Narsai Toma
Mar Narsai Toma was the late Metropolitan of the Ancient Church of the East of the diocese of Kirkuk, Iraq. Mar Narsai served as Metropolitan for forty-six years before his death in 2014.
Early life
Mar Narsai Toma was born as Toma Soro Bobo in Mosul, Iraq. He studied at the Church of the East School in Nineveh under the tutelage of Yousip DeKelaita. He studied both church history and the Aramaic language.Service to the Church
Toma was ordained as a deacon at a young age in 1956. Not long after the arrival of Mar Thoma Darmo to Baghdad, Iraq in September 1968, Toma was elevated to the rank of priest and assigned as a parish priest in Basra, Iraq. After the death of Mar Thoma Darmo in September 1969, Mar Narsai, alongside Mar Toma Gewargis, were elected to be ordained as metropolitans in the Ancient Church of the East. Both ordinations were conducted on 5 December 1969 by Mar Addai II, the Metropolitan of Iraq and Locum tenens of the Ancient Church of the East at the time.Mar Narsai, together with Metropolitan of Nineveh, Mar Toma Giwargis, consecrated Mar Addai II as Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East. The ordination took place on February 20, 1972 in Baghdad, Iraq.
During his tenure, Mar Narsai placed an emphasis on education. He was committed to the advancement of the Assyrian people through education. As a result, dozens of students were taught under his supervision as Metropolitan.