as indicated above, it was only towards the end of the 19th century that the term "assyrian" became accepted, largely through the influence of the "archbishop of canterbury's mission to the assyrian christians", at first as a replacement for the term "nestorian", but later as an ethnic description. today, even members of the chaldean catholic church accept "assyrian" as an indication of nationality, while "chaldean" has for them become instead an indication of religious confession. raphael bidawid, patriarch of the chaldean catholic church from 1989 to 2003 stated: "when a portion of the church of the east became catholic in the 17th century, the name given was ‘chaldean’ based on the magi kings who were believed by some to have come from what once had been the land of the chaldean, to bethlehem. the name ‘chaldean’ does not represent an ethnicity, just a church... we have to separate what is ethnicity and what is religion... i myself, my sect is chaldean, but ethnically, i am assyrian." before becoming patriarch, he said in an interview with the "assyrian star" newspaper: "before i became a priest i was an assyrian, before i became a bishop i was an assyrian, i am an assyrian today, tomorrow, forever, and i am proud of it."