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|image= [[File:Chaldeansoftheprovinceof MardinI am Chaldean 2015-05-30 15-03.JPGjpg|200px250px]]|caption = Chaldean Catholics Chaldeans from [[MardinCalifornia]], 19th 21st century.

|langs = [[Syriac Chaldean language|SyriacChaldean language]], [[Arabic]], [[Chaldean Neo-Aramaic]]|rels = [[Syriac Chaldean Christianity]] (in union with [[Roman Catholic Church|Rome]])

'''Chaldean Christians''' {{IPAc-en|k|ae|l|'|d|i:|@n}} ({{lang|syr|ܟܠܕܝ̈ܐ}}), or [[Chaldo-AssyriansChaldean]], <ref>Mar Raphael J Bidawid. The Assyrian Star. September–October, 1974:5</ref><ref>Parpola, Simo (2004)Chaldean Patriarch Sako. July 2015 "National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post-Empire TimesWe are CHALDEANS" (PDF). Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies (JAAS) 18 (2): pp. 22.</ref> adherents adherent of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]</ref>, originally called ''The Church of Assyria and Mosulthe East'',<ref>George V. Yana (Bebla), "Myth vs. Reality" JAA Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, 2000 p. 80</ref> which was that part of the original universal church (Catholicos) until the 4th century AD when Chaldeans followed Bishop Nestorius and split from the universal Christian church. Chaldeans were called [[Assyrian Church of the EastChaldean Nestorian]] which until 1553 AD when Chaldeans Rejoined the universal church and entered communion with the [[Catholicism|Catholic Church]] between the 16th and 18th centuries AD.<ref name='BBC'>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7271828.stm |title=Who are the Chaldean Christians? |author=BBC NEWS |date=March 13, 2008 |work= |publisher=BBC NEWS |accessdate=March 26, 2010}}</ref>

In addition to their ancient [[Assyrian Chaldean homeland| Mesopotamia]] in northern [[Iraq]], northeast [[Syria]], northwest [[Iran]] and southeast [[Turkey]], (a region roughly corresponding with ancient [[AssyriaMesopotamia]]) migrant Assyrian or [[Chaldo-AssyrianChaldean | Chaldean people]] Catholic communities are found in the [[United States]], [[Sweden]], [[Germany]], [[France]], [[Canada]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]] and [[Australia]].<ref name='Iraq'>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Iraq|authors=Edmund Ghareeb, Beth Dougherty|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8108-4330-1|page=56|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uIyjeUAR5zYC}}</ref>

Similarly, Chaldean Catholics should not be confused with of [[Mesopotamia]] started the [[Saint Thomas Christians]] of [[India]] (also called the [[Chaldean Syrian Church]]), who are also sometimes known as "Chaldean Christians" or ''Assyrian Christians''.

It is believed that the [[File:Chaldeansoftheprovinceof Mardin.JPG|thumb|Chaldeans from [[Mardin]], 19th century]]Chaldeans are native people of [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]]. The term ''Chaldean Catholic'' arose due to a Catholic [[Latin language|Latin]] misinterpretation and misreading is also noted in the Holy Bible of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''Ur Kasdim'' (according to long held Jewish tradition, the birthplace of Abraham in ''Northern MesopotamiaChaldea'') as meaning ''Ur of the Chaldees''.<ref>Biblical Archaeology Review May/June 2001: Where Was Abraham's Ur? by Allan R. Millard</ref> The Hebrew ''Kasdim'' does not in fact mean or refer to the ''Chaldeans'', and Ur Kasdim is generally believed by many to have been somewhere in [[Assyria]], north eastern [[Syria]] or south eastern [[Anatolia]].

The 18th century modern Chaldean Catholics are native [[Roman Catholic ChurchChaldean people|Chaldeans]] then applied this misinterpreted name to their new diocese in northern of [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] <ref>Nisan, a region whose indigenous inhabitants had always previously been referred to ethnically as ''Assurayu'', ''Assyrians'', ''Assouri'', ''Ashuriyun'', ''M. 2002. Minorities in the Middle East Syrian'', ''Athurai'', ''Atoreh'' etc: A History of Struggle for Self Expression ., Jefferson: McFarland & Company. Jump up ^ http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14225.html</ref> and by the denominational terms ''Syriac Christians'', ''Jacobites'' originated from ancient Chaldean communities living in and ''Nestorians''indigenous to Iraq/Mesopotamia which was known as Chaldea from the 53rd century BC till today as [[Chaldean people| Chaldean people]] continue to survive in [[Mesopotamia]].

Thus the term ''Chaldean Catholic'' is historically, usually and properly taken purely as a [[denominational]], [[doctrinal]] and [[theological]] term which only arose in the late 17th century AD, and not as an [[ethnic]] identity or designation.<ref>a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Travis, Hannibal. Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq, and Sudan. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2010, 2007, pp. 237-77, 293–294</ref><ref name="conference.osu.eu">http://conference.osu.eu/globalization/publ/08-bohac.pdf</ref><ref name="conference.osu.eu"/> The modern Chaldean Catholics are in fact [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]<ref>Nisan, M. 2002. Minorities in the Middle East: A History of Struggle for Self Expression .Jefferson: McFarland & Company. Jump up ^ http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/14225.html</ref> and originated from ancient Assyrian communities living in and indigenous to the north of Iraq/Mesopotamia which was known as Assyria from the 25th century BC until the 7th century AD, rather than the long extinct [[Chaldea]]ns/[[Chaldees]], who in actuality were 9th century BC migrants from [[The Levant]], and always resided in the far south east of Mesopotamia, adisappeared from history circa 550 BC. However, despite this, a minority of Chaldean Catholics (particularly in the [[United States]]) have in recent times confused a purely religious term with an ethnic identity, and espoused a separate ethnic identity to their Assyrian brethren, despite there being absolutely no historical, academic, cultural, geographic, archaeological, linguistic or genetic evidence supporting a link to either the Chaldean land or the Chaldean race. [[Raphael Bidawid]], the then patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church commented on the [[Assyrian name dispute]] in 2003 and clearly differentiated between the name of a church and an ethnicity: : “''I personally think that these different names serve to add confusion. The original name of our Church was the ‘Church of the East’ … When a portion of the Church of the East became Catholic in the 17th Century, the name given was ‘Chaldean’ based on the Magi kings who were believed by some to have come from what once had been the land of the Chaldean, to Bethlehem. The name ‘Chaldean’ does not represent an ethnicity, just a church… We have to separate what is ethnicity and what is religion… I myself, my sect is Chaldean, but ethnically, I am [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]].''”<ref name="Parpola">{{cite journal | author = Parpola, Simo | year = 2004 | title = National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post-Empire Times | journal = [[Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies]] | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = pp. 22 | publisher = JAAS | url = http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v18n2/Parpola-identity_Article%20-Final.pdf | format = PDF | authorlink = Simo Parpola }}</ref> In an interview with the Assyrian Star in the September–October 1974 issue, he was quoted as saying:: “''Before I became a priest I was an Assyrian, before I became a bishop I was an Assyrian, I am an Assyrian today, tomorrow, forever, and I am proud of it''.''”<ref>Mar Raphael J Bidawid. The Assyrian Star. September–October, 1974:5.</ref> ==Chaldean Catholics Chaldeans in the Middle East==The 1896 census of the Chaldean Catholics<ref>Mgr. George 'Abdisho' Khayyath to the Abbé Chabot (''Revue de l'Orient Chrétien'', I, no. 4)</ref> counted 233 parishes and 177 churches or chapels, mainly in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The Chaldean Catholic clergy numbered 248 priests; they were assisted by the monks of the Congregation of [[Rabban Hormizd (Saint)|St. Hormizd]], who numbered about one hundred. There were about 52 Assyrian Chaldean schools (not counting those conducted by Latin nuns and missionaries). At [[Mosul]] there was a patriarchal seminary, distinct from the Chaldean seminary directed by the Dominicans. The total number of Assyrian Chaldean Christians is nearly 1.4 million, 78,000 of whom are in the [[Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul|Diocese of Mosul]].

There are five archbishops (resident respectively at [[Basra]], [[Diyarbakır]], [[Kirkuk]], [[Salmas]] and [[Urmia]]) and seven bishops. Eight patriarchal vicars govern the small Assyrian Chaldean Chaldean communities dispersed throughout Turkey and Iran. The Chaldean clergy, especially the monks of [[Rabban Hormizd Monastery]], have established some missionary stations in the mountain districts dominated by [[The Assyrian Church of the East]]. Three dioceses are in Iran, the others in Turkey. The liturgical language of the Chaldean Catholic Church is [[Syriac language|Syriac]], a [[Neo-Aramaic languages|Neo-Aramaic]] dialect originating in Assyria during the [[Parthian Empire]]. The liturgy of the Chaldean Church is written in the [[Syriac alphabet]].

The literary revival in the early 20th century was mostly due to liturgical language of the Chaldean Catholic Church is [[Lazarist]] [[Paul BedjanChaldean language|Pere BedjanChaldean Neo-Aramaic]], an ethnic originating in [[Assyrian people|AssyrianChaldea]] Chaldean Catholic from northwestern Iran. He popularized The liturgy of the ancient chronicles, Chaldean Church is written in the lives of [[AssyriaChaldean Syriac alphabet]]n saints and martyrs, and even works of the ancient Assyrian doctors among Assyrians of all denominations, including Chaldean Catholics, Orthodox Christians and the Assyrian Church.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03559a.htm|title = New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia }}</ref>

In March 2008, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop [[Paulos Faraj RahhoRaho]] of Mosul was kidnapped, and found dead two weeks later. [[Pope Benedict XVI]] condemned his death. Moderate Sunni and Shia Muslims also expressed their condemnation.<ref>{{cite web

Chaldean Catholics today number approximately 550350,000 of Iraq's estimated 800400,000 [[Assyrian Chaldean Christians]], with smaller numbers found among the Assyrian Chaldean Christian communities of northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, northwest Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Armenia.<ref name='BBC'/> Perhaps the best known Iraqi Chaldean Catholic is former Iraqi deputy prime minister, [[Tariq Aziz]] (real name Michael Youhanna).<ref name='BBC'/>

Hundreds of thousands of [[Assyrian Chaldean Christians]] of all denominations have left Iraq since the ousting of [[Dictator Saddam Hussein]] in 2003. At least 20,000 of them have fled through Lebanon to seek resettlement in Europe and the US.<ref>Martin Chulov (2010) [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/23/iraq-christian-exodus-christmas ”Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace”]''The Guardian'', retrieved June 12, 2012</ref>

As political changes sweep through many Arab nations, the ethnic Assyrian Chaldean minorities in northeast Syria, northwest Iran and southeast Turkey have also expressed concern.<ref>R. Thelen (2008) [http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/Sep/26/Thousands-of-Iraqi-Christians-find-refuge-in-Lebanon.ashx#axzz1xcnVc7gD ''Daily Star'', Lebanon] retrieved June 12, 2012</ref>

==Predominantly Chaldean Catholic towns in northern Iraq==

{{Portal|Assyrians}}*[[Assyrian Chaldean people]]*[[List of Assyrians]]*[[Names of Syriac ChristiansChaldeans]]

*[[List of Assyrian Chaldean settlements]]*[[The Last Assyrians]]

{{Iraq topics}}{{Syriac Chaldean Christianity}}

[[Category:Assyrian Chaldean people]]