Raphael I Bidawid
| Raphael I Bidawid | |
|---|---|
| Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans | |
 |
|
| Church | Chaldean Catholic Church |
| See | Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Babylon |
| Installed | May 21, 1989 |
| Term ended | July 7, 2003 |
| Predecessor | Paul II Cheikho |
| Successor | Emmanuel III Delly |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | October 22, 1944 |
| Consecration | October 6, 1957 by Yousef VII Ghanima |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Raphael J. Bidawid |
| Born | April 17, 1922 Mosul, Iraq |
| Died | July 7, 2003 (aged 81) Beirut, Lebanon |
| Residence | Iraq |
Mar Raphael I Bidawid † (Syriac: ܪܘܦܐܝܠ ܩܕܡܝܐ ܒܝܬ ܕܘܝܕ, Arabic مار روفائيل الاول بيداويد)(April 17, 1922 – July 7, 2003) was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1989–2003. He was also a Syriac scholar.
He was born on April 17, 1922 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul into an ethnic Assyrian family, and took his school and seminar training in Mosul. He was ordained a priest on October 22, 1944 in Rome and in 1946 he obtained the academic degrees of doctor of philosophy and theology. Between 1948 and 1956 he worked as a professor of philosophy and theology in Mosul. On October 6, 1957, at the age of 35, he was ordained Bishop of Amadiya, by Patriarch Yousef VII Ghanima, becoming the youngest Catholic bishop in the world. As bishop of Amadiya he experienced the mass exodus of Christians from Northern Iraq. Mar Raphael Bidawid was then appointed bishop of Beirut in 1966 and served in this capacity for 23 years.
On March 21, 1989 Raphael I Bidawid was elected Patriarch of Babylon, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church. His election was confirmed by Pope John Paul II in June 1989. During his Patriarchate, Patriarch Bidawid, in agreement with the Chaldean Synod, established The Pontifical Babel College for Philosophy and Theology in 1991. The Babel College is situated in Baghdad, Dora, El-Mekaniek, next to St. Peter Chaldean Seminary. The Babel College became an instrumental educational institution for the Chaldean Church. Patriarch Bidawid could speak 13 languages. He died in Beirut, Lebanon on July 7, 2003, at the age of 81.
Patriarch Bidawid was known as a champion of the unification of the Assyrian Church of the East (formerly the Church of the East) and the Chaldean Catholic Church, which split in 1552 AD. In November 1996 Mar Dinkha IV of the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid met in Southfield, Michigan, and signed a Joint Patriarchal Statement that committed their two churches to working towards reintegration and pledged cooperation on pastoral questions such as the drafting of a common catechism, the setting up of a common seminary in the Chicago-Detroit area, the preservation of the Aramaic language, and other common pastoral programs between parishes and dioceses around the world.
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