From Zinda Magazine:
http://www.zindamagazine.com/magazine/index.php The Father of Chaldeo-Assyrian Unity is No More
On Monday, at 7:00 p.m. Beirut Time, His Beatitude Mar Raphael I Bidawid (b'Dawid), Catholicos Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, passed on to eternity in Beirut, Lebanon. His Beatitude was 81.
Throughout his life Mar Bidawid maintained a constant desire to re-unite the fragmented existence of his people's spiritual and temporal subsistence. During his service as the Patriarch of the largest Assyrian church, he was a source of far-reaching reforms to bring about the full communion of the two branches of the Assyrian Church, the Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Mar Bidawid was born in 1922 in Mosul, Iraq, and entered a seminary at the age of 11. Three years later he was sent to Rome to study theology and philosophy. He was ordained in 1944 and in 1956 was appointed patriarchal vicar for the Diocese of Kirkuk. In 1957 he was elevated to Bishop of Amadiya at the age of 35 - the youngest in the world at the time. He was transferred to the Beirut Diocese in 1966. A synod of the Chaldean Church elected him patriarch in 1989, following the death of Mar Pulus II Chekho.
Rightfully His Beatitude was a controversial leader. During a 1991 visit to the Vatican he accused the Gulf War allies of genocide. When every other Assyrian patriarch maintained an inexplicable silence during the economic embargo against the people of Iraq, His Beatitude courageously argued against the western powers and the United Nations and demanded the immediate end to the futile sanctions against the people of his native land. Every month over 5,000 Iraqi children under the age of five were dying due to malnourishment.
In dealing with the disloyal bishops in Iraq and the United States, he drew more people back to the basic idea of unity in Christ and within his church. Mar Bidawid disliked the secessionist movement started by two of his bishops in the United States. He died a few days before a scheduled interview with Zinda Magazine in which His Beatitude was to address the issue of the Chaldean Catholic faith within the framework of the Assyrian nationality.
One of Mar Bidawid's culminating act in his work of spiritual reform was the regathering of the bishops of the Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church and the signing of the “Joint Synodal Decree for Promoting Unity" on 15 August 1997. Three years earlier on 11 November 1994, Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV of the Church of the East had signed the basic theological agreement between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East or the "Common Christological Declaration” clearing the way for the Chaldean and the Assyrian Churches to initiate a process of dialogue and collaboration toward the goal of unity of the two Assyrian churches.
Mar Bidawid never failed to be present at every prescribed ceremony, even when not feeling well. During his 14 years of patriarchy he consecrated 2 Chaldean archbishops and 6 Chaldean bishops.
His Beatitude had been hospitalized in Beirut since the winter of 2002. During his final months he was undergoing several dialysis sessions due to the failure of his kidneys. In Lebanon his doctors asked him to seek rest and refreshment for his tired mind and ailing body. Yet His Beatitude never resigned to a dormant life and attentively followed the events in Iraq and abroad.
To His Beatitude's physical pains were added during his last months a number of griefs, mainly caused by the behaviour of two bishops in the United States, who threatened the rupture of his Church with their secessionist ideas.
Mar Bidawid was a staunch supporter of the Assyrian nationalism or “oomtanayoota”, as attested in his interviews – namely with the Assyrian Star magazine and the Lebanese Broadcasting Company (LBC) television network.
On the last days of June, perhaps aware that his death was approaching, Mar Bidawid asked for an interview with Zinda Magazine. A list of candid questions were submitted to Lebanon and a meeting with a Zinda Magazine reporter was scheduled. The interview was soon postponed; however, Mar Bidawid offered his telephone number for an informal interview with the author of this editorial. His Beatitude died a few days before this interview.
His Beatitude did not live long enough to witness the final achievement of all he had endeavored to do. He guided his flock during the most difficult days of Iraq's modern existence, keeping the faith in a country troubled by economic sanctions and consumed by unjust dictators.
According to the canons of the Chaldean Catholic Church, precisely thirty days after the laying of the Patriarch's body to rest, a Synod of the Chaldean bishops will gather in Baghdad and elect one from among themselves to assume the Patriarchy of the Chaldean Catholic Church. If a decision is not reached, the Roman Catholic Church must intervene and appoint a bishop to this venerated position.
The funeral for His Beatitude Mar Raphael I Bidawid will take place at the Malakha Raphael Chaldean Catholic Church in “Hazimmiya” outside of Beirut on Saturday, 4:00 PM (Beirut Time). Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, prefect of the office for Eastern-rite churches, will represent the Vatican.
In the next few issues, we will ponder the significance of the election of the next Chaldean patriarch. Today, we remain prayerful and solemn in remembering a revered Chaldean spiritual leader and an Assyrian nationalist. Zinda Magazine offers its deepest condolences to His Beatitude's family, a mourning Assyrian nation and in particular the Chaldean Catholics around the world.
Wilfred Bet-Alkhas
Editor
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