Bawai Soro (born March 3, 1954) is the former

Eparch Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

of the

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

for the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto.

Biography

Soro was baptized in the

Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East (ACOE), sometimes called the Church of the East and officially known as the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, is an Eastern Christianity, Eastern Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian denomin ...

. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 and to the episcopate in 1984 by Mar Dinkha IV. He served the Assyrian eparchy of the Western United States, and subsequently the eparchy of California. Mar Bawai was one of the few theologians of the Assyrian Church, and so was assigned responsibility for leading the theological dialogue with the Catholic Church which produced the joint Christological Declaration in 1994, resolving a 1500-year-old theological dispute and the principal reason for schism between the Churches in the first place. While still an Assyrian bishop, Mar Bawai was pursuing studies first at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in Washington, then earned a doctorate in ecumenism from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome, in 2002. However, after two decades of successful dialogue made clear that there were no obstacles to full communion, the patriarchal synod suspended the official dialogue in 2004. Soro was suspended in November 2005 for alleged "rebellion of dogma," after attempting to usurp the diocese by incorporating several Churches under his name, and barring Church leadership from the properties. In 2007, after numerous lawsuits, Soro was ordered by the Supreme Court of California to surrender all Church property, and was formally laicized and defrocked by the Assyrian Holy Synod in 2008. Bishop Mar Bawai Soro (along with nearly one thousand Assyrian Christian families) was received into communion with the

in May 2008. In 2010, he was invited back to the Angelicum as a visiting professor of Aramaic Christian history.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

controversially appointed Soro auxiliary eparch for the

Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle () is a Chaldean Catholic Church eparchy of the Catholic Church in the Western United States. It practices the Syro-Oriental Rite in the Syriac/Arameic language. It is exempt, i.e. immediately subject ...

on January 11, 2014. On October 31, 2017, Pope Francis appointed Soro as eparch of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto. He was installed on November 29, 2017. On September 11, 2021, he resignation was accepted by Pope Francis.

References

Episcopal succession

1954 births Living people People from Kirkuk Iraqi Assyrian people Iraqi emigrants to the United States American Eastern Catholic bishops Converts to Eastern Catholicism from the Assyrian Church of the East 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops 21st-century American clergy {{ChaldeanCatholic-bishop-stub

Biography

See also

References

Episcopal succession