Babowai

Babowai (also Babaeus or Mar Babwahi) (died 484) was Catholicos of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and Patriarch of the Church of the East from 457 to 484, during the reign of the Sassanid King Peroz I. Babowai was known for his pro-Byzantine leanings, for which he was often in conflict with other members of the anti-Byzantine Church of the East. He was executed in 484.

Babowai was known as a learned philosopher. He was also a convert from Magianism, what the Zorastrians would call an apostate, someone who had renounced their religion, and therefore subject to considerable persecution by the Sassanid state. He was imprisoned for seven years, probably 470–480, and tortured repeatedly by the Magi, who were also burning churches and imprisoning other Christians. Babowai was also often in conflict with Barsauma, the metropolitan of Nisibis, though this was not unusual as Babowai was known to be in conflict with many others as well, be they authorities, colleagues, or subordinates. He was known to discipline bishops in his church, and whether right or wrong, some of these bishops would flee to Barsauma for his support.