Mar Youhannan Semaan Issayi 1914 -یوحنا سمعان عیسائی) 1999) was the Metropolitan Archbishop

Archbishop

An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 of Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 of the Chaldean Catholics from March 16, 1971 until his death on February 7, 1999. He was born in Sanandaj

Sanandaj

Sanandaj , also Romanized as Senneh and Sinneh) is a city in and the capital of Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 311,446, in 81,380 families....

 سنندج, Kurdistan Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 on June 27, 1914 and ordained priest on March 3, 1940 and consecrated bishop on, October 22, 1967, in Iran.

Additional titles

• Coadjutor Archbishop of Sehna of the Chaldeans (Iran
  Iran
  Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
  
  ): (September 1, 1967 – March 7, 1970)
• Titular
  Titular (Catholicism)
  In Roman Catholicism, a titular can be:*the cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome. Such holders were initially by tradition native-born Romans . The first church in Rome to have a non-Italian titular was Santi Quattro Coronati: Dietrich of Trier was appointed titular in...
  
   Archbishop of Hieropolis: (September 1, 1967 – March 7, 1970)
• Metropolitan Archbishop of Sehna of the Chaldeans (Iran): (March 7, 1970 – March 16, 1971.

Education

His Excellency attended the Chaldean Seminary in Mosul for formation and left to Rome on 1933. He attended the Pontifical Urbaniana University, where he earned a master's degree in both philosophy and theology. He then pursued doctoral studies and obtained his PHD. During his academic career he mastered 8 languages: the classic Syriac, Colloquial Syriac
(Modern Assyrian), Persian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, and Latin.

Priesthood life

He was ordained as priest on 1940 and elevated to the rank of Archbishop on October 22, 1967. His excellency Metropolitan Mar Youhannan Semaan

Semaan

Semaan is one of the oldest Christian surnames in existence and is mainly found in the Levant area of the Middle East...

 Issayi for more than half century dedicated his life and earnestly served the Assyro-Chaldean Catholic Congregation at Tehran, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Qazvin, and Sanandaj. He supervised several construction projects of the churches, schools, and other charity institutions affiliated to the Assyro-Chaldean Catholic Church at Tehran Diocese.

Writer and Translator

Translation of Easter Rite Mass book from Aramaic into Modern Colloquial Syriac. Writer of extensively religious or Historic issues in modern Assyrian including an unpublished comprehensive Syriac Dictionary.Writer of different religious books for Assyro-Chaldean students from elementary to high school levels.Mar Youhannan was Editor of the church's -periodicals named Marga and Payam published in Persian and modern Assyro-Chaldean.Mar Youhannan published a poetry book devoted to the Virgin Mary and besides of his clergy services, he was a professor of Aramaic and Assyrian language.

Hymnist

Mar Youhannan composed many Assyro-Chaldean hymns (music & lyric) for the Christmass Mass, Good Friday and Easter Mass.These hymns were harmonized in poly phonic by Maestro Paulus Khofri

Paulus Khofri

Paulus Khofri was an Assyrian composer, lyricist and painter. He was born August 7, 1923 in Baghdad, Iraq and died in Tehran, Iran in May 2000 at the age of 77.-Biography:...

  and since now are performing by the Saint Joseph's Church Choir of Tehran and other church choirs worldwide.

External links

• http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bissayi.html
• http://www.gcatholic.com/dioceses/diocese/tehr0.htm#10223
• http://banipal.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=127