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WASHINGTON (May 20, 2002) – Pope John Paul II erected the Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego of the Chaldeans and named as its first Bishop Monsignor Sarhad Jammo, pastor of St. Joseph parish, Troy, Michigan.
The new Eparchy (diocese) was created from territory of the Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Detroit of the Chaldeans. Msgr. Jammo has been serving as Vicar General of the Eparchy.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, made the announcements.
Sarhad Jammo was born March 14, 1941, in Baghdad. After studying at the Chaldean Seminary in Mossul, he was sent to the Urbaniana University in Rome in 1958 for Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained on December 19, 1964, and earned a doctorate in Eastern Liturgies in 1968.
Upon returning to Baghdad, he was pastor of St. John in Daura, Baghdad, and later Rector of the Chaldean Seminary there. In 1977 Msgr. Jammo was appointed associate pastor of Mother of God parish in Detroit. In 1980 he was named pastor.
In 1982, when the Chaldean Exarchate was established, Msgr. Jammo was named Vicar General of the diocese.
In 1993, he was appointed professor of Eastern Liturgies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. He is currently a member of the Joint Committee of the Catholic Church and the Church of the East. He is also a member of the Eparchial Liturgical Committee.
When the Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle was created in 1982, the Eparchy extended territorially to all of the United States. It serves all Catholics of the Chaldean or Assyrian-Chaldean Church, especially persons who emigrated from Iraq and Iran.