Election of Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Iraq

The Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, gathered in Rome, on 12 April 2026 elected Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona, until now archbishop-bishop of the eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney of the Chaldeans, Oceania, as Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans.

The Patriarch-elect has taken the name of Polis (Paul) III.

Curriculum vitae

His Beatitude Polis III Nona was born in Alqosh on 1 November 1967. After completing his secondary studies, in 1985 he attended the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary and was ordained a priest on 11 January 1991 in Baghdad.

From 1993 to 1997 he served as parish vicar in Alqosh, Iraq, then as parish priest until 2000, when he enrolled in the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

In 2005 he obtained a degree in theological anthropology and returned to his homeland, where he was assigned as parish priest of the church in Alqosh. He was appointed protosyncellus of the eparchy of Alqosh and professor of anthropology at Babel College.

Elected Archbishop of Mosul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, on November 13, 2009, he received episcopal ordination on January 8, 2010.

On January 15, 2015, he was appointed bishop of the eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney of the Chaldeans, Oceania, while retaining the personal title of Archbishop.

He is the author of several publications on spirituality, marriage, and family.

He speaks Arabic, Italian, Chaldean, and English.