Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo of the Maronites (in Latin: Archeparchy Aleppensis Maronitarum) is a seat of the

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the Maro ...

. In 2012 there were 4,000 members. It is currently governed by Maronite archeparch

Joseph Tobji Joseph Tobji (born on 28 March 1971 in Aleppo, Syria) is the current archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo. Life Joseph Tobji received on 16 March 1996 the sacrament of Holy Orders for the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of ...

Territory and statistics

The archeparchy includes the city and the region of Aleppo, where is located the

Saint Elias Cathedral Saint Elijah Cathedral ( ar, كاتدرائية القدّيِس الياس), is an Eastern Catholic ( Maronite) church in Aleppo, Syria, located in the Christian quarter of al-Jdayde. It is named after the biblical prophet Elijah. The church w ...

. The territory is divided into five parishes and in 2012 there were 4,000 Maronite Catholics.

History

The first mention of the presence of Maronites in the city of Aleppo is contained in the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, which relates events of the first half of the eighth century, after which the Maronites were expelled from the city. The Maronite presence was reduced to so few units. Only in the seventeenth century, thanks to immigration, the Aleppinian Maronite community grew and was equipped with a bishopric, although they are unsure whether the names of the first prelates in the history. In 1675 surveyed about 1,500 Maronites, while ten years later their number is about 4,000. The Maronite clergy was mostly ignorant and without any training. Capuchins, Carmelites and Jesuits preached in Maronite churches as missionaries due to the lack of priests. Among the former bishops is certainly the best known

Gabriel of Blaouza Gabriel II of Blaouza (or Jibra'il al-Bluzani, ''Gabriel of Blawza'', ar, جبرائيل الثاني, la, Gabriel Belusani, born in 1625, Blaouza, Lebanon - died on October 31, 1705, Qannubin Monastery, Kadisha Valley), was the 58th Maronite ...

, who was elected patriarch of the

in 1704 succeeding

Estephan El Douaihy Estephan El Douaihy ( ar, اسطفانوس الثاني بطرس الدويهي / ALA-LC: ''Isṭifānūs al-thānī Buṭrus al-Duwayhī''; french: Étienne Douaihi; la, Stephanus Dovaihi; it, Stefano El Douaihy; August 2, 1630 – May 3, 1704) ...

; he is linked to the foundation of

Antonin Maronite Order The Antonins, known formally as the Antonin Maronite Order ( la, Ordo Antonianorum Maronitarum; abbreviated OAM), is a monastic order of pontifical right for men in the Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic C ...

. Germanos Farhat, a man of culture and scholar of Arabic, was the first bishop born in Aleppo and probably the first to reside permanently in the city. During the episcopate of Paul Aroutin, the Maronite Church obtained the civil recognition by

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(1831), which allowed the bishop to restore the ancient cathedral of Saint Elias, already attested in the seventeenth century. It must to his successor Youssef Matar construction of today's cathedral: the bishop himself took part in the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

and established in 1857 the Imprimerie de la nation Maronite, the first authentic typography in the city of Aleppo. From 1954 to 1977 the bishops of Aleppo were also directors of Patriarchal administration of Laodicea (today

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Laodicea The Maronite Eparchy of Latakia or Latakia of the Maronites (in Latin: Eparchia Laodicenus Maronitarum) is a Maronite Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Syria. , there were 35,000 members. The current eparch is ...

Archbishops

* Elias' Ehdeni (1638–1659) * Andraos Akhijan Abed Al Ghal (mentioned in 1661) * Joseph Hasrouni (? – 1663 deceased) *

, OAM (1663 – 12 May 1704 elected patriarch of Antioch) * Michel al-Blawzawi (July 1704 consecrated – 1724 resigned) * Germanos (Gabriel) Farhat (29 July 1725 consecrated – 9 July 1732 deceased) * Germanos (Gabriel) Hawacheb (1732 consecrated – 1762) * Arsène Choukri (1762–1787) * Gabriel Konaider (30 September 1787 consecrated – 15 June 1802 deceased) * Germanos Hawa (1804–1827) * Paul Aroutin (3 May 1829 consecrated – 21 April 1851 deceased) * Youssef Matar (28 September 1851 consecrated – 14 May 1882 deceased) * Paul Hakim (16 July 1885 consecrated – 25 February 1888 deceased) * Germanos Chemali (1892–1895) * Youssef Debs (Diab) (22 March 1896 – 1912 deceased) * Michael Äkras (24 February 1913 – 27 October 1945 deceased) *

Ignace Ziadé Ignatius Ziadé (also Ignace Ziade; ar, إغناطيوس زياده, 26 January 1906 in Herharaya, Lebanon – 31 March 1994 in Beirut, Lebanon) was the Archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo and the Maronite Catholic Archeparc ...

(27 April 1946 – 26 January 1952 appointed archeparch of Beirut) *

François Ayoub François Ayoub (born on 11 July 1899 in Aleppo, Syria - died on 2 June 1966) was a Syrian Archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo and the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus. Life On 16 May 1925, Françoise Ayoub was ordained ...

(16 April 1954 – 2 June 1966 deceased) *

Joseph Salamé Joseph Salamé (25 December 1914 – 29 March 2004) was a Lebanese apostolic administrator of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Latakia and Archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo. Life Salamé was born on 25 December 1914 in Ant ...

(15 March 1967 – 9 June 1990 withdrawn) * Pierre Callaos (9 June 1990 – 16 March 1997 deceased) * Youssef Anis Abi-Aad, IdP, (7 June 1997 – 11 November 2013 resign) *

(since 31 October 2015)

Sources

* Joseph Feghali, Germanos Farhat, archevêque et d'Alep arabisant 1670–1732, in Parole de l'Orient, vol. 2, No. 1 (1966), pp. 115–129. * C. Karalevsky, v. Alep, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XII, Paris 1953, coll. 108–110 and 114.Gallica.bnf
/ref> * Pontificio Annuario, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 2003, .

References

External links