Elias Rahal, SMSP (born on 14 April 1942 in

Ras Baalbek Ras Baalbek ( ar, رأس بعلبك) is a village in the northern Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. History Ras Baalbek is 500 metres west of a Neolithic rock shelter called Ras Baalbek I. To the east there are ruins that are alleged to be the remains o ...

, Lebanon) is since 28 June 2004 the incumbent Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baalbek in Lebanon.

Life

Elias Rahal was ordained on June 28, 1970 by Melkite Paulist religious priests. Rahal studied at the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

in Rome and get a PhD from the University Sargessa in Furn-El-Shebak (Lebanon) as Doctor of

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. At the Synod of Bishops of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

from 22 to 26 June 2004 Rahal was elected to succeed

Cyril Salim Bustros Cyril Salim Bustros (born January 26, 1939) is the archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos and a former Professor at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. A native of Lebanon, he formerly served as archbishop of B ...

as Archbishop of Baalbek. This choice was agreed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 28 June 2004 and the Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory III Laham, BS consecrated him bishop. Archbishops Cyril Salim Bustros, SMSP and Jean Mansour, SMSP were assisted co-consecrators. Rahal was in October 2010 a participant in the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.

Works

The Pontifical Lateran University published in 2007 the written Elias Rahal's PhD thesis, in French: "Le Synod de l'Eglise Grecque Melkite Catholic tenu a Jerusalem en 1849 etude historique, théologique et canonique (Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis, Theses ad doctoratum in iure canonico)". octoratum in iure canonico/ref>

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brahal.html * http://visnews-en.blogspot.com.br/2004_06_28_archive.html * http://storico.radiovaticana.org/TED/Storico/2004-06/10791.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahal, Elias Melkite Greek Catholic bishops 1942 births Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Living people Pontifical Lateran University alumni People from Baalbek District