Archeparchy of Urmyā
Urmien(sis)
Eastern metropolitan see · Chaldean Church · Urmyā, Iran
Urmya is a metropolitan archeparchy of the Chaldean Catholic Church (Eastern rite, not Latin) in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran, established in 1890, with the suffragan Eparchy of Salmas. The see has been vacant since Archbishop Thomas Meram retired in January 2024, and is administered by Archbishop Imad Khoshaba Gargees.
The see
- Rank
- Eastern metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Chaldean Church
- Erected
- 1890
- Latin
- Urmien(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000052
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 1,000
- Priests
- 2
- Catholics per priest
- 500
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Apostolic Administrator
- Imad Khoshaba Gargees
- Born
- 4 April 1978
- Birthplace
- Komane
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral of St. Mary the Mother of God, Urmia stands in Urmyā, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Urmya (Chaldean), metropolitan with suffragan Salmas
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
With its episcopal see in Urmia, West Azerbaijan Province, in north-west Iran, the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Urmiā (also spelled Urmia, also called Rezayeh, and informally Urmyā of the Chaldeans) is a metropolitan archeparchy of the Chaldean Catholic Church, of the Syro-Oriental Rite in the Syriac language. Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is the Cathedral of St. Mary the Mother of God in Urmia, Iran.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia · GCatholic
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].