Joseph II

Mar Joseph II (; ), born Ṣliba d-beth Maʿrūf (or Sliba Bet Macruf) was the second incumbent patriarch of the Josephite line of Church of the East, a small patriarchate in full communion with the Pope that was active in the areas of Amid and Mardin in the 17th–19th century. He is officially recognized by the Chaldean Catholic Church as its patriarch from 1696 to 1713.

Life Sliba Marouf was born in 1667 in Tel Keppe, Ottoman Empire, and received first orders at fourteen. He moved to Diyarbakır (Amid) in 1689 where he became a disciple of Patriarch Yawsep I, and at the age of 24 in 1691, he was consecrated as a bishop metropolitan of Diyarbakır without the prior consent of Rome. He was chosen by Joseph I as his successor to the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate in 1694 under the name of Joseph II, but this appointment became effective only when Rome accepted his predecessor's resignation in 1696. Thus Sliba Marouf was confirmed patriarch by Holy See on June 18, 1696, This forced him in 1708 to ask permission from Rome to resign and move to Italy, a request that was not granted.

During the plague that spread in 1708, he distinguished himself by providing help and pastoral care to the sick until he too became infected.

Further accredited to Joseph are several liturgical works, including a and a , in which he introduced some Latin feasts and commemorations of saints; additionally, he also composed explanation of the ecclesiastical services .

He also composed a on spiritual exile and a commentary on the Barhebraeus's "On Divine Wisdom". He supplemented Barhebraeus's "On Perfection" with additional verses. He further authored many poems of various genres (, , ) in Classical Syriac and Sureth.

As the head of a Uniate Church, he corresponded extensively with Rome, much of which has survived in partial form, including an Arabic-language Catholic profession of faith transmitted to the Pope.