His Excellency Archbishop Jibrail Kassab is a prelate of the Chaldean Catholic Church who presides over the Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Sydney in Australia. He has been the bishop of this diocese since its inception on October 21, 2006. His bishopric currently sits as St. Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Church, Bossley Park, New South Wales. Archbishop Kassab was born in Tel Keppe, Iraq on August 5th, 1938. He was ordained a priest on January 19, 1961. Following 35 years of faithful service to the priesthood, he was elevated to the episcopacy by the then Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Mar Raphael I Bidawid †. Upon his installment, his first post was to serve as archbishop of the Archeparchy of Basra. Following the difficult plight of Iraqi Christians during the Iraq