BY AZAD MATTI

Dear friends,

I know and am fully aware that we are all Assyrians. I am 100000000000% sure of that. I know we became Catholic and adopted the new title "Chaldean". Chaldean in our case means Catholic.

In fact, there is an article (decree) in Rome when the Pope at the time decided and said that: "Any Assyrian from the Nestorian Church convert into Catholicism, will be regarded Chaldean"

Fallacies are when we are living in Nineveh, Telkif, Telsqof and etc how could we refer our selves to Hilla "Babylon"? This is 100% unrealistic. If you live assuming in Britain and your language is English and culture is British, how can you call your self Indian? This would be a fallacy. Indeed it is fallacy because you are criticizing your self, because it cannot happen and if any 1 oppose this, s/he is most welcome.

If our people were living in Nineveh, how can we claim we are from Hilla? Besides, their language is Assyrian or Syriac. In Encyclopedia of Britannica they have defined clearly to be more to do with religion: " Chaldean Catholic Church: Eastern rite church prevalent in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, united with the Roman Catholic Church since 1830, and intermittently from 1551.

And about the rite it was said "Chaldean rite system of liturgical practices and discipline historically associated with the Church of the East, or Nestorian Church, and also used today by the Catholic patriarchate of Babylon of the Chaldeans".

I am personally form the Chaldean Church and was very fanatic to it. But I can say proudly that I am Assyrian from the Chaldean "Catholic" Church. If you read the first article I wrote, it was very pro Chaldean, as I thought that my nationality is Chaldean. But after I saw our late Patriarch Mar Rophael Bet Daweed, my God Rest His Soul when he said we are all Assyrians, but we are Assyrians from the Chaldean Church. And also said that we have to differentiate between the Church and Nationality; because our nationality is Assyrian and we are proudly from the Chaldean Church. I decided to do more studies to find the truth. Because we have been always taught that we were ARABS Christians. Our priest in our church said it many times that we are Arabs.

Therefore, I went further and further to look after facts and now I can say I am Assyrian from the Chaldean Church. And also in the Encyclopedia of Catholic was said that: "Chaldean Christians are former Nestorians now reunited with the Roman Church"

Further, in Encyclopedia of Britannica the name chaldean was defind to be: "Eastern rite church prevalent in Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon, united with the Roman Catholic Church since 1830, and intermittently from 1551.

Christianity in Iraq and Iran dates from the late 2nd century. In the 5th century, the Church of the East embraced Nestorianism, a heresy that declared Christ to be man and God the son to be his divine counterpart. The church prospered and expanded into China, the steppes of Mongol Asia, and the Malabar Coast of India until the 14th century, when the Mongol leader Timur completely destroyed the Nestorian Church east of Iraq, except in India.

Union with Rome was first realized in 1551, when the elected patriarch John Sulaka went to Rome and made his profession of the Catholic faith. From this period on, those Nestorians who became Catholics were referred to as Chaldeans. Other unions were realized in 1672, 1771, and 1778, the current unbroken line of "patriarchs of Babylonia" originating in 1830. The patriarchal residence was at first in the monastery Rabban Hormizd, then in Mosul, and finally in Baghdad. Besides the patriarchal diocese of Baghdad, there are four archdioceses (Basra, Kirkuk, Sehna, Iran-residence at Tehran-and Urmia, to which is united the diocese of Salmas) and seven dioceses (Aleppo, Alkosh, Amadya, Akra, Beirut, Mosul, and Zakho). The Chaldeans have preserved the ancient East Syrian liturgy of Addai and Mari, which they celebrate in Syriac".

So the name Chaldean was brought into the history recently by Rome when we converted into Catholicism or Chaldeansim. But if we go back to history, so far there is nothing to prove that there was any immigration or exodus from Hilla (Babylon) to any of our Chaldean towns or cities. I bet if any 1 can prove the opposite! When you talk to our inhabitants of our villages in Nineveh, they will say that their villages were existed prehistory. Then who lived there? Weren't they Assyrians? If not, who were they? What language they speak?

Once again, let's go back to history, who were the inhabitants of Babylon? Where they Assyrians, Chaldeans, Arabs or Aramians? The answer is very clear and simple, they were the Assyrians who lived in Babylon and worked in the field of Astrology. The word Chaldeans was defied in the Ogen Manna's
dictionary which was reprinted and by the late Patriarch Mar Rophael Bet Daweed my God Rest His Soul in Beirut which says Chaldeans are "the astrologists who lived in Babylon and work with stars and magicians" and in the Encyclopedia of Catholic "The Assyro-Babylonian priests (Chaldeans) were the professional astrologers of classic antiquity. In its origin Chaldaic astrology also goes back to the worship of stars; this is proved by the religious symbolism of the most ancient cuneiform texts of the zodiac."

The above refrence goes further and says "Even in the time of Chaldean, which should be called Assyrian."

The language we speak today is called either Assyrian or Syriac Language. It has never been known as Chaldean Language. I am referring to it linguistically; please don't look at it from the fanatic and hatred angle. Further, the Chaldeans language in the Old Testament using the Aramaic Language "wa mallil amhon leshana chalday" referred into the using the astrology terms. It never referred to it as a language. Because the language of the Chaldeans Sect is Assyrian or Syriac. Which means that cour Chaldean Church is a denomination of various Assyrians Churches.

·There are Assyrian Catholics
·The are Assyrians Nestorians
·There are Assyrians from the Anglican Church
·There are Assyrians from Chaldean Church
·There are Assyrians from Jehovah's Whiteness Church
·There are Assyrians from 7th Adventists Church
·There are Assyrians from form the Old Calendar
·There are Assyrians from the Orthodox Church
·There are Assyrians from Syriac Catholic Church
·There are Assyrians from Malkaye (Roman Catholic Church)
·There are Assyrians from the Maronite Church
·May be More and more

But I have never seen any Chaldean from any other church at all in entire my life. This is the best prove that our Chaldean name is only the name of the church like our late Patriarch Mar Rophael Bet Daweed, my God Rest His Soul when he said we are all Assyrians, but we are Assyrians from the Chaldean Church. And also said that we have to differentiate between the Church and Nationality; because our nationality is Assyrian and we are proudly from the Chaldean Church.

I hope this will give sufficient information about our lovely Assyrian Nation and proudly Chaldean Church. Please if you have any comments, you are welcome but put them with relied references as I did.
Otherwise, don't. PLEASE, DO NOT WRITE WHILE FULL OF HATRED; WRITE FULL OF LOVE AND RESEARCH BEFORE WRITING. LETS WRITE SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE TO OUR PEOPLE BECAUSE WE ARE one NATION, one LANGUAGE, one CULTURE & one RELIGION.

http://www.ankawa.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/topic.cgi?forum=32&topic=998

God bless this truth seeking honest man, humble enough to admit what's right for the sake of fairness and accuracy, burying all pride. Take Heed plz