Royel Mar Awa

Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Iraq

[USA - 1975]

Ordained a priest in 1999 and consecrated bishop of the Diocese of California in 2008, he is the first bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East to be born in the United States. On 8 September 2021, he was elected Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East and enthroned in Erbil, Iraq. The Assyrian Church of the East is present in Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, the Gulf, India, the United States and Australia. Of the East Syriac rite, the historic see is in Baghdad while the current one is in Erbil. Divided into 19 dioceses, it boasts about 330,000 faithful scattered throughout the world.

[2024]