AKRA OF THE CHALDEANS. — Archdiocese of the Syro-Chaldean rite in Kurdistan, whose origin is unknown, with its see in A., the chief town of a *caza*, with 4,700 inhabitants, in the region of Mosul. In 1630 a Nestorian diocese of this name already existed, to which the name of Lubar was sometimes added, another chief town of the same region. At the beginning of the 19th century the archdiocese of A. appears to have been united with the dioceses of Amadia and Zagu; but in 1850 it had become independent again. Provisionally it was again united with Amadia on 23 April 1895, until Pius X separated it on 23 April 1910, entrusting it temporarily to the Chaldean patriarchate of Babylon. According to the latest statistics, the diocese has 2,779 Catholics distributed in 13 parishes. The dissident Nestorians number 2,157.
AKRA DEI CALDEI
BIBL.: J.-B. Chabot, *Etat religieux des dioceses formant le patriarcat chaldéen de Babylone*, in *Revue de l'Orient chrétien*, 1 (1896), pp. 449 ff.; S. Vailhé, *Amadia*, in DHG. II, cols. 918–919; S. Katcho, *Statistiques des cathol. de rite chaldéen du patriarcat de Babylone*, in *Orientalia Chr. Periodica*, 4 (1938), p. 273.
Alberto Galieti