Thoma Darmo

His Holiness Mar Thoma Darmo
Religion	Ancient Church of the East
Personal
Born	1904 Iraq
Died	7 September 1969(1969-09-07) (aged 65) Baghdad, Iraq
Senior posting
Based in	Baghdad, Iraq
Title	His Holiness Catholicos Patriarch of the East
Period in office	1968 Oct.11 - 1969 Sept.7
Predecessor	None. Patriarch Mar Thoma Darmo is the 1st Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East
Successor	Mar Addai II
Religious career
Ordination	St. Zaia Cathedral, Baghdad, Iraq, 1968 Oct. 11
Previous post	Metropolitan of the Church of the East in India (June 1952 -1968 Oct.)

Mar Thoma Darmo, (born in 21 September 1904 in Mesopotamia, (present-day Iraq) - died in Baghdad on 7 September 1969), was the first Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East from 1968 to 1969.

Thoma Darmo, was born as Mansour Darmo son of Elishai and Shirine. He spent his childhood in Turkey and from 1919 in Iraq becoming a clergy in 1921. He continued to serve in Iraq for 15 years. Then he moved to Syria where he served from 1936 to 1952.

In 1952, he was assigned as Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East, based at Trichur, Kerala, India until 1968. He built a number of churches and established a number of new dioceses in India, encouraged the preparation of new clergy and established the Mar Narsai Press.

In a schism against the Catholicos Patriarch Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII because of reform issues introduced by the Assyrian Church of the East as well as the hereditary system of the Patriarchate, he voiced his opposition. This resulted in a split from the Church (then headquartered in San Francisco, now headquartered in Chicago) and Darmo became one of the founders of the Ancient Church of the East.

Subsequently, after three years of the seat of the Ancient Church of the East remaining vacant (1964-1967), Mar Thoma Darmo was elected as head of the new church as its first Catholicos-Patriarch in October 1968.

He relocated the Ancient Church of the East to Baghdad where the church is headquartered. He died the following year on 7 September 1969. He was succeeeded in 1970 by Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Addai II

References

Mar Aprem, Mar Thoma Darmo, a Biography, (Trichur: Mar Narsai Press, 1974).

External links

• "Patriarchs of the East" at friesian.com

Preceded by (none)

Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East 1968–1969

Succeeded by Addai II Giwargis

Persondata
Name	Darmo, Thoma
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1904-0-0
Place of birth	Iraq
Date of death	7 September 1969
Place of death	Baghdad, Iraq