Thoma Darmo

Mar Thoma Darmo, (b. 21 September 1904 in Iyel, Ottoman Empire[1] – d. in Baghdad, Iraq on 7 September 1969), was the first Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East from 1968 to 1969.

Thoma Darmo was born as Mansour Darmo, son of Elishai and Shirine. He spent his childhood in Turkey and from 1919 in Iraq, becoming an ordained clergyman in 1921. He continued to serve in Iraq for 15 years. Then he moved to Syria where he served from 1936 to 1952.

In 1952, he was assigned as Metropolitan of the Assyrian Church of the East, based at Trichur, Kerala, India until 1968. He built a number of churches and established a number of new dioceses in India, encouraged the preparation of new clergy and established the Mar Narsai Press.

In a schism against the Catholicos-Patriarch Shimun XXI Eshai because of reform issues introduced by the Assyrian Church of the East as well as the hereditary system of the Patriarchate, he voiced his opposition. This resulted in a split from the Church (then headquartered in San Francisco, now headquartered in Erbil) and Darmo became one of the founders of the Ancient Church of the East.

Subsequently, after three years of the seat of the Ancient Church of the East remaining vacant (1964–1967), Mar Thoma Darmo was elected as head of the new church as its first Catholicos-Patriarch in October 1968.

He relocated the Ancient Church of the East to Baghdad where the church is headquartered. He died the following year on 7 September 1969. He was succeeded in 1970 by Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Addai II.