholicos-Patriarch
Personal details
Born	Mansour Darmo 21 September 1904 Iyel,Ottoman Empire
Died	September 7, 1969(1969-09-07)(aged 64) Baghdad,Iraq
Denomination	Ancient Church of the East
Parents	Elishai Darmo (father) and Shirine Darmo (mother)
Occupation	Clergy
Previous post(s)	Metropolitan ofIndia (June 1952 – October 1968)

Thoma Darmo(b. 21 September 1904 inIyel,Ottoman Empire– d. inBaghdad,Iraqon 7 September 1969) was theCatholicos-Patriarchof theAncient Church of the East,from 1968 to 1969. Prior to that, he served as Metropolitan ofIndia,from 1952 to 1964, within theChurch of the East.

Church of the East

Main article:Church of the East

Thoma Darmo was born asMansour Darmo,son of Elisha and Shirine. He spent his childhood inTurkeyand from 1919 in Iraq, becoming an ordained clergyman in 1921. He continued to serve in Iraq for 15 years. Then he moved to Syria where he served from 1936 to 1952.

In June 1952, he was assigned asMetropolitanofIndia,based atTrichur(Kerala), and thus became one of senior hierarchs of theChurch of the East.He built a number of churches and established a number of new dioceses in India, encouraged the preparation of new clergy and established the Mar Narsai Press. In January 1964, he was suspended from the metropolitan office by PatriarchShimun XXI Eshai.

Ancient Church of the East

Main article:Ancient Church of the East

Subsequently, after three years of the seat of theAncient Church of the Eastremaining vacant (1964–1967), Mar Thoma Darmo was elected asCatholicos-Patriarchin October 1968.

He relocated theAncient Church of the Eastto Baghdad where the church is headquartered. He died the following year on 7 September 1969.He was succeeded in 1970 byCatholicos-PatriarchMar Addai II.

Aftermath

In 1995, under new PatriarchDinkha IVof the rivalAssyrian Church of the East,reconciliation between fractions in India was achieved, and on that occasion the validity of ordinations performed by Thoma Darmo after the suspension of 1964 was recognized, and in 1997 the suspension itself was annulled by the Holy Synod of the Assyrian Church of the East.

Sources

• Baum, Wilhelm;Winkler, Dietmar W. (2003).The Church of the East: A Concise History.London-New York: Routledge-Curzon.
• Baumer, Christoph (2006).The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity.London-New York: Tauris.
• Mooken, Aprem(1974).Mar Thoma Darmo: A Biography.Trichur: Mar Narsai Press.
• Mooken, Aprem(2003).The History of the Assyrian Church of the East in the Twentieth Century.Kottayam: St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute.
• Mooken, Aprem(2004).Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV: The Man and His Message.Trichur: Mar Narsai Press.
• Hage, Wolfgang (2007).Das orientalische Christentum.Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag.
• Coakley, James F. (1996)."The Church of the East since 1914"(PDF).Bulletin of the John Rylands Library.78(3): 179–198.

External links

• Coakley, James F (2018)."Darmo, Toma".Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage.Beth Mardutho.Archivedfrom the original on 2020-05-25.Retrieved2020-05-25.