The Archeparchy of Amida (or Diyarbakır) is the
Chaldaean rite Catholic diocese of Turkey, with its archiepiscopal see in
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province.
Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortres ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
.
History
It was first established in 1531 as the
Chaldean Diocese of Amid
The Diocese of Amid ( Diyarbakir) was a diocese or archdiocese of the Chaldean Church from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. From at least the 13th century the city of Amid had been part of the Diocese of Maiperqat of the Church of the East ...
(a). In June 1915 it gained territory from the suppressed
Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Seert (now a titular see).
After the
Assyrian genocide
The Sayfo or the Seyfo (; see below), also known as the Assyrian genocide, was the mass slaughter and deportation of Assyrian / Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish ...
it was left vacant and lapsed after the death of its archbishop in 1923. Nevertheless, the size of the diocese increased on 3 July 1957 from the suppression of the
Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Gazireh.
On 3 January 1966, it was promoted to an
Archeparchy (Eastern Catholic archdiocese) and a new archbishop was ordained to fill the role. Since that point, it has been the sole Chaldean diocese in Turkey, and in effect resides over all of Turkeys Chaldeans.
Its episcopal see was historically located at
St. Mary's Cathedral in
Diyarbekir, and it still is in modern day, but the archeparch (or archbishop) now resides in
Beyoğlu
Beyoğlu (, ota, بكاوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, mea ...
,
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, where the Chaldean community use
Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Cathedral, formerly for the
Greek Byzantine Catholics, as their church.
Demographics
The most recent data indicates that the Chaldean population is 7,640, up from 6,000 in 1980.
Statistics
1980 6,000
1990 1,400
1999 5,000
2001 5,100
2002 5,100
2003 4,800
2004 5,925
2006 4,226
2009 6,219
2013 7,640
Episcopal incumbents
(incomplete)
; ''Eparchs''
...
; ''Archeparchs''
* Gabriel Batta (1966.01.03 – 1977.03.07)
* Paul Karatas (1977.03.07 – 2005.01.16)
* ''
apostolic administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...
François Yakan (2007 - 2018.12.22)
* Ramzi Garmou
(since 2018.12.23)
The Archeparch (archbishop) is immediately subject to the
Patriarch of Babylon, who heads the
Chaldean Catholic Church
, native_name_lang = syc
, image = Assyrian Church.png
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq
, abbreviation =
, type ...
.
See also
*
Catholic Church in Turkey
The Catholic Church in Turkey is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the canonical leadership of the curia in Rome that is submitted to the Pope.
Demographics
In the 2000s, there are around 35,0 ...
References
External links
GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links
Chaldean Catholic dioceses
Diyarbakır Province
Southeastern Anatolia Region
{{EasternCatholic-diocese-stub