Education
Born in 1893 into the March Khnanishu family, he studied with Review Rehana, the head of the Seminary in March Ishu Monastery.
Born in 1893 into the March Khnanishu family, he studied with Review Rehana, the head of the Seminary in March Ishu Monastery.
Hakkari
He was ordained a deacon at age 12 and ordained as a priest in 1912 at the age of 20. In 1914, he was sent as a delegate to participate in a meeting at the patriarchal cell in Qudchanis to discuss the effects of World War I on the Church and the nation and prepare for the changes that were expected to take place. While there, he was consecrated a Bishop on August 10, 1914 at age 22.
He remained in Qudchanis until 1915.
Iraq
In 1918, March Yosip was appointed as assistant to the Patriarch March Shimun XXII Paulos as Locum Tenens. In December 1918 he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan in Baghdad, Iraq, by the Patriarch.
In 1933, he was made administrator of the Church in Iraq and the Middle East. At the same time the Iraqi government issued a Republican decree appointing Yosip Khnanisho as the Supreme Head of all the Assyrians in Iraq.
Death
On the 3 July 1977, Yosip died in Baghdad, Iraq.
His funeral services were conducted on 6 July 1977, at the Church of Street George (March Gewargis) in Dora, a suburb of Baghdad. March Yosip Khnanisho Church in San Jose, California is named after the metropolitan.