CORPUS SCRIPTORUM CHRISTIANORUM ORIENTALIUM (C.S.C.O.)

A HISTORICAL NOTE

Jean Baptiste Chabot, an eminent Syriacist who had received his training at the College de France, started Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium (C.S.C.O.) in 1903. With Dr. Chabot, four other Orientalist scholars participated in the early work and publication of the C.S.C.O. These were: Baron Carra de Vaux of the Institut of Paris, Louis Cheikho, S.J. Of the University of Beirut in Syria, Dr. Ignazio Guidi of the Sapienza University in Rome, and Dr. Henri Hyvernat of The Catholic University of America (CUA). The purpose of the series was to make available the works of the Eastern Fathers whose writings were in Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Coptic, and Armenian. Each text of the series was published in two parts: (1) a critical edition of the text and (2) a modern translation.

Scope and Content Note

Within the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum collection (1911 - c. 1939) there are three series of documents: (1) General Documents, (2) Administration of Corpus and (3) Correspondence.

General Documents : includes proofs of circular, sample title pages, and letters sent to the clergy and laity announcing the transfer of the C.S.C.O. to the Catholic University of American and Catholic University of Louvain.

Administration of Corpus : includes minutes of meetings (1926-1928, 1930, 1936), communications between The Catholic Universities of Louvain and America, expense reports, reports of the Rectors councils for 1912 and 1923, the official reports and correspondence of the General Secretary, J.B. Chabot. Also included is some correspondence of Hyvernat, which was incorporated to this series in 1945 by Rev. Patrick Skehan. Of special note are the letters of the Bishops in response to the transfer of C.S.C.O to the two universities.

Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
Vol. 590, Scriptores Syri, Tomus 231
“Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe”
Edited by Alessandro Mengozzi
Peters, Leuven, 2002

In 1976, R. Macuch tried in his presentation, “Geschichte der spät- und neusyrischen Literatur”, Berlin-New York 1976, to evaluate the Neo-Syriac literature of North of Iraq. He looked at what he called ‘Chaldean Literature’ from three points of view: poetics, diffusion and social function. In the final analysis, Macuch repeated the Nöldeke’s criticism, which basically denounced the scarce poetic value of the Chaldean literature. He argued that the religious poems did not reach the non-literate public. As far as social function was concerned, Macuch compared the successful national character of the literature developed by the Assyrians of Urmia with the exclusively religious character of the poems composed in North of Iraq by the Chaldean priests. He stated that one of the characteristics of the Chaldean literature was definitely based on the Christian religion theme. He argued that there was almost never one case in which a poem was without religion thought as part of it. The Chaldean literature, he stated, had no interest in daily life aspects dealing with national matters and, he added, that it hardly developed. In fact, there is no other literature that is as Christian as the Chaldean literature and the main reason for that is the fact that there was no one beside the priest who was writing that literature. This literature’s aspects of national character stayed almost passive.

The Historical Context

The Christians of North of Iraq represent the glorious diffusion and splendor of the Syriac Church between the 4th and 13th centuries. Since the end of the Middle Ages, the history of the East-Syrians (Suryaye maddenhaye) has been in the territories inhabited by the Kurds too. The “Suraye” lived like subjects (raya) of the Kurdish chieftains or as independent tribes (ashirat) in the Hakkari Mountains.

According to F. A. Pennacchietti, the Ottoman administration, in a way, stimulated the flourishing of literary activities among the Christians of North of Iraq. The oldest dated texts in a Christian dialect are said to have come from the end of the 16th century – beginning of the 17th century and are preserved in manuscripts from the 18th century onwards. These early texts were religious in nature and functioned in a liturgical or para-liturgical context. We know that the southward expansion of the Ottoman Empire opened the road for the Western travelers to initiate contacts with the Christians in North of Iraq. The presence of Catholic missions is well documented in this period between the ecclesiastic hierarchies of the Church of the East and Rome. From the ashes of these contacts the Uniate Chaldean Church rose up eventually, gathering throughout the centuries an increasing number of East-Syrian (Suraye maddenhaye) Christian faithful.

The obstinate preservation of the Aramaic idioms is stated to have been interpretable as a reaction against the overwhelming pressure of the Islamic majority, as a distinctive sign of their cultural and religious identities. On the other hand, the social position of these Christians exposed the language to dynamic developments because of influences by Turkish from the north, Persian from the east, and Arabic from the south, creating various dialects among the Christians depending where they resided.

Early Writers

Two of the earliest writers in North of Iraq were Israel of Alqosh and Joseph of Telkepe.

Israel of Alqosh

The fame of Israel of Alqosh in both the Western and Suraye tradition rests upon his work as a copyist and a writer in the classical language and as a poet in the vernacular. Israel of Alqosh is considered a prominent leader and inspirer of what is called the School of Alqosh, a term scholars grouped a number of Suraye maddenhaye writers who worked on the revival of the scribal and literary activities from the second half of the 16th century in North of Iraq.

1611 was a productive year for Israel of Alqosh, who was born in 1541. Yousuf Habbi explained by stating that it was in that year when Israel of Alqosh had to face a destructive, infectious spreading plague in his village but nevertheless succeeded in writing the whole of his production in the vernacular language. According to J. M. Fiey, 1611 was also the year that Israel of Alqosh converted to Catholicism. In the collection of ‘durekyata’ dated 1879, Fiey read a version of ‘On Perfection 51’ in which the contraposition between maddenhaye ‘Eastern people’ and yaqubaye ‘Jacobites’ is dramatically replaced by the contraposition ‘Eastern people’ vs. ‘Nestorians’. According to the text used by Fiey, it was not the Jacobites who debased the true faith—as the text recites in all the other available witnesses, but the Nestorians.
Instead of appealing to Suraye maddenhaye pride and orthodoxy, Fiey’s Israel of Alqosh would have disowned here the dross of Nestorianism attached to the pure apostolic faith of the Suraye maddenhaye tradition. A pure ‘Eastern’ community would have been born again after the Nestorian error.

Of course, this reading was music to the Catholic ear of missionaries working hard for the (re-)union with Rome from the 16th century onwards.

Joseph of Telkepe

There were two priests named Joseph who lived in Telkepe in 1664, one bearing the title of malpana, translated as ‘doctor,’ and the other qankaya, translated as ‘sacristan’. One of these two Josephs was the collaborator with the Carmelite Fr. Dionysius, the Procurator of the Persian Mission. Fr. Dionysius arrived to Alqosh in 1653 hoping to speak with Patriarch Mar Ilyas (Elias) and secure his re-union with Rome, a union that his predecessor uncle had undertaken (40) years earlier. He found that the Patriarch had withdrawn to Telkepe because of Kurds persecution. Thus he traveled to Telkepe and met with the patriarch. But Fr. Dionysius found that the patriarch was not ready to establish the re-union with Rome. The patriarch had stated that he had left his seal in Alqosh, thus, there was no way for him to write a letter to the Pope regarding the submission to Rome. Fr. Dionysius wrote in his diaries that it was something with the oriental characteristics that one can hardly distinguish between the various handwritings and that seals alone were the mean to differentiate between the different clergy. It was one of the two Josephs, a man of credit and repute, who approached the patriarch and tried hard to convince him to write that letter to the Pope even if without the seal, but the patriarch persisted in making excuses. This Joseph was of much help to Fr. Dionysius in latter days in the prior’s mission of converting the Surayeh to Catholicism. The patriarch said that the conditions were much worse (40) years ago when they needed the diplomacy of the Vatican to secure their well-being from the pressure of the Kurds.

Fr. Dionysius stated that even though Telkepe was a small village, there were some (50) priests in this village alone, many in bad conditions. One can understand why Christianity was so powerful in such villages like TelKepe when this many priests were present.

The other Joseph, son of priest Jamal al-din, became known by many as Joseph of Telkepe or Joseph Jemdani. Joseph of Telkepe was married and had many children. One of his children Isho, at least, became a priest too. One of Joseph’s poems was, as it appears, because of the death of children of his, among them was priest Isho who he loved dearly.
Fr. Dionysius wrote that to his knowledge Joseph of Telkepe was neither known as a writer in the classical language nor as a copyist, but in the manuscripts, six Neo-Syriac poems are attributed to him and two of the six poems specifically are attributed to Joseph because of the weak authority of the Berlin E. Sachau collection.

Interestingly enough and not surprisingly, neither Israel of Alqosh nor Joseph of Telkepe wrote anything about this term ‘chaldeans’. Their poetry, in the Syriac version (Vol. 589 of the Corpus), mentioned about the people they were part of and referred to them as “Suraye” and sometimes more specifically as Suraye maddenhaye, meanwhile, in the English version (Vol. 590 of the same corpus) the Suraye maddenhaye were referred to as the Eastern Syrians.

PRESIDENT BUSH REMEMBERS ASSYRIANS IN HIS ANTI-SADDAM REMARKS

(ZNDA: Ohio) On October 8, for the first time since the Gulf War in 1991, a United States president mentioned the name of the Assyrian people along with other Iraqi minorities as victims of Saddam Hussein's rule in Baghdad.

President Bush, in a speech delivered in the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, explained "America is a friend to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime that enslaves them and threatens us."

He also explained that "On Saddam Hussein's orders, opponents have been decapitated, wives and mothers of political opponents have been systematically raped as a method of intimidation, and political prisoners have been forced to watch their own children being tortured.

America believes that all people are entitled to hope and human rights, to the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. People everywhere prefer freedom to slavery; prosperity to squalor; self-government to the rule of terror and torture."

In an unprecedented move to include all opposition groups fighting against Saddam Hussein's government in Baghdad, President Bush continued to say that "When these demands are met, the first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children. The oppression of Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans, Shi'a, Sunnis and others will be lifted. The long captivity of Iraq will end, and an era of new hope will begin."

Less than a month ago President Bush, in a speech at the United Nations, failed to mention the Assyrians and used the term "others" to designate the more than one million Christian Assyrians in Iraq. This week's speech in Ohio was a clear indication of the success of the tireless efforts by the Assyrian lobby in Washington, Assyrian media sources including this publication, and several letter-writing campaigns in reversing President's Bush's stand on this issue (See Zinda Editoria on 16 September ("Reduced to Others").

Later this week, the United States Congress will vote on President Bush's request for the use of military power to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions.

STATE DEPARTMENT CRITICIZES MID-EAST COUNTRIES ON TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS

Courtesy of the Associated Press Newswires (7 October)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Sudan are hostile to certain minority religions, a State Department report on religious freedom said Monday. In Iran, the report said, the government sanctioned discrimination particularly in the areas of unemployment

"Baha'is, Jews, Christians, Mandaeans and Sufi Muslims reported imprisonment, harassment or intimidation based on their religious beliefs in Iran," the report said. It said laws based on religion were used to stifle freedom of expression.

There were also reports that Iraqi government has engaged in various abuses against the country's Assyrian and Chaldean Christians "especially in terms of forced movements from northern areas," the report said.

The report accused Saudi Arabia by noting that "freedom of religion does not exist" in that country.

In Pakistan, "the government failed to protect the rights of religious minorities, due both to public policy and to its unwillingness to take action against societal forces hostile to those that practice a different faith," the report found.

The report singled out Egypt for having improved its treatment of minority Christian Copts over the past year.

ASSYRIANS ALSO NOTED IN UNITED STATES DOCUMENTS ON ABUSES BY SADDAM

Courtesy of Los Angeles Times (6 October); report by Robin Wright

(ZNDA: Washington) The Bush administration is laying the groundwork for prosecuting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and a "dirty dozen" other officials for genocide, "ethnic cleansing," mass executions, rape and other crimes against humanity. Among the victims of Saddam’s horrific treatment of his countrymen, the report includes the Assyrians.

"We need to do our part to document the abuses, to collect the evidence that points to who is responsible," said Pierre-Richard Prosper, the State Department's ambassador at large for war crimes and a former U.N. war crimes prosecutor for the Rwanda tribunal. "We feel there has to be accountability for what has occurred. You can't brush aside the deaths of more than 100,000 people."

In a massive ethnic cleansing campaign, more than 120,000 Iraqis--primarily Kurds, Turkomans and Assyrians, none of whom are Arabs--have been forcibly expelled from the area around the northern city of Kirkuk to "Arabize" the oil-rich region, government and private groups say.

One of the dozen members of Saddam’s circle is Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz who is expected to be tried for
genocide against Kurds, chemical weapons attacks, and mass executions.

NEW YORK’S GOVERNOR PROCLAMATION REFERS TO ASSYRIANS

(ZNDA: New York) The following proclamation was issued by Governor of New York State, George E. Pataki, in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastophe presented to the Holocaust Memorial Observance Committee of Asia Minor on Sunday, October 6, 2002. Assyrians are also noted for their suffering during the 1915-1923 Seyfo Genocide in the hands of the Turkish government.

P R O C L A M A T I O N

State of New York
Executive Chamber
George E. Pataki, Governor

Press Office
518-474-8418
212-681-4640
http://www.state.ny.us

For Immediate Release

Whereas, the Empire State is home to many ethnic communities whose members benefit from the freedom and democracy upon which our Nation was founded; as a global leader in many areas of basic human and social
rights, New York State has a prominent role in acknowledging events in history -- many of them tragic and distressing -- that teach valuable lessons from which our greater society benefits; such events are the
destruction of the city of Smyrna and the Genocide of the Greeks of Pontus and Asia Minor, tragedies that took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Greek civilians during World War I; and

Whereas, these Greeks, whose ancestors had lived in communities along present-day northern Turkey near the Black Sea for three millennia, were singled out by the Turkish authorities for expulsion from their ancestral lands along with Armenians and Assyrians; from 1915-1923, Greeks of Asia Minor endured immeasurable cruelty during a Turkish Government-sanctioned systematic campaign to displace them; destroying Greek towns and villages
and slaughtering additional hundreds of thousands of civilians in areas where Greeks composed a majority, as on the Black Sea coast, Pontus, and areas around Smyrna; those who survived were exiled from Turkey and today
they and their descendants live throughout the Greek diaspora; and

Whereas, in 1922, Smyrna, the largest city in Asia Minor called "the jewel of the Mediterranean", a cosmopolitan hub populated by a highly educated Greek community and flourishing commercial and middle-classes, was sacked and burned and its inhabitants massacred by the Turkish forces; the pier of Smyrna became a scene of final desperation as the approaching flames forced many thousands to jump to their death, rather than be consumed by flame; George Horton, the Consul General of the United States in Smyrna at the time of the catastrophe, is quoted as saying, "...the destruction of Smyrna happened, however, in 1922, and no act ever perpetrated by the Turkish race in all its bloodstained history has been characterized by more brutal and lustful features, nor more productive of the worst of human sufferings inflicted on the defenseless and unarmed. It was a fittingly lurid and Satanic finale to the whole dreadful tragedy..."; and

Whereas, it is believed by many that acknowledgment and awareness of this shameful event will not only teach future generations, but also will help mankind prevent such crimes from being repeated; this concept is particularly important as our State works to instill in youth, a universal respect for other cultures, races, religions and viewpoints; and

Whereas, it is fitting that all freedom-loving people worldwide and New Yorkers alike, share in the solemn commemoration of the of Great Catastophe of Asia Minor of 1915-23, and join with the Greek-American
community and its many religious, communal and philanthropic organizations as they honor the sacrifices and memory of their noble ancestors;

Now, Therefore, I, George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York, do hereby proclaim October 6th, 2002 as the 80th Anniversary of the Commemoration of the Burning of Smyrna and the Persecution of the Greeks of Asia Minor in the Empire State.

SHENANDOAH COUNTRY CLUB BREAKS GROUND IN DETROIT

Courtesy of the Detroit News (8 Detroit); article by Amy Lee

(ZNDA: Detroit) A typical round of golf at the Shenandoah Country Club might one day plunge visitors into the ancient world of Catholicism and the culture of Chaldeans.

Crews this week will break ground on a nearly 100,000-square-foot clubhouse and cultural center addition on the grounds of the golf club, which is owned by the Chaldean Iraqi-American Association of Michigan.

The $20 million project will be the first of its kind in Metro Detroit, and is meant to celebrate and preserve the heritage of the at least 20,000 Chaldeans who call the area home.

"Many, many people define us as Arab, but the cultural center will give the community an opportunity to define ourselves and our history firsthand, rather than letting others do it for us," said Martin Manna, president of Chaldean Americans Reaching & Encouraging, or CARE.

Chaldeans are Catholics from Iraq who began immigrating to the region in the 1900s, lured by the steady work and wages that defined the burgeoning auto industry.

Metro Detroit is home to one of the nation's largest Chaldean populations, with the majority in Oakland County, particularly in cities such as Southfield and Oak Park.

Those in the Chaldean community claim as many as 100,000 Chaldeans live in the Metro area.

The cultural center will be the community's museum, its archives, its library and a central location to celebrate a culture that can trace its roots from ancient Sumer through the earliest auto boom, when parents and grandparents arrived to establish a close-knit merchant community.

"There is a lack of education about the Chaldean culture," said Isam Yaldo, vice president of the Chaldean Iraqi-American Association of Michigan. "We want to show our history, where we come from, how we've blended into society and live the freedom that everyone else lives, while at the same time maintain and preserve our culture."

Like immigrant groups before them, community ties loosen slightly with each generation as children and grandchildren go off to school and marry outside of the community.

The center, which will offer classes in Chaldean culture and writing, will expose Chaldean-American children to their heritage, organizers say.

"We feel this is our generational responsibility," said Adhid "Ed" Miri, 52, a West Bloomfield resident who plans to donate several artifacts to the cultural center.

"This will be a place to reflect, to see the strength of the community and how it has shaped its own physical presence. It's not just religious, it's social, it's historic and it's cultural."

The association is encouraging local Chaldeans to donate books, photographs, artwork and religious relics to adorn the walls and displays they envision will make up the cultural center. Calls for donations will likely be channeled through the Chaldean churches in Southfield, West Bloomfield, Troy, Oak Park and Detroit.

Each donated piece will bear the donor's name and a brief description of its relevance. The group does not plan to charge admission to the cultural center.

Birmingham architect Victor Saroki has designed the facility, but organizers are still shaping the layout and design of the center.

But the group knows one display will be dedicated to the remembrance of the 300,000 Chaldeans massacred during the Armenian genocide, which took place in Turkey in World War I, Manna said.

A coalition of Chaldean families owns Shenandoah golf course and Southfield Manor, the upscale banquet facility where that community has hosted many cultural events.

Plans for the center have been in the works since 1989 when the association purchased the Shenandoah.

The original idea was to build a separate facility on 16 acres of vacant land adjacent to the center, but the community eventually settled on a more central location.

Saroki, the architect, designed the plans for the two-story building, which beside the center will include a massive banquet hall, activity rooms, indoor recreation center, an outdoor pool, a new driving range and expanded parking.

"Most cultures have left their imprints not only in writing, but in architecture. The only way you can really promote and preserve a culture is by having cultural centers," Miri said.

"The things we've preserved in our homes for decades, we'd like to share these with other people so they can get introduced to our background, not just who we are today, but who we were yesterday."

SABAEANS OF IRAQ CONTINUE THEIR ANCIENT TRADITIONS IN TRYING TIMES

Courtesy of the Toronto Star (5 October); article by Brian Anthony

(ZNDA: Toronto) They have ventured far from the banks of the River Jordan, where their legendary prophet preached and baptized. These loyal followers of John the Baptist now make their home by another biblical waterway - the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq.

Little known but deeply proud of their faith, the Sabaeans of Iraq are carrying their ancient tradition through trying times of dwindling numbers and political instability.

Recognized under traditional Islamic law as "People of the Book," along with Jews and Christians, the Sabaeans are monotheistic and "follow the scriptures left by the Prophet John, as well as the teachings of Seth, Abraham, and other prophets," said Sheikh Khalaf Abu Zaydoon, the second-highest-ranking cleric in the faith.

The Sabaeans' chief holy book is the Kenza Rama, or Great Treasure. It is a powerful and poetic text written in a dialect of the Aramaic language. More than 600 pages long, the Kanza Rama is said to transmit the voices of ancient prophets otherwise lost to time.

"Great is thy name, my Lord," it begins. "I mention thy name with a pure heart, Lord of All Worlds."

The Iraqi Sabaeans, who number about 80,000, are quick to point out what they have in common with their mainly Muslim neighbours. They say they enjoy good relations with the other religions of Iraq, and they are proud to claim this land as their own home. "We have been in this land since before the Arabs, but since then we have taken on their language and their customs. At the core, Islam and Sabaeanism are the same, really," Khalaf said.

While politics have put some religious groups in bad standing with Saddam Hussein's Arab socialist government, a range of faiths flourish in this ancient land of the prophets. Sunni Muslims, Shi'ites, Sufis, Chaldean Christians and even the heterodox Yezidis are represented here.

The Iraqi president himself recently launched the construction of a new Sabaean temple in Baghdad, and the Sabaean General Affairs Council credited him for a 50 million dinar donation toward their religious magazine, Mandaean Horizons. "We have all kinds of religions, all kinds of sects here in Iraq," Khalaf said, "We all live in peace."

True to the heritage of John the Baptist, the Sabaeans - who sometimes refer to themselves as Mandaean Sabaeans to reflect their ancient heritage - place a high premium on baptism.

"Baptism carries two meanings," said Khalaf. "We baptize to purify the soul and we baptize for repentance for our deeds." Baptism is an integral part of the Sabaeans' weekly congregational worship, their wedding ceremony and special holidays.

Though traditionally performed in a river, such as the "sacred waters of the Tigris," the baptism ritual has adapted to the times, the sheikh said. The Baghdad temple includes a large pool-like basin with tiled steps for easy immersion. The pool is flanked on either side with the dervish, the shape of a cross with a large white cloth laid over the crossbar. The dervish serves as the symbol of the religion in Iraq.

Parallels between Islam and Sabaeanism run deep. Although the Sabaean holy day is Sunday, when congregational worship is held at local temples, the clerics are called sheikhs, as are Muslim clerics in Iraq, and have a similar appearance. Sabaeans offer ritual prayers three times daily, and number five pillars of faith: monotheism, baptism, praying, fasting and almsgiving.

Some Sabaeans are alarmed at the dwindling numbers of believers. Of about 100,000 Sabaeans worldwide, 80,000 are in Iraq, another estimated 15,000 live in southern Iran, and a few tiny communities are present in the United States and Great Britain, among other locales.

In Iraq, the thinning ranks are blamed partly on conversion from the religion and apathy among the youth.

'You cannot convert to the Sabaean faith. You have to be born into the faith'

Abdul-Razzaq Al-Khamisi, a worshipper at the Baghdad temple, gave another reason for the small size of the community. "You cannot convert to the Sabaean faith. Even if you marry a Sabaean woman, you will have your religion and she will have hers. You have to be born into the faith," Al-Khamisi said.

Khalaf said the current era of suffering has afflicted all Iraqis alike. "Just like everyone else in Iraq, we hate the sanctions. We are suffering under the sanctions, and we condemn them."

The strict sanctions imposed by the United Nations during the Gulf War affect nearly every aspect of life in what was once among the most advanced Arab nations.

"Twelve years of sanctions have hurt everyone in this country and caused so much damage. Even down to the water we use for our rituals. Our rituals depend upon pure water, for the baptism, for making bread. Water is the source of life, it cleans the body and the soul, and the sanctions affect even that," the cleric said.

United Nations officials say that allied bombing and supply shortages have badly corrupted the nation's water supplies and spread a number of water-borne diseases, including cholera.

"But we don't look at the American people as the enemy. It's their government. Their government is trying to impose a system on everyone. It's the same with Iraq as it is with other countries," Khalaf said. "But the American people? We call them to friendship.

"The big problem in the world today is tribalism," the sheikh said. "People saying, 'We are better than these people, we are better than those.' The real goal for all of us should be to serve humanity, to promote justice between all people, and to serve Almighty God."

OBITUARY: JALIEL HANNA JALLO

(ZNDA: Florida) Jaliel Hanna Jallo, 66, of Oldsmar, died last Friday as the result of an auto accident in Palm Harbor. He was born in Syria, and came to the U.S. in 1990 from Little Ferry, New Jersey. He owned and operated the East Lake Mobile gas station and store, Palm Harbor, for 10 years. He was a member of the St. Athanasius Syrian Orthodox Church of Tarpon Springs. Survivors include his wife, Ruth; two sisters, Fahima Jallo in Sweden, and Gorgiea Jallo; and several nieces and nephews.