Mar Yohannan Elias Mellus (or Milos, Milus) (1831-1908) was a Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Chaldean Catholic Church

Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...

.

Elias Mellus was born on September 19, 1831 in Mardin

Mardin

Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...

. He entered in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd

Rabban Hormizd Monastery

Rabban Hormizd Monastery is an important monastery of the Chaldean Church. It is carved out in the mountains about 2 miles from Alqosh, Iraq, 28 miles north of Mosul...

 in Alqosh

Alqosh

Alqōsh or Alqūsh is one of the most famous Assyrian towns of the mainly East Syrian rite in Iraq. It is located north of Mosul. The name Alqosh is derived from an Akkadian name Eil-Kushtu, where "Eil" means God and "Kushtu" means righteousness or power...

. On September 21, 1856 he was ordained priest and on June 5, 1864 he was ordained bishop Aqra

Åkre

Åkre may refer to the following locations:*Åkre, Hedmark in Rendalen municipality, Hedmark, Norway*Åkre, Telemark in Drangedal municipality, Telemark, Norway*Åkrehamn in Karmøy municipality, Rogaland, Norway-See also:*Åker...

 by Patriarch Joseph VI Audo

Joseph Audo

Mar Joseph VI Audo † was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1847 to 1878.Joseph VI Audo was born in 1790 in Alqosh and in 1814 he became a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He was ordained priest in 1818 and consecrated bishop of Mosul on the March 25, 1825 by the...

.

He worked from 1874 to 1882 in the Indian city of Thrissur

Thrissur

This article is about the city in India. For the district, see Thrissur district. For the urban agglomeration area of Thrissur see Thrissur Metropolitan Area...

. On behalf of the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Joseph VI Audo

Joseph Audo

Mar Joseph VI Audo † was the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from 1847 to 1878.Joseph VI Audo was born in 1790 in Alqosh and in 1814 he became a monk of the monastery of Rabban Hormizd. He was ordained priest in 1818 and consecrated bishop of Mosul on the March 25, 1825 by the...

, he looked in vain for the reunification of the Catholic faction of Thomas Christians called Syro-Malabar with their sister church, namely the "Patriarchate of Babylon

Chaldean Catholic Church

The Chaldean Catholic Church , is an Eastern Syriac particular church of the Catholic Church, maintaining full communion with the Bishop of Rome and the rest of the Catholic Church...

" as the Catholic successor to the ancient catholicate

Catholicate

A Catholicate or Catholicosate is the area of responsibility of a catholicos, a leader within any of the several churches of Eastern Christianity, especially those regarded as Oriental Orthodoxy...

 of Seleucia-Ctesiphon.

The experiment resulted in a schism: some of the followers of Mellus left the Chaldean Catholic Church and joined the Autocephalous Church of the East

Assyrian Church of the East

The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East ʻIttā Qaddishtā w-Shlikhāitā Qattoliqi d-Madnĕkhā d-Āturāyē), is a Syriac Church historically centered in Mesopotamia. It is one of the churches that claim continuity with the historical...

 in 1907/09. This group gained more than regional significance, as in 1968 their Metropolitan, Mar Thomas Darmo

Mar Thoma Darmo

Mar Thoma Darmo, , was the first Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East from 1968 to 1969....

, opposed Assyrian Patriarch Mar Shimun XXIII

Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII

Mar Eshai Shimun XXIII , sometimes known as Mar Shimun XXI Ishaya, Mar Shimun Ishai, or Simon Jesse, was Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East from 1920, when he was a youth, until his assassination on 6 November 1975...

.

In 1882 Mar Elias Mellus was suspended by his office of bishop and returned to Mosul

Mosul

Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...

. After some hesitation he fully reentered in the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1890 and was appointed bishop of Mardin, where he died on February 16, 1908. He wrote a "History of Oriental Chaldean Church" (from the early to mid-6th century).

Literature

• Eugène Tisserant:Eastern Christianity in India. Longmans, Green and Co., London 1957, 112-119.
• Georg Graf:History of Christian Arabic literature. 4th Bd Apost Bibl. Vaticana, Città del Vaticano 1951, 112f.
• Joseph Habbi:Les Chaldéens et les Malabar au 19e siècle.In: Oriens Christianus 64 (1980) 82-107.