En savoir plus. Designed by the engineer and designer Baba Khochaba, the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Virgin Mary was built in The religious estate on which the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary is built also contains the Patriarchal Seat where Mar Addai II, Catholicos Patriarch of the Ancient Holy Apostolic Catholic Church of the East has sat since Up until , 1, families attended the Patriarchal Cathedral compared to just families in Pic : The Ancient Church of the East Patriarchal Cathedral of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad.
The official denomination Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East is the most complete. Founded and legitimised by the apostle Thomas, the church is proud of its roots in ancient times and places an emphasis on its missionary work. Those faithful to the Julian calendar formed the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East. According to the tradition, the origins of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East go back to the apostles and disciples like Thomas, Addai some assert that Addai is also the disciple Thaddeus, also known as Jude and Mari.
Most likely the greatest efforts to convert people were focused on these Jewish communities, as it already was the case in all cities of the Roman Empire. It was really from the 4th century on that the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East started structuring itself in Seleucia-Ctesiphon and almost simultaneously the Persian King Shapur II ushered in an era of anti-Christian persecution, resulting in large numbers of martyrs who are still worshipped centuries later.
In the 5th century, the conflict between the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire, along with Christological disputes between schools of theology, widened the gap between the Churches of the West and the East. After having rejected the conclusions of the Council of Ephesus and welcomed in the patriarch Nestorius, the Church of the East confirmed its break with Rome and Constantinople and asserted its autocephalous nature.
This was the second act in the birth of the Church of the East, after it was founded by Saint Thomas. Throughout the centuries, the high plateaus and mountains of Mesopotamia south-east of Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan , formerly difficult to access, was a place where the Church of the East flourished and found refuge.
