Mar Shimun XX Paulos (1885 in Qodshanis, Hakkari,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

– 27 April 1920 in

Baquba Baqubah (; BGN: Ba‘qūbah; also spelled Baquba and Baqouba) is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated population of some 280,000 people ...

) served as the 118th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East. After his brother, Catholicos-Patriarch

Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin Mar Shimun XXI Benyamin (1887– 3 March 1918) () served as the 117th List of patriarchs of the Church of the East, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East. Life He was an ethnic Assyrian people, Assyrian, born in 1887 in the village ...

, was murdered along with 150 of his followers by

Simko Shikak Ismail Agha Shikak (, ), also known as Simko (, ; 1887–1930), was a Kurds, Kurdish chieftain of the Shekak (tribe), Shekak tribe. He was a nationalist warlord who controlled significant land and led thousands of Kurdish rebels who defeated th ...

(Ismail Agha Shikak), a Kurdish agha, Mar Shimun XX Paulos was elected on 23 March 1918.Coakley, ''The Church of the East and the Church of England'', 340 He was consecrated in the ancient Church of Mart Maryam (Saint Mary) in

Urmia Urmia (; ) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. In the Central District of Urmia County, it is capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is situated near the borders of Iran with Turkey and Iraq. ...

by the metropolitan Mar Eskhaq Khnanisho and the bishops Mar Eliya Abuna of

Alqosh Alqosh (, , , alternatively spelled Alkosh, Alqoš, or Alqush) is a town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif District situated 45 km north of the city of Mosul. The inhabitants of Alqosh are Assyrian peopl ...

Mar Yosip Khnanisho Mār Yōsip Khnanisho (), is the twelfth Metropolitan or ''Matran'' of Shemsdin from 1918 to 1977. He is a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East. Life Hakkari As it was the custom for an uncle to pass on to the first born nephew the Sacred ...

of Shemsdin (the metropolitan's designated successor), and Mar Zaya Sargis of

Jilu Jīlū was a district located in the Hakkari (historical region), Hakkari region of upper Mesopotamia in modern-day Turkey. Before 1915 Jīlū was home to Assyrians and as well as a minority of Kurds. There were 20 List of Assyrian tribes, Assyri ...

. On 20 August 1918, for fear of persecution from the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

during their campaign of genocide against

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

, and other Christians of the Ottoman Empire, the newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch fled with about 60,000 of his people from Urmia in Iran seeking the protection of the British in Iraq. 15,000 of his followers died on the way. The survivors were in a camp in

, about 50 kilometers north of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Becoming very sick, Shimun XX spent his short patriarchal days at Mor Mottai monastery belonging to the

Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...

. He died on 27 April 1920 and buried on 9 May 1920 in the Armenian cemetery in Baghdad. The episcopacy of the Autocephalous Church of the East at this time consisted only of four bishops: Mar Yosip Khnanisho, Mar Zaya Sargis of

, Mar Yalda Yahballaha of

Barwari Barwari (, ) is a region in the Hakkari mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The region is inhabited by Assyrians and Kurds, and was formerly also home to a number of Jews prior to their emigration to Israel in 1951. It is divided ...

and Mar Abimalek Timothy (South India). Mar Shimun XX Paulos' successor was

Shimun XXI Eshai Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII (; 26 February 1908 – 6 November 1975), sometimes known as Mar Eshai Shimun XXI, Mar Shimun XXIII Ishaya, Mar Shimun Ishai, or Simon Jesse,Foster, p. 34 served as the 119th Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East ...

References

Sources

* * * * * Rudolf Macuch:''History of the late and neusyrischen literature''. De Gruyter, Berlin 1976, 253ff. * Austin:
The Baqubah Refugee Camp. An Account of Work on behalf of the Persecuted Assyrian Christians
', The Faith Press, London 1920 * David Wilmshurst:''The Ecclesiastical Organization of the Church of the East, 1318-1913''. (Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium 582 / Subs. 104). Peeters, Leuven 2000, 367th .

External links

Official site of the Assyrian Church of the East
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shimun XX Paulos 1885 births 1920 deaths People from Hakkari Paulos Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century bishops of the Assyrian Church of the East

See also

References

Sources

External links