The election, held in Vatican City, comes at a pivotal moment for Assyrians, amid ongoing regional instability, demographic decline, and continued challenges facing Assyrians in their ancestral homeland.
The election follows a broader period of transition in the Chaldean Church after the resignation of former Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako, whose tenure was marked by both reform efforts and internal tensions. His departure opened a new phase for the Church’s leadership, with expectations that the next Patriarch would focus on unity, pastoral care, and institutional stability.
Born in Alqosh in 1967, Mar Amel Shamoun Nona originates from one of the historic Assyrian centres of the Nineveh Plain. He completed his secondary education in 1985 before entering the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary, beginning his path toward the priesthood during a period of growing uncertainty for Iraq’s Assyrian population. He was ordained in Baghdad on 11 January 1991.
Following his ordination, he served as patriarchal vicar in Alqosh from 1993 to 1997, later becoming a parish priest until 2000. He pursued advanced theological studies at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he obtained a doctorate in theology in 2005. Upon returning to Iraq, he contributed to both academic and ecclesiastical life as a professor of anthropology at Babel College and later served as Vicar General of the Chaldean Diocese of Alqosh.
At the age of 42, he was appointed Archbishop of Mosul, taking on one of the most challenging episcopal roles in Iraq at a time when the country’s Assyrian community was facing escalating insecurity, displacement, and long-term demographic decline. His tenure coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in modern Assyrian history, including increasing violence and the gradual erosion of the indigenous Assyrian presence in Mosul and surrounding regions.
In 2015, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, where he has since spent over a decade ministering to the growing Chaldean Catholic diaspora. His leadership abroad has focused on strengthening community identity, youth engagement, and continuity between diaspora communities and the ancestral homeland.
Upon his election as Patriarch, he has taken the name Mar Paul III Nona, in honour of Mar Paulus (Paul) II Cheikho, another native of Alqosh who led the Church from 1958 to 1989. That earlier patriarchate is often remembered for guiding the Church through the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and overseeing the 1971 missal reforms, which restored and reaffirmed elements of the Church’s traditional liturgical heritage.
The election of Mar Paul III comes at a critical juncture for the Chaldean Church, as it seeks to balance internal renewal with external pressures. Analysts note that the new Patriarch is expected to prioritise unity within the hierarchy, pastoral care for displaced communities, and engagement with the wider global Catholic Church.
As the Church enters this new chapter, the legacy of his predecessor remains a central point of reflection, while the expectations placed upon the new Patriarch highlight the ongoing struggle of Assyrian Christians to preserve identity, faith, and continuity across both homeland and diaspora.
