Jibrail Kassab (born 5 August 1938) was a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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 ...

who presided over the Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney in Australia. He was the bishop of this

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

since its inception on 21 October 2006 until his retirement in 2015.Catholic Leader website, ''Chaldean Catholics have moment of joy'', by Peter Bugden, dated March 13, 2015
/ref> His bishopric was based at St Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Church,

Bossley Park Bossley Park is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bossley Park is located 36 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Bossley Park is part of the ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Kassab was born in

Tel Keppe Tel Keppe ( ', ', alternatively spelled Tel Kaif, Tilkepe, or Telkef) is a town in northern Iraq. It is located in the Nineveh Governorate, less than 8 mi (13 km) northeast of Mosul.Welcome to Tel Keppe at ChaldeansOnline http://www.cha ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, to an Assyrian family. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 19 January 1961. Following 35 years of service in the priesthood, he was elevated to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

by the then

Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ...

, Mar Raphael I Bidawid. Upon his installation, his first post was to serve as archbishop of the Archeparchy of Basra. Following the difficult plight of Iraq's Chaldean

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

transferred Kassab to a safer area and created a diocese in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

that would cover all of Australia and New Zealand; he installed Kassab as its head prelate.

References

External links

Kaldu.org
– Eparchy of St Peter the Apostle website
GCatholic.org Website
Australian people of Iraqi-Assyrian descent Chaldean Catholic archbishops Iraqi archbishops Iraqi emigrants to Australia People from Tel Keppe Iraqi Eastern Catholics Australian Eastern Catholics Living people 1938 births Iraqi Assyrian people {{ChaldeanCatholic-bishop-stub