Germanos Mouakkad (born April 1853 in Damascus, Syria - died on 11 February 1912 in Beirut) was a Melkite priest and bishop of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baalbek Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baalbek (in Latin: Archeparchia Heliopolitana Graecorum Melkitarum) is a diocese of the Catholic Church immediately subject to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Melkites. It is currently governed by Archbisho ...

. He was the maternal great-uncle of William Peter Blatty, bestselling American author of ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty W ...

''.

Life

Germanos Mouakkad was born in the beginning of April 1853, son of Issa Mouakkad and his wife Marie Kayata. His parents were

Melkite The term Melkite (), also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic Semitic root, ro ...

s. At his baptism he received the name Joseph. Up to the age of twelve, he attended a Christian school in his home parish, after which he worked as an assistant to a merchant. At sixteen he became—against the fierce resistance of his mother—a novice in the monastery of the Holy Savior, where a monk named Ignace accepted him. After spending some years with Joseph Bakos studying philosophy, he was ordained by Clément Bahous priest and served as chaplain in Cairo and Damascus. From 1880 to 1886 Mouakkad was Patriarchal Vicar of the Melkite Patriarch of Jerusalem. On 16 March 1886, he received the episcopal ordination and was—now called Germanos—Bishop of the Eparchy of Baalbek. In 1896 Mouakkad received during his stay in Rome by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

's permission, a medal for missionary priests and in 1903 established a missionary company to priests called Missionary Society of St. Paul ( fr) in Harissa, Lebanon. Germanos Mouakkad died on February 11, 1912, in a French hospital in Beirut from the effects of long-term illness. In 2014 a Lebanese stamp was issued with his picture.

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmouaq.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouakkad, Germanos 1853 births 1912 deaths Melkite Greek Catholic bishops Syrian Melkite Greek Catholics Founders of Catholic religious communities