Changes
Between Bishop Timathus of Chaldean and Pope Eugène IV It is my wonder and regret to notice a group of our brothers and intellectual writers repeating a song that Pope Eugene IV (1441-1447) was the one who “bestowed” the Nestorians who united in Rome with the title of Chaldean, which was later followed by the title of Patriarch of the Chaldeans, without any of these writers bothering to inquire about the original text, its meaning and content. Although the text in question dates back to 1445, and is available in sources known to scholars, I acknowledge my inability to discover any revenue or review of this Latin text, or to translate it, in any of the books and articles that parrot a saying that turns it upside down. This may end up being in a solid Latin language that is not easy to translate, so I committed myself to translating it in an article I published in Mesopotamia in 1996 (No. 95/96, pp. 181-203, entitled “The Church of the East in its Two”).
'''To the Vatican document:'''
When Bishop Timothyus, Bishop of Sypriots of Cyprus, concluded the Union with Rome in 1445 with the Maronite Metropolitan there, he had to replace his Nestorian title, which was associated with the denomination he had abandoned, with another title from which his identity would be revealed. He signed the Act of Union thus: “I, Timothy, Archbishop of Tarshish of the Chaldeans and Metropolitan of those who are in Cyprus, on my own behalf and on behalf of all the multitudes present in Cyprus, declare, acknowledge and prepare before the immortal God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and before you, Holy and Blessed Father, Pope Eugene IV, and before this Holy Lateran Council, that I will always remain under your obedience and the obedience of your successors and the obedience of the Holy Roman Church as the mother and head of all churches (According to Shmuel Jamil, The Book of Relations, Rome 1902, p. 10).
THE PAPAL DECREE ISSUED BY EUGÈNE IV ON AUGUST 7, 1445 AD COMMENTS: “AND TIMOTHY HIMSELF, BEFORE US IN THE LATERAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL AND IN ITS PLENARY SESSION, PROCLAIMED WITH RESPECT AND PIETY THE FORMULA OF '''HIS FAITH AND TEACHING, FIRST IN HIS CHALDEAN LANGUAGE, AND THEN TRANSLATED INTO GREEK AND THEN INTO LATIN'''.” ON THE BASIS OF THIS UNITARY DECLARATION, '''EUGÈNE IV PROHIBITS IN HIS AFOREMENTIONED DECREE THAT A CHALDEAN SHOULD LATER BE CALLED A NESTORIAN''', AND IN THE SAME SUBJECT IT IS FORBIDDEN TO CALL MARONITES HERETICS, THUS EQUATING CHALDEANS AND MARONITES WITH ALL CATHOLICS AND RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES. (ACCORDING TO SHMUEL JAMIL, P. 11)
It is crystal clear from the text that Pope Eugène IV cites what Bishop Timothy himself offered, with his pen and language, and repeats a text written by this bishop that he wrote and read in his Chaldean language, from which it was translated first into Greek and then into Latin. The authors of the presto claim by extension that Eugène IV also “bestowed” in the Chaldean language to Bishop Timathus and his people, since it is mentioned in his document, thus completing this additional picture of the scientific accuracy enjoyed by these writers.
