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 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.
The root of the conflict with Barsauma may have been due to a major issue at the time, that of whether members of the clergy should be celibate or not.
When Babowai wrote a letter to some Roman bishops, asking them to use their influence with the emperor, and procure his intercession with the Shah-in-Shah (King Peroz) to avert persecution, Barsauma somehow managed to intercept the message, even though it had been hidden in the hollow of a cane.
Babowai founded a catechetical school at Seleucia, of which his successor Mar Acacius was the first head.