The Patriarch of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, His Holiness Khanania Dinkha IV.

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 (AINA) -- AM at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The cause of death was a virus infection and pneumonia. The Bishop of India, Mar Aprim Mooken, will serve as acting patriarch until a new patriarch is elected.

Patriarch Dinkha, the 111th Patriarch of the Church of the East, was consecrated as Patriarch on October 17, 1976, serving 39 years at his post. His tenure was the tenth longest in church history. He moved the Holy See of the Church of the East to Morton Grove, a suburb of Chicago, shortly after his consecration because of political instability in Iraq.

Patriarch Dinkha was born in Iraq on September 15, 1935. He was ordained a priest on July 15, 1957 and appointed to the ministry in Urmia, Iran. He was consecrated as bishop on February 11, 1962. He became patriarch after Patriarch Eshai Shimun was assassinated in 1976.

Patriarch Dinkha is credited with rebuilding the church, which had neared the brink of destruction after the assassination of his predecessor. He translated portions of the liturgy from classical Assyrian (Syriac) to modern Assyrian and brought stability and peace to a church in turmoil.

Patriarch Dinkha was a warm, fatherly figure and a role model for members of the Church of the East. His yearly Christmas and Easter epistles would stress the national Assyrian identity of the three major Assyrian denominations -- the Church of the East, the Chaldean Church of Babylon and the Syriac Orthodox Church. He enjoined members of the church to be faithful citizens of all countries in which they reside, and he would always be thronged by supporters wherever he visited. His most eternal message was that of ecumenism, which he was passionate about, and the desire to see all Apostolic Churches in communion with one another as equals, accepting each other's sacraments and consecrations.

Patriarch Dinkha met with Pope John Paul II on several occasions, Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch Sako of the Chaldean Church, Patriach Karem of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Yonan of the Syriac Catholic Church, as well as the previous Chaldean Patriarchs Daley and Bidawid.

Under his reign, the Church of the East signed a Common Christological Declaration with the Roman Catholic Church, then headed by Pope John Paul II.

On September 16, 2008 Patriarch Dinkha conducted a prayer service at the Syriac Orthodox Church in Brussels. Citing the continuing attacks on Assyrians in the Middle East, he called for the establishment of an Assyrian-administered unit in Iraq's Nineveh Plains and unity of Assyrians from different denominations.

Patriarch Dinkha was a strongly nationalistic Assyrian who was proud both of his ethnic heritage as well as the past glory of his Church. It was this that led him to apply the Assyrian name to the Church of the East, a move which, according to some in the community, created further division in the nation through the intimate association of ethnicity with church. This possibly caused Chaldean Catholic, Syriac Catholic and Syriac Orthodox Assyrians to shy away from their own ethnic name, not wanting to be mistaken for being adherents of the Church of the East.

Patriarch Dinkha made no serious attempt to re-establish the Church in the Middle East, which was one factor that encouraged the emigration of his adherents from their native lands. He also failed to centralize and modernize the Church and its institutions. To date, the Assyrian Church of the East in Chicago, home to nearly 100,000 Assyrians, has no seminary, monastic orders, library, archive, media center or private schools. Also, the number of churches and other institutions in Chicago is insufficient to serve the large Assyrian population there.

The funeral service will be held on April 7 at St. George Church in Chicago.

Patriarch Dinkha with Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako

Patriarch Dinkha with Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ephrem Karim, who in this photo was a Bishop at the time.

Patriarch Dinkha with Pope Benedict and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Yonan.

Patriarch Dinkha and Pope John Paul II signing the Common Christological Agreement between the Church of the East and the Roman Catholic church.

Patriarch Dinkha with Pope Francis.

Patriarch Dinkha with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill.

Patriarch Dinkha with Syriac Orthodox Bishop Hazail Soumi in Brussels after a joint prayer session.