RITES IN THE UNITED STATES 237 



diminish through the centuries. In the sixteenth century the 

 Church in Malabar, India, came into union with the Holy See, 

 and this induced the Nestorians to do likewise. The conversion 

 of part of the Nestorians and the reunion of their ancient 

 Church with the Holy See began in the seventeenth century, 

 and has continued to the present day. The Chaldean Patri- 

 arch of Babylon (who really has his see at Mossul) is the 

 chief prelate of the Chaldean Catholics, and has under him two 

 archbishops (of Diarbekir and Kerkuk) and nine bishops (of 

 Amadia, Gezireh, Mardin, Mossul, Sakou, Salmas, Seert, Sena 

 and Urmiah). The Malabar Christians have no regular Chal- 

 dean hierarchy, but are governed by vicars Apostolic. The 

 number of Chaldean Catholics is estimated at about 70,000, 

 while the corresponding schismatic Nestorian Church has about 

 140,000. 



There are about 100 to 150 Chaldean Catholics in the United 

 States ; about fifty live in Yonkers, New York, while the re- 

 mainder are scattered in New York City and vicinity. The 

 community in Yonkers is cared for by Rev. Abdul Masih (a 

 married priest from the Diocese of Diarbekir), who came to 

 this country from Damascus some six years ago. He says 

 Mass in a chapel attached to St. Mary's Catholic Church, and 

 some Nestorians also attend. At present (1911) there are two 

 other Chaldean priests in this country : Rev. Joseph Ghariba, 

 from the Diocese of Aleppo, who is a travelling missionary for 

 his people, and Rev. Gabriel Oussani, who is professor of 

 church history, patrology and Oriental languages in St. Jo- 

 seph's Seminary, at Dunwoodie, near Yonkers, and from whom 

 some of these particulars have been obtained. There are also 

 said to be about 150 Nestorians in the United States; the ma- 

 jority of these live and work in Yonkers, New York. They 

 have no priest of their own, and, where they do not attend 

 the Catholic Rite, are drifting into modern Protestantism. 

 Several of them have become members of the Episcopal 

 Church, and they are looked after by Dr. Abraham Yohannan, 

 an Armenian from Persia, now a minister in the Episcopal 

 Church and lecturer on modern Persian at Columbia Univer- 

 sity. They have no church or chapel of their own. 



(2) Syro-Catholic Rite. — This rite is professed by those 

 Syriac Christians who were subjects of the ancient Patriar- 

 chate of Antioch; these are spread throughout the plains of 



