Al-Ufq is a religious, cultural, and social quarterly issued by the Patriarchate of the Ancient Church of the East ( the leadership of this church is in Iraq and all over the world). 

The journal started issuance in 1997 by the Printing and Translation Committee at the headquarters of the patriarchate through the sponsorship and support of His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Adday 2ndhead of the church, following official approvals as per the letter of the then Ministry of Information Office No. 648 dated 01/ 06/1997  with his beatitude as the connoisseur of the journal. The headquarters of the journal was in Baghdad . (Document No. One). 

The editorial staff of the journal comprised a number of Fathers and deacons and church youths, among them was Fr. Adeeb Shaba ,  Fr. Muneer Malkzdeq and deacon Youkhanna Ya’aqub (now a priest), deacon Sargon Shlemon, Mr. George Khoshaba and a number of other technical staff. 

The first Nos. of the journal used to be issued in a simple form with a simple cover of one colour by copying a limited number.

With the issuance of its second No., Mr. Shlemon Dawood ( the present editor in chief ) joined the editorial staff.

At the beginning of 1998 the journal came to a halt as most of the Frs. Deacons and working staff working at the Patriarchate and in the journal were transferred to other parishes or traveled abroad. At the end of 1998 the issuance of the journal was resumed with a new editorial staff that worked as group. At a later time the terms of reference for the editorial staff were stated and Mr. Shlemon Dwood Awraham took over as head of this editorial staff till the present.

Throughout 1999 the editorial staff set out with the development of the journal with and objective to take it to a printing house for printing with a coloured cover and a quantity that reached some times to 3000 copies for each No. 

At the end of 2000, the editorial staff stared sending copies of each No of the journal to the Church’s parishes abroad ( America, Europe, and Australia) after getting official approval as per the letter No. 5317 dated 23/12/ 2000 ( document No. Two). 

The journal continued in circulation throughout the first years of the third millennium with an increase in the number of the printed issues that were circulated both in Iraq and the diasporah stressing its general ecumenical course through publishing contributions and articles by pastors, Frs. and writers from the various churches and institutions along with covering their activities indiscriminately rather than restricting publication to the items related to the Ancient Church of the East.

During this period a number of Frs. and church followers participated in the editorial work of the journal for various periods. Among them was Fr. Zaiya Khoshaba ( now a bishop), deacon Danial Khoshaba, deacon George Isho, Dr. Ayoub Butrus, Mr. Michael Ezeria, and Mrs. Najat Y0ukhanna among others.

During 2006-2007, the journal stopped publication due to lack of funding, abnormal conditions through which Iraq went, the security situation in Baghdad, and the targeting by a car bomb in September 2006 of the Patriarchal headquarters in Baghdad that also housed the headquarters of the  journal, causing serious material damage.

In the beginning of 2008, the quarterly resumed publication from Ankawa/ Erbil in Kurdistan Region following the required security and administrative approval by the parties concerned in Kurdistan Regional Government and through direct and generous support from Mr. Sarkis Aghajan the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.The journal has ever since been in publication due to his blessed support with 2000 copies per No. It is distributed to all the governorates in Iraq , the majority of the Christian churches, literary and cultural institutions, and NGOs in addition to sending a large number of issues to the parishes in the diasporah, especially Jordan ,Syria , the U.S, Australia and some EU countries.

At present, the editorial board comprises the following:

1.    Shlemon Dawood Awraham/ editor in chief.

2.    Deacon Milad Robert Dawood/ member

3.    Wilet Shlemon Zaiay/ typesetting and design

4.    Ra’ad Tedy Tajer/ admins and maintenance

5.    Fr. Khorepiscopus Gewargis Benjamin: advisor

6.    Fr. Afram Sleman: advisor

Attachments:

1.    copy of the connoisseur and approval of publication

2.    copy of approval for sending the journal abroad

Following are captions of the attached picture:

(Note: most of the journal’s archive, especially the pictures, remained at the Patriarchal Hdq and journal Hdq in Baghdad )

1.    Picture 1 : hdq of the Patriarchate of the Ancient Church of the East. To the right, the journal’s hdq.

2.    Picture 2: a group of the members of the editorial staff at the first issuance of the journal in 1997.

3.    Picture 3: the next members of the editorial staff with the administration staff of Atlas Printing House in Battaween quarter in Baghdad where the journal used to be published between 1999- 2005).

4.    Picture 4: members of the editorial staff with His Beatitude Mar Adday 2nd and His Eminence Bishop Mar Narsay Toma at the Patriarchate headquarter in Baghdad . Appearing also in the picture is Artist Recardos Yousif, 2003.

5.    Picture 5: Fr. Gewargis Benjamin reporter of the journal inNineveh and Duhok conducting an interview with His Eminence Bishop Bacelius Jarjis Al-Qas Mousa the  Archbishop of Nineveh for the Syriac-Catholics.

6.    Picture 6: interview of the editorial staff with the late senior referee Ammo Baba in Baghdad .  

7.    picture 7: His Beatitude Patriarch Ammanuel 3rd Daly receiving a copy of the journal that contained an interview with his Beatitude.

8.    Picture 8: His Beatitude Zakka 1st Ewas Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church receiving a copy of the journal containing an interview with his beatitude covering his visit to Iraq .

9.    Picture 9: a carbomb explosion that targeted the headquarter of the Patriarchate in September 2006.

10.                       Picture 10: part of the damage caused to the headquarters of the patriarchate and the journal in September 2006.

11.                       Pictures 11- 12: visit of His Eminence Mar Zaiya Khoshaba bishop of Baghdad and the patriarchal vicar of the Ancient Church of the East to the headquarters of the journal in the sub-district of Ankawa in Erbil accompanied by Fr. Khorespicopus Timatheus Al-Qas Isha pastor of St. Shmooni Churhc in Baghdad , 2010.