After his brother, Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Shimun XIX Benyamin, was murdered along with 150 of his followers by Simko Shikak (Ismail Agha Shikak), a Kurdish agha, Mar Shimun XX Paulos was elected on 23 March 1918.[1] He was consecrated in the ancient Church of Mart Maryam (Saint Mary) in Urmia by the metropolitan Mar Eskhaq Khnanisho and the bishops Mar Eliya Abuna of Alqosh, Mar Yosip Khnanisho of Shemsdin (the metropolitan's designated successor), and Mar Zaya Sargis of Jilu.