Mar Joseph Sulaqa (), also known as ''Yousep d'Bēth Bello'' (), was one of the last

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite (also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite), is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturg ...

bishops to Malabar. He was shortly followed by

Mar Abraham Abraham the Great of Kashkar was the father of the Assyrian monastic revival in the 6th century. He is a doctor and saint of the Church of the East. He was born in Kashkar in Persia around 492. He left there to preach the Gospel at Al-Hirah, lea ...

; both reached in Malabar after the arrival of the Portuguese. Patriarch

Abdisho IV Maron Mar Abdisho IV Maron () was the second Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, from 1555 to 1570. Abdisho, whose name is spelled in many different ways in Latin characters (''Abdisu'', ''Abd-Jesu'', ''Hebed-Jesu'', ''Abdissi'', ''Audishu'') m ...

(1555–1570), the successor of

Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa (; ; also ''Yohannan d'Bēth Bello'' (), John Soulaqa, Sulaka or Sulacha; circa 1510–1555) was the first Patriarch of what was to become the ''Shemʿon line'' of the Chaldean Catholic Church, from 1553 to 1555, after ...

, sent the brother of Shimun VIII, Mar Joseph, to Malabar as a Chaldaean bishop; although consecrated in 1555 or 1556, Mar Joseph could not reach India before the end of 1556, nor Malabar before 1558, when the Portuguese were finally alerted by the presence of

and allowed Mar Joseph, accompanied by another Chaldaean bishop, Mar Eliah, to occupy his see, before the Inquisition also sent him to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in 1562.

Introduction

The last two Assyrian bishops of Malabar were Joseph Sulaqa and Mar Abraham; both arrived in Malabar after the arrival of the Portuguese.Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 4 By Charles George Herbermann page 1180,1181 There is no doubt that Joseph Sulaqa's appointment was canonical, for he, the brother of the first Chaldean patriarch

, was appointed by his successor

and sent out to Malabar. Before that he was the bishop of Nineveh (Joseph was consecrated Metropolitan by his own brother Patriarch John Sulaqa in 1554 AD)A general history and collection of voyages and travels, arranged in systematic order By Robert Kerr,Page 478). Joseph was sent to India with letters of introduction from the pope to the Portuguese authorities; he was besides accompanied by Bishop Ambrose, a Dominican and papal commissary to the first patriarch, by his socius Father Anthony, and by Mar Elias Hormaz, Archbishop of Diarbekir. They arrived at Goa about 1563, and were detained at Goa for eighteen months before being allowed to enter the diocese. Proceeding to Cochin they lost Bishop Ambrose; the others travelled through Malabar for two and a half years on foot, visiting every church and detached settlement. By the time they arrived at Angamale war broke out. Then Mar Elias, Anthony the socius of the deceased prelate, and one of the two Syrian monks who had accompanied them, left India to return; the other monk remained with Archbishop Joseph Sulaka. For some time the new prelate got on well with the Portuguese and Jesuit missionaries, in fact, they praised him for having introduced order, decorum, and propriety in the Church services and all went harmoniously for some time. Later, friction arose because of his hindering the locally-ordained Syrians from saying mass and preaching and instructing his flock. Eventually an incident revealed that Mar Joseph had not dropped his allegiance to the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

, for it was reported to the Bishop of Cochin that he had attempted to tamper with the faith of some young boys in his service belonging to the Diocese of Cochin. This came to the knowledge of the bishop, through him to the Metropolitan of Goa, then to the viceroy; it was decided to remove and send him to Portugal, to be dealt with by the Holy See. Accusing Mar Joseph for propagating "Nestorian error" they sent him to Portugal; arriving there he succeeded in securing the good will of the Queen, he expressed repentance, and by order of the queen was sent back to his diocese.

Later years and death

By 1567, Latin authorities asked him to make inquiries into the conduct and doctrine of the prelate suspected again for propagating Nestorian error; in consequence of this the first provincial council was held and finally, Mar Joseph, who was forced to leave India in 1568 died in Rome in 1569, where his brother Sulaqa was consecrated as patriarch 16 years earlier. His tomb has not been located so far.

Eugene Tisserant Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and mus ...

in his book Eastern Christianity in India comments on the pathetic end of Mar Joseph Sulaqa. Cardinal comments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulaqa, Joseph 1569 deaths Year of birth unknown 16th-century bishops of the Church of the East 16th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops Chaldean Catholic archbishops

Introduction

Later years and death

See also

References