CHALDEANS. — This is the name given, from the region of ancient Chaldea where they dwell, to the Catholic Syrians converted from Nestorianism.
The first union occurred around the middle of the 16th century. The occasion was a dispute over the election of the patriarch. Indeed, among the Nestorians the patriarchal dignity had become hereditary since 1450. Now, at the death of Patriarch Simon VII Bar Māmā (1551), his nephew Simon VIII Denḥā’s opponents elected the superior of the Rabban Hormizd monastery near Alqosh, John Sulāqā. He sought protection from the Custodian of the Holy Land, who sent him to Rome, where in 1552 he entered the Catholic Church and was recognized as patriarch by the Holy See. Returning to his homeland, he chose Diyarbakir as his residence. He died in 1555, a martyr to the union.
One of his successors transferred his residence to Persia, near Salmas, thirty years later. Relations with Rome grew increasingly cold until Simon XIII Denḥā (1662–1700) completely abandoned the union and settled in Qotchanes in the mountains of Kurdistan. Yet not all Catholics apostatized. In Diyarbakir a strong nucleus of Catholics remained, effectively supported by the Capuchins. The bishop of that city, Joseph, became Catholic in 1672 and in 1681 received from Rome the title of patriarch. He succeeded in having himself recognized by the Turkish government as independent of the Nestorian patriarch. The Catholics of the patriarch of Diyarbakir gained many adherents even in the region of Mosul. The Nestorian faction that had remained in the 16th century found its way back toward the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries. From the fusion of these Catholics with those of Diyarbakir, despite grave difficulties, the present Chaldean Catholic patriarchate was formed.
The Nestorian successors of Patriarch Simon VII Bar Māmā resided in the Rabban Hormizd monastery near Alqosh in the region of Mosul. They all took the name Elia. Several attempts at union were made, but they remained fruitless until the end of the 18th century. Finally, Elia XI signed a profession of Catholic faith in 1771. He then designated as his successor his nephew John Hormez (1760) and consecrated him bishop at the age of sixteen. After the death of Elia XI (1778), he became Catholic and, after the death of a rival, was elected patriarch. The Holy See did not recognize his election; however, in 1783 it confirmed him as archbishop of Mosul and administrator of the patriarch of Babylon. The Latin missionaries hoped to convert all the Nestorians under his jurisdiction with his help. Yet a bitter and varied struggle arose and lasted for decades between the long-standing Catholics of Diyarbakir and the newly converted John Hormez, who in 1834 was recognized by Rome as the sole patriarch of all Catholics. With him begins the series of Chaldean Catholic patriarchs of Babylon, which continues to this day.
This disagreeable contention had been fueled not only by suspicions regarding the sincerity of John Hormez but also by personal rivalries and the hostility toward the Abuna family to which John belonged. Rome decided to put an end to the discord by suppressing one of the patriarchates, namely that of Diyarbakir. To this end, it appointed in 1791 John Hormez administrator of that patriarchate after the resignation of Patriarch Joseph IV (1780). But soon, because of strong opposition from the Catholics of Diyarbakir against John, Joseph IV was elected as administrator of the patriarch (1792). Upon his death in 1796, Augustine Hindi succeeded him in the role of administrator, appointed in 1802. The opponents of John Hormez had accused him of various offenses, not all unfounded, both before the Holy See and the Turkish government, succeeding in having him imprisoned for a time. Under the weight of these accusations, the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide appointed in 1811 Augustine Hindi as apostolic delegate for all Chaldeans and suspended John Hormez the following year. This suspension was confirmed in 1818, while in that same year Augustine Hindi received the pallium, which he interpreted as a nomination to the patriarchate, taking the name Joseph V. He died in 1827. With him ends the series of patriarchs of Diyarbakir.
John Hormez did not abandon his cause. He found strong support in the Latin bishop of Baghdad, Msgr. Alexander Coupérie. Among John’s opponents, one must first mention the monks of the Congregation of St. Hormizd, founded in 1808 by Gabriel Danbo. John Hormez, at the insistence of Msgr. Coupérie, was absolved from suspension in 1826. It was decided that he would retain the title of patriarch but would renounce the offices of archbishop of Mosul and administrator of the patriarch. However, he did not submit to these conditions. Finally, the successor of Msgr. Coupérie (d. 1831), Lorenzo Trioche, obtained in 1834 the appointment of John Hormez as patriarch of Babylon. John died in 1838.
The Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Babylon resides in Mosul. His jurisdiction extends over all Chaldeans of the Near East. The great majority of these live in Iraq, where there are six dioceses with 100,620 faithful, 11 priests, and 83 churches in total. In Iran there are three dioceses with 11,482 faithful, 19 priests, and two churches. In Asiatic Turkey the four dioceses once existing there are now destroyed. There remain 6,465 faithful, 4 priests, and two churches. In Syria, for some time now, there has been the diocese of Gezirah with 3,107 faithful, 11 priests, and two churches. Outside these dioceses there are still missions in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine with a total of 9,177 faithful, 14 priests, and 8 churches. Scattered throughout the world, especially in America, there are 9,889 faithful and 4 priests. The total number of Chaldeans is 140,720 faithful and 163 priests; the number of churches is 98 (cf. statistics from 1937, in *Orientalia christiana periodica*, 4 [1938], pp. 272–74). Monasticism is almost exclusively represented by the aforementioned Congregation of St. Hormizd.
The Chaldeans lack a noteworthy literature. Recently, however, Bedjan (v.) has distinguished himself.
Guglielmo De Vries
THE CHALDEAN RITE. — Also called Nestorian, Persian, or Syro-Oriental, it originated in Mesopotamia, incorporated into the Persian Empire, and spread southward to Malabar and eastward into Central Asia and China (for liturgical fragments found, cf. A. Baumstark, *Die christl. literarischen Turfan-Funde*, in *Or. christ.*, new series, 3 [1913], pp. 328–332; id., *Neue sogdisch-nestorianische Bruchstücke*, ibid., 4 [1915], pp. 123–28; N. Pigoulevsky, *Fragments syriaques et syro-turcs de Hara-Hoto et du Tourfan*, *Revue Or. Chretien*, 30 [1935–36], pp. 3–46). Today the rite exists among the Nestorians of Kurdistan, among
### CALDEANS
Catholic Chaldeans are found in Iraq and Persia, and among the Malabarese. For the particulars of this last rite, V. MALABARESE, RITO.
Of the ancient Chaldean rite, prior to the 5th century, which probably originated, at least in part, from the city of Edessa, it is impossible to form an idea due to an almost complete lack of information and documents. This rite was partially abandoned or reformed at the Synod of Seleucia (410) following the example of the “Western” Fathers, that is, those of Osrhoene and northern Syria, and this is the reason why the most important sources of the new rite also include the Catecheses of Theodore of Mopsuestia. To these are added the Homilies of Narses of Nisibis, who also composed hymns for liturgical feasts, and the decisions of various synods of the Nestorian Church. The greatest organizer of the rite was the Catholicos Išōʿjahb III (647–657), who regulated the pre-anaphoral part of the Mass, prescribed the use of only three anaphoras (of the Apostles, of Nestorius, and of Theodore of Mopsuestia), excluding all others, removed the exorcisms from the baptismal rite, shortened the ordination ceremonies, and compiled the choir book called Hudrā. After him, the ceremonies underwent few changes, at least according to the liturgical commentaries of Abraham bar Līpeh, the anonymous author of the 9th century, Išōʿbar Nūn, Timothy I, Jōḥannān Zōʿbī, ʿAbdīšōʿ, Timothy II, and the casuists in their Questions and Answers (cf. W. C. van Unnik, *Nestorian Questions on the Administration of the Eucharist*, Haarlem 1937). The texts, however, were able to renew themselves, and liturgical poetry was enriched until the 17th century (cf. A. Baumstark, *Geschichte der syrischen Literatur*, Bonn 1922). But the definitive and unifying redaction of the liturgical books still in use today is due to the work of the “Upper Monastery” of Mosul (cf. A. Rücker, *Das Obere Kloster bei Mossul und seine Bedeutung für die Geschichte der ostsyrischen Liturgie*, in *Oriens Christianus*, 3rd ser., 7 [1932], pp. 180–87).
After the 13th century, the liturgy followed the profound decline of the Nestorian Church; the faithful who united with the Catholic Church in the 16th century and then at the end of the 18th preserved their rite with sufficient purity. What is most striking about the Chaldean rite is the ancient structure of its ceremonies, by which it constitutes a truly distinct rite among the Eastern rites, different even from the West Syrian rite with which it shares the Syriac language and the poetic heritage of St. Ephrem. This antiquity and separateness are due to the geographical and political position (Mesopotamia lay outside the Roman and Byzantine world) and to the fundamental dogma of the Nestorian Church, which separated it from both the Orthodox and the Monophysites.
### The Mass
After the usual beginning, the psalmody begins, which, together with the opening of the sanctuary, the chant called *Lakū Mārā*, and the incensation of the church, constitutes the preparatory rites; Catholics add the preparation of the oblata. The instructional part of the Mass opens with the Trisagion; there are four readings: the first from the Law, the second from the Prophets, the third the Epistle, and the fourth the Gospel; each reading has its own deacon’s announcement, introductory prayer, and the Gospel also has incensation. The *Kārāzūlā*, a kind of litany that continues the great prayer for common needs, attested already by St. Justin, has remained only on certain days of Lent, but daily the accompanying prayer is recited.
To conclude the Mass of the Catechumens, the priest recites the prayer of the inclination of the head for the imposition of hands and the blessing of the catechumens and penitents who depart after the deacon’s admonition: “Let those who have not received Baptism depart! Let those who are not to receive it depart! Go, O hearers; and guard the doors.” For the faithful who remain, the sacrifice begins. The priest washes his hands, takes the bread and wine with water, offers the oblata by touching the paten to the chalice three times, while the choir sings the hymn of the mysteries. Then the bishop (as in antiquity) designates one of the priests seated around him to consecrate the gifts; this priest goes to the sanctuary, and after the singing of the Symbol, recites the prayer of the veil, making three bows and advancing one step toward the altar at each bow. Having arrived, he kisses the altar in the middle, then at the right end, then at the left end, and continuing his prayers, he returns to the middle where he kisses the altar three more times—in the middle, slightly to the right, and slightly to the left; in his prayer, he gives thanks to God for having made him, though a sinner, worthy to administer these mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ. Thus ends this expressive ceremony of the access to the altar.
After this, to obey the Lord’s command, the deacon proclaims: “Brethren, give one another the peace”; and while each places his hands in those of his neighbor, the diptychs of the living and the dead were read, as was done in antiquity. Another admonition by the deacon and an incensation follow, and the priest removes the veil covering the oblata and intones the great Eucharistic prayer with the dialogue of the preface. This prayer is interrupted three times: first by the people who sing the Sanctus, then, after the consecration, by the deacon who invites to prayer while the priest says the intercessory prayers; the third time again by the deacon who warns the people to be attentive because the priest will say the epiclesis. The Communion is already being prepared. After incensing the hands that will perform the fraction, the priest (only among Catholics) elevates the Host, and after the fraction, the commixture, and the *intimatio*, elevates the chalice. In various prayers, the people affirm their faith in Christ, God and Man, ask for forgiveness of their sins, recite the Pater Noster, and respond to the Sanctus sanctis. Then Communion is given; among Catholics under one kind, among Nestorians under both kinds. Prayers of thanksgiving and the blessing conclude the Mass. The Nestorians now consume the sacred species, while Catholics perform ablutions after Communion.
It is worth noting that in the Anaphora of the Apostles, whose structure and origin are probably Mesopotamian, the words of institution are lacking; this grave deficiency is supplied by taking the text from one of the other two anaphoras, which derive—one from Nestorius, perhaps from Byzantium, the other from Theodore, from Cilicia (cf. A. Raes, *Le Récit de l’institution eucharistique dans l’anafore chaldéenne et malabare des Apôtres*, in *Oriens Christianus Periodicus*, 10 [1944], pp. 216–26).
### BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION
Išōʿjahb III reformed this rite and compiled it for children; but since, according to his Pelagian theory, children are exempt from all sin, even original sin, he suppressed the exorcisms and the solemn renunciation of the devil in the baptismal rite. Formerly, the rites of the catechumenate existed among the Nestorians (cf. W. de Vries, *Zur Liturgie der Erwachsenenaufnahme der Nestorianer*, in *Oriens Christianus Periodicus*, 9 [1943], pp. 460–73). The new rite presents a structure similar to that of the Mass; thus, at the moment of the *Ossorito*, instead of bread and wine, oil is brought to the altar and covered with a veil; this oil is blessed after the Sanctus with an epiclesis; the water is blessed after the Pater Noster, and after the Sanctus sanctis the body of the baptismal candidate is immersed in the water three times; then one returns from the baptistery to the church, and the priest imposes hands on the baptized, anointing his forehead with his thumb: this is the double rite of Confirmation. In antiquity, the third Sacrament of initiation, Communion, followed.
### PENANCE
The Nestorians do not seem to have known any penitential rite other than that of the reconciliation of an apostate or a heretic; the other attributed to Išōʿjahb III and published by H. J. Denzinger (*Ritus Orientalium*, II, Würzburg 1864, p. 467) certainly has a different purpose. As a rite of private penance, it lacks Confession and the entire liturgical part made up of prayers, psalms, prostrations, and acts of humility that precede II. Some influence of the Latin private penance can be discerned.
In a recent rite, however, taken from the Nestorians to the Jacobites (cf. J. Vostó, *La confession chez les Nestoriens*, in *Angelicum*, 7 [1930], pp. 17-26).
**Priestly Ordination.** — It has preserved its ancient structure. The ordinand first receives the tonsure and the insignia of the diaconate, followed by a long series of prayers, readings, and chants. Afterward, the ordinand kneels and covers his eyes with his hands, while the bishop recites the formula: *"La grazia di N. S. Gesù Cristo..."*, and imposes his hands on the ordinand’s head, reciting the two sacramental prayers. Raising him up, the bishop clothes him in the tunic and orarion, returns the Gospel book to him, and makes the sign of the cross on his forehead. The rite concludes with the kiss of peace. For the first edition of the pontifical, cf. J. Vosté, *Actes du XXᵉ Congrès intern. des Orientalistes*, Brussels 1938, p. 340.
**Extreme Unction.** — The long rite, celebrated by several priests and fundamentally the same in all Eastern rites, does not appear ever to have penetrated among the Nestorians. To remedy this deficiency, Catholic priests have drawn up a rite for this sacrament in an Eastern structure.
**Divine Office.** — It comprises only the three major hours: Vespers, Nocturns, and Matins; sometimes Compline is added to Vespers. Catholic monks add the little hours taken from the Maronites. In Nocturns, one-third of the Psalter is recited, so that on the six weekdays of the week the entire Psalter is recited twice; in the other hours as well, the Psalms form the principal part. Liturgical poetry, however, is rich, though the readings from Sacred Scripture are entirely omitted. It is noteworthy that even today the people regularly attend and participate daily in Vespers and Matins. For Catholics, a *Bremiorio* has been printed that has greatly shortened the Night Office.
**Calendar.** — The liturgical year is divided into periods, generally of seven weeks each: Annunciation or Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Apostles, Summer, Elijah, the Cross, Moses, and the Dedication. The feasts of the saints, called “memories,” are few and are celebrated either on a fixed date of the year or on the Friday of a particular week within a given period.
The liturgical books were published for Catholics in Rome and Mosul, for the Nestorians by the Anglican mission in Urmia. To the list of A. Baumstark, *Liturgie comparée*, in *Irénikon*, 1934, pp. 229-31, should be added a missal published in Mosul in 1936 and a anastatic edition of Bedjan’s breviary in 3 vols. in Rome in 1938.
Translations of liturgical texts into European languages are found in the general works of J. Assemani, *Codex liturgicus*, 13 vols., Rome 1749-66; of E. Renaudot, *Liturgiarum orientalium collectio*, Paris 1716; of Denzinger, *op. cit.*; and of F. E. Brightman, *Liturgies Eastern and Western*, Oxford 1896. The following should be added: C. Mousseau, *La Messe caldea degli Apostoli*, Rome 1948; D. Dahane, *Liturgie de la Sainte Messe selon le rite chaldéen*, Paris 1937; G. P. Badger, *The Nestorians and their Rituals*, 2 vols., London 1852; A. J. Maclean, *East Syrian Daily Offices*, ibid. 1894; id., *The Evening, Night and Morning Services*, complete text, with the feast of Epiphany in Conybeare, *Rituale Armenarum*, Oxford 1905, pp. 298-388; P. Martin, *Saint Pierre et saint Paul dans l’Eglise nestorienne*, Paris 1875, complete text for the feast of the two Apostles.
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