== Nestorian Communities Today ==
Information on The Assyrian Church of the East is a Nestorian body with jurisdiction in Iraq and Eastern Iran. It is sometimes referred to as the Assyrian Orthodox Church, not to be confused with the Syriac Orthodox Church, a [[monophysite]] body, the Chaldean Catholic Church, a [[uniate]] body, or the Orthodox [[Church of Antioch]], and [[Orthodox]] Local Church. The schism between the Assyrian Church would go hereand the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church began at the Council of Seleucia in 410, where Mesopotamian Christians declared their independence from the Patriarch of [[Antioch]]. The split solidified after the condemnation of Nestorius at the [[Third Ecumenical Council]] and the destruction of the theological school at Edessa. In the 15th century, the church decreed that the title of Patriarch could pass only to relatives of then-patriarch Mar Shimun IV. This upset many in the church's hierarchy, and in 1552 a rival Patriarch, Mar Yohanan Soulaqa VIII was elected. This rival Patriarch met with the Pope and entered into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The Assyrian Church now had two rival leaders, a hereditary patriarch in Alqosh (in modern-day northern Iraq), and a Papal-appointed patriarch in Diyarbakir (in modern-day eastern Turkey). This situation lasted until 1662 when the Patriarch in Diyarbakir, Mar Shimun XIII Denha, broke communion with Rome, and moved his seat to the village of Qochanis in the Turkish mountains. The Vatican responded by appointing a new patriarch to Diyarbakir to govern the Assyrians who stayed loyal to the Holy See. This became known as the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]], a [[uniate]] body. In 1804 the hereditary line of Patriarchs in Alqosh died out, and that church's hierarchy decided to accept the authority of the Chaldean patriarchs. Assyrians faced reprisals under the Hashemite monarchy for co-operating with the British, and most fled to the West. The Patriarch of Babylon is currently based in Chicago, Illinois, and less than 1 million of the world's 4.5 million Assyrians remain in Iraq. The Chaldean community was less numerous at the time of the British Mandate of Palestine, and did not play a major role in the British rule of the country. However with the exodus of Assyrians, the Chaldean Catholic Church became the largest non-Muslim group in Iraq, and many later rose to power in the Ba'ath Party government, the most prominent being Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. In 1964, the issue of hereditary succession again caused a schism, with the election of Mar Thomas Darmo as a rival to the hereditary Mar Simon XXIII. Mar Simon resigned in 1973, and was assassinated in 1975 during negotiations over his possible reinstatement. Mar Dinkha IV was elected as Simon's successor, and announced the permanent end of the hereditary succession. While this removes the underlying dispute, the rift between the rival Patriarchs still exists, with Mar Addai as the successor to Mar Thomas Darmo. On November 11, 1994, an historic meeting of Mar Dinkha IV and Catholic Pope John Paul II took place in the Vatican and a Common Christological Declaration was signed. One side effect of this meeting was that the Assyrian Church's relationship to the Chaldean Catholic Church was improved. There are also large numbers of Assyrian congregations in Iran. In addition, a few remain in Iraq, a single parish exists in China, and the Church has its headquarters (along with four other houses of worship) in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Current status:* Primate: Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos and Patriarch of Babylon (Qochanis)* Primate: Mar Addai II, Catholicos and Patriarch of Babylon (Baghdad)* Headquarters: Chicago, IL* Faithful: about 4.5 million '''Christology'''Usually, the Assyrian Church of the East denies that it teaches [[Nestorianism]]. On the other hand, it has [[canonized]] [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] as a [[saint]].
== Protestant Theology as a form of Crypto-Nestorianism ==
