The Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: Vicariatus Apostolicus Berytensis) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the

Catholic Church in Lebanon The Catholic Church in Lebanon ( ar, الكنيسة الكاثوليكية في لبنان) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are about 1.8 million Catholics in Lebanon in total, the ...

, where

Eastern Catholics The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

are far more numerous. In 2010, there were 15,000 baptized. Its current bishop is Cesar Essayan. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

episcopal see is the St. Louis Cathedral, Beirut in the national capital city

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, while the former Crusader Cathedral of Tyre is in ruins.

Antecedents

The Catholic presence in Lebanon of the

began with the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in the late of eleventh century and ends with the final defeat of the Crusaders and the disappearance of the Crusader principalities in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

after the middle of the thirteenth century. In this period, in the lands corresponding to the current Lebanon were established several Latin ecclesiasticals, which most of the time they were supplanting ancient bishoprics of the early days of Christianity: the

Archdiocese of Tyre The see of Tyre was one of the most ancient dioceses in Christianity. The existence of a Christian community there already in the time of Saint Paul is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Seated at Tyre, which was the capital of the Roman provi ...

from which depended the

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

dioceses of Latin Catholic Bishop of Acre, Caesarea Philippi, Sidon and

Berytus ) or Laodicea in Canaan (2nd century to 64 BCE) , image = St. George's Cathedral, Beirut.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Roman ruins of Berytus, in front of Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in moder ...

(modern

), while from the

Latin Patriarch of Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

depended the

dioceses of Byblos, Tripoli and

Antarado ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...

. These dioceses disappeared with the end of the Crusader period and remain today mostly as the venue owners. The Latin continued presence in the country with the

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachin ...

, who arrived as early as the thirteenth century, and then with missionaries of other religious orders, such as the

Capuchin Friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, the

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

, the

Vincentians Vincentian can refer to: *A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A person from Saint Vincent (island), the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A member of one of the orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, both Roman ...

and the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who arrived in the seventeenth century. For the faithful of the Latin Rite of Lebanon was not instituted any ecclesiastical district until the end of the French mandate at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

: the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

(papal diplomatic envoy) of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

held the functions of the bishop of the Latin Catholics of Lebanon.

History

The apostolic vicariate was erected on 4 June 1953 with the Papal bull ''Solent caeli'' of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

, with territory that was taken from the Syrian

Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo The Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo (in Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Aleppensis) is an apostolic vicariate (Latin pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, entitled to a titular bishop) and is immediately subject to the ...

. The apostolic vicar is a member of the

Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions The Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arabic Regions (CELRA) (French: Conférence des Evêques Latins dans les Régions Arabes) is an episcopal conference of the Catholic Church which gathers the Latin Church bishops in the Arab States of the ...

. It enjoyed a papal visit from

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 ...

in September 2012.

Organisation

The apostolic vicariate extends its jurisdiction over all Catholic faithful of the Latin Rite in Lebanon. It is exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part if any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

. Its territory is divided into only eighth Latin parishes.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

) * Eustace John Smith, O.F.M.,

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Apamea Cibotus (8 December 1955 – 1973 Resignation) * Paul Bassim, O.C.D., Titular Bishop of

Laodicea ad Libanum Laodicea ad Libanum ("Laodicea by Mount Lebanon") ( el, Λαοδίκεια ἡ πρὸς Λίβανου), also transliterated as Laodiceia or Laodikeia; also Cabrosa, Scabrosa and Cabiosa Laodiceia – was an ancient Hellenistic city on the O ...

(8 September 1974 – 30 July 1999 Retired) *

Paul Dahdah Paul Dahdah, Discalced Carmelites, OCD (born 8 January 1941) is a former bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut. Biography Dahdah was born in Zgharta, Lebanon. He joined the Discalced Carmelites and was ordained to priesthood on 17 April 1966 ...

, O.C.D.,

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Aræ in Numidia (30 July 1999 – 2 August 2016) * Cesar Essayan, O.F.M.Conv. (2 August 2016 – present)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with incumbent biography links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beirut, Apostolic Vicariate Catholicism in Beirut Apostolic vicariates Roman Catholic dioceses in Asia Catholic Church in Lebanon Organisations based in Beirut 1953 establishments in Asia