Assyrian Patriarch Mar Awa III makes first visit to Romania for Syriac studies congress

His Holiness Mar Awa III, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, made his first-ever visit to Romania from August 3 to 7.

According to a press release from the Levant Institute, the visit took place in conjunction with the 14th World Congress for Syriac Studies and the 12th International Conference on Christian Arabic Studies, organised by the Levant Institute and the Romanian Academy at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest.

The Patriarch participated in the congress alongside His Grace Mar Paulus Benjamin, Bishop of Chicago and the Eastern United States of the Assyrian Church of the East.

About Patriarch Mar Awa III His Holiness is the 122nd Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East and the first primate of the Church to have been born in the diaspora, in Chicago, United States. The press release noted that his life story reflects the experience of Middle Eastern Christians over the past few decades.

“The story of Mar Awa III is the story of an entire generation of Eastern Christians who were compelled to rebuild their lives far from the lands where they were born and received the gift of faith, while preserving a heritage nearly…