Yusuf Sağ (born 1934 in

İdil İdil (, or ''Beth Zabday'', , ) is a city and seat of the İdil District of the Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located in the historical region of Tur Abdin. The town had a population of 30,271 in 2021 and is composed of Kurds of the Doman ...

Şırnak Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is mainly populated by Kurds o ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) is the

Syriac Catholic The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac R ...

chorbishop A chorbishop is a rank of Christian clergy below bishop. The name chorepiscope or chorepiscopus (plural chorepiscopi) is taken from the Greek and means "rural bishop". History Chorepiscopi are first mentioned by Eusebius as existing in the se ...

, who served as the Patriarchal Exarch of the

Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey The Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey (informally Turkey of the Syriacs) is the presence of the Syriac Catholic Church in Turkey. It is part of the Syriac Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic particular church that conducts its litu ...

since 1991 until his retirement on 2 July 2017.

Life

After primary studies, Yusuf Sağ studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and received his ordination to the priesthood on 14 February 1964. He was pastor from 1964 to 1970 in

Mardin Mardin (; ; romanized: ''Mārdīn''; ; ) is a city and seat of the Artuklu District of Mardin Province in Turkey. It is known for the Artuqids, Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on a rocky hill near the Tigris ...

and Diyarbakir, a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

base. In 1985 he was appointed patriarchal vicar and in 1987 he was appointed

, a priest with episcopal dignity.Luigi Padovese: ''Christen in der Türkei: Geschichte und Gegenwart.''
(PDF; 60 kB) S. 7 In 1991 Sağ was appointed patriarchal exarch in Turkey.

Titles as clergyman

Yusuf Sağ was

, based in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, previously Mardin. He was a member of the Turkish Catholic Bishops' Conference as a representative of the unified Syriac Catholic Church and president of the Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. erder correspondence 57 (2003), Issue 11, pp. 568-572/ref> Yusuf Sağ to time was the only Turkish cleric of the

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 25, ...

References

External links

Father Yusuf Sağ at Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sag, Yusuf 1934 births Living people Turkish Eastern Catholic priests Syriac Catholic clergy Turkish people of Assyrian descent People from Şırnak Province Eastern Catholic bishops in Turkey