Mar Gewargis Cathedral

The teaching of the Church of the East is based on the faith of the universal Church as set forth in the Nicene Creed. The mystery of the Holy Trinity and the mystery of the Incarnation are central to its teaching.

The Church believes in One Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also believes and teaches that the Only-begotten Son of God, God the Word, became incarnate for us men and for our salvation and became man. The same God the Word, begotten of His Father before all worlds without beginning according to his divinity, was begotten of a mother without a father in the last times according to his humanity, in a body of flesh, with a rational, intelligent, and immortal soul which He took from the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and united to himself, making it his very own at the moment of conception. The humanity which He took for his own was assumed by God the Word, who was, thenceforth and for ever, the personal subject of the divine and human natures. His divine and human natures retain their own properties, faculties, and operations unconfusedly, immutably, undividedly, and inseparably.

Therefore, because the divinity and humanity are united in the Person of the same and only Son of God and Lord Jesus Christ, the Church of the East rejects any teaching which suggests that Christ is an “ordinary man” whom God the Word inhabited, like the righteous men and the prophets of old. The Church of the East further rejects any teaching that explicitly or implicitly suggests that there are two Sons, or two Lords, or two Christs in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but we confess one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same, through his passion, death, burial, and resurrection, redeemed humanity from the bondage of sin and death, and secured the hope of resurrection and new life for all who put their faith in Him, to whom, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, belongs confession, worship, and adoration unto ages of ages.

Amen.

Originally, the Church structure we now know as Mar Gewargis Cathedral was built in 1926, and it was called the 16th Church of Christ.

In 1979, the late, His Holiness, Mar Dinkha commissioned our ACOE committee to search for a new Church building. He had given the committee specific instructions on the type, size, style of Church to look for. The committee then found the building we use today. Upon his return from Iran, the Church was consecrated in 1981.

The Church was named “Mar Gewargis” or St. George. It became the Diocese Cathedral and a hub for all Assyrian religious ceremonies. Many parishioners got married, baptized their children, and even given last rites at this glorious Church.

The building was purchased for $400,000.00 and the loan used to make the purchase was paid off in two years. The Committee raised money from the loyal and generous parishioners through various activities to quickly pay off the loan.

There have been many celebrations at this beautiful Church. Several Deacons, priests, and Bishops were ordained at this holy site. In 2012, the current Diocesan bishop, Mar Paulus, was consecrated on Pentecost Sunday (27 May 2012) at Mar Gewargis Cathedral. The consecration liturgy was presided by His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV, Catholicos-Patriarch, and assisted by all of the members of the Holy Synod acting as co-consecrators.

In 2015, a more sorrowful event was hosted at Mar Gewargis: the funeral of our beloved Mar Dinkha, the 111th patriarch of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East. Hundreds attended the funeral and bid farewell to a great Patriarch who led the ACOE for 39 years. Several dignitaries from the city of Chicago and the Catholic Church were in attendance, along with numerous deacons, priests, and guest-clergy. The Cathedral was at full capacity.

Mar Gewargis Church has a great significance for most Assyrians living in the Chicagoland area. It remains the Diocese Cathedral and a powerful symbol of faith in our Assyrian community.