Mar Joseph IV Timotheus Lazar Hindi was the fourth incumbent of the ''Josephite'' line of Church of the East, a patriarchate in full communion with the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

mainly active in the areas of Amid and Mardin. He was considered the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1757 to 1796.

Life

Lazar Hindi, born on 14 September 1726, educated at the Urban college in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, was elected patriarch after the death on 23 January 1757 of his predecessor Joseph III Timothy Maroge. He was consecrated bishop on 8 February 1757 by Yohannan Basil, bishop of Mardin (died 1758), who in turn had been consecrated bishop in 1741 by Joseph III. Lazar Hindi was confirmed patriarch by the

Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

on 25 March 1759 and received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

on 9 April 1759. He took the name of Joseph (''Youssef'') IV. From 1765 to 1768 he went to

for printing Chaldean liturgical books and Gospels. Lazar Hindi coped with the main problem of his predecessors: the tax burdens imposed by the Ottoman authorities on his churches with any kind of pretexts. As his predecessor, in the 1770s he visited the European courts to raise funds but without results. Back in Amid, dispirited, he resigned in August 1780, appointing as successor his nephew

Augustine Hindi Mar Joseph V Augustine Hindi was the patriarchal administrator of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1781 to 1827. Since 1804 he considered himself Patriarch with the name of Joseph V and from 1812 to his death he actually governed both the patriar ...

. The

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

accepted the resignation in 1781 but objected to the succession of his nephew. Informed of this, Lazar Hindi withdrew his resignation and remained in Amid. In 1789 Lazar Hindi was imprisoned by the Turkish authorities for his debt of twenty thousand ''piastras''. He escaped in 1790 and left for Rome. When he arrived in Rome in March 1791, he found that the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

was not so interested in his small patriarchate, but was working on possible unions with both the patriarchate of

Qochanis Qudshanis, "Kochanis" or "Kochanes" (officially ''Konak'', syr, ܩܘܕܫܢܝܣ, translit=Qūdšānīs , ; ku, Qoçanis, script=Latn), is a small village in the Hakkâri District of Hakkâri Province, Turkey. The village is populated by Kurds o ...

, whose patriarch Mar Shimun XV Maqdassi Mikhail in 1770 wrote to Rome to establish contacts, and mainly with the ancient patriarchate of

Alqosh Alqosh ( syr, ܐܲܠܩܘܿܫ, Judeo-Aramaic: אלקוש, ar, ألقوش, alternatively spelled Alkosh or Alqush) is a town in the Nineveh Plains of northern Iraq, a sub-district of the Tel Kaif District and is situated 45 km north of the ...

, contended by two cousins, one of which, Yohannan VIII Eliya Hormizd, considered himself a Catholic. In 1791 the Vatican had given the government of Amid, the main town of Lazar Hindi's patriarchate, to Yohannan Hormizd. Lazar Hindi vehemently objected, and in 1793 succeeded to have his nephew Augustine returned to be the episcopal administrator of Amid, besides being patriarchal administrator. Lazar Hindi died in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1796.

Notes

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Iv Chaldean Catholic Patriarchs of Babylon 1726 births 1796 deaths 18th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops Assyrians from the Ottoman Empire Bishops in the Ottoman Empire 18th-century people from the Ottoman Empire