Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon (in Latin: Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Libanensis in civitate Angelorum in California Maronitarum), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is an entity pertaining to the Apostolic Maronite Patriarchal Church of Antioch and includes the Maronite faithful in the western and central United States. In conformity with the

Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; la, Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic ...

(CCEO), the Eparchy is under the direct jurisdiction of the

Roman Pontiff Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. In 2013 there were 52,300 baptized. It is currently ruled by eparch Abdallah Elias Zaidan, MLM.

Territory and statistics

The eparchy includes the faithful of the

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, 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. Th ...

in thirty-four western, central and southern states of the United States of America. With a decree from the Sacred Congregation of the Eastern Churches, dated July 10, 2001, the see of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri, with St. Raymond Church, in St. Louis, elevated to the rank of Co-Cathedral.,Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady Lebanon
as of 9 Sep 2011, the history quoted here was a verbatim copy of the history page of the Eparchy website. Its see cathedral is Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon-St. Peter Cathedral in Los Angeles. Its territory is divided into 35 parishes and in 2013 had 52,300 American Maronites.

History

Immigration of Maronite Christianity from Greater Syria to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. When they were able to obtain a priest, communities were established under the jurisdiction of the local

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

, with the Apostolic Constitution ''Cum supremi''"Cum supremi"
/ref> of January 10, 1966, established the Maronite Apostolic

Exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the fir ...

for the Maronite faithful of the United States.

Francis Mansour Zayek Archbishop Francis Mansour Zayek (Arabic: فرنسيس منصور الزايك ; born October 18, 1920, Manzanillo, Cuba – died on September 14, 2010) was a prelate of the Maronite Church. He was the founding eparch of the Maronite Catholic Epar ...

was appointed the first bishop in a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the

Eastern Church Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

es dated January 27, 1966. The See city was

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan, with a Cathedral under the patronage of St Maron. At that time, the Exarchate was a

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 jurisdiction ...

of the Archdiocese of Detroit. On November 29, 1971, Pope Paul VI, with the Apostolic Constitution ''Quae spes'',"Quae spes"
/ref> the Exarchate was elevated to the status of an

Eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

, with the name of Eparchy of St. Maron of Detroit. With a decree from the Sacred Congregation of the Eastern Churches dated June 27, 1977, the see of the Eparchy of St. Maron was transferred to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, with the cathedral under the patronage of

Our Lady of Lebanon ar, سيدة لبنان , native_name_lang = , image = Ladylebanon.JPG , image_upright = , alt = , caption = Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon , map_type = , map_s ...

. The name of the Eparchy was modified to Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn. On December 10, 1982, Pope John Paul II accorded the title of "Archbishop ad personam" to Bishop Zayek as recognition of his personal contributions to the Catholic Church. With the papal bull ''Omnium Catholicorum'' promulgated on 19 February 1994,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

"Omnium Catholicorum"
/ref> erected the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, came from the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn as a second eparchy for Maronite Catholics in the United States, with the territory of thirty-four (34) states - Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Iowa, Arkansas, Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho and Washington. The pope appointed

John George Chedid John George Chedid (Arabic: جون جورج شديد) (July 4, 1923, in Edde, Lebanon – March 21, 2012) was a Lebanese-born American Maronite hierarch. He served as the first Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los ...

, formerly Titular Bishop of Callinicum for the Maronites and Auxiliary of the Eparchy of St Maron, as the first eparch with the Cathedral under the patronage of Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon. by Archbishop

, representing the Maronite Patriarch

Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir , image = Cardinal Nasrallah Peter Sfeir.jpg , image_size = 170px , see = Antioch and the Whole East , title = Cardinal Patriarch emeritus of Antioch , elected = 19 April 1986 , appointed = 7 May 1986 , ended = 26 February 2011 , ordina ...

, enthroned Bishop Chedid on the 24th of June of that year. On December 5, 2000, the Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop John Chedid due to canonical age, and appointed

Chorbishop A chorbishop is a rank of Christian clergy below bishop. The name chorepiscope or chorepiscopus (plural chorepiscopi) is taken from the Greek and means "rural bishop". History Chorepiscopi are first mentioned by Eusebius as existing in the sec ...

Robert Joseph Shaheen Robert Joseph Shaheen (3 June 1937 – 9 August 2017) was an American prelate of the Maronite Catholic Church. He was the former Eparch of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon. He resided at St. Raymond's Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. Life ...

to the see. Bishop Shaheen was ordained and installed Eparch on February 15, 2001, by Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Sfeir in the Cathedral Basilica of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, Missouri. Soon after, the Congregation for the Oriental Churches approved the relocation of the eparchy's offices to St. Louis and the elevation of the Church of St. Raphael to the co-cathedral of the eparchy.''History of the Eparchy''
on the web site of the eparchy. On July 10, 2013, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert J. Shaheen and appointed the Abdallah Elias Zaidan as the new bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon. Zaidan was ordained as a bishop on September 28, 2013, at the National Shrine of the Basilica Of Our Lady of Lebanon, Mount Harissa,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

, by Cardinal Bechara Peter Rai, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and installed as bishop of the Eparchy on October 23, 2013, at St. Raymond's Co-Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri.

Parishes and missions

:''Note: Maronites who do not reside within a convenient distance to a local Maronite church attend other Catholic churches, but retain their membership in the Maronite Church.'' The territory of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon comprises the following states, parishes and missions: Alabama *Saint Elias Maronite Church (Birmingham) Arizona *Saint Joseph Maronite Church (Phoenix) California *Saint John Maron Maronite Church (Anaheim) *Our Lady of the Rosary Mission (Carmichael) * Our Lady of Lebanon-St Peter Maronite Cathedral (Los Angeles) *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Millbrae) *Saint Joseph Maronite Mission (Riverside) *Saint Ephrem Maronite Church (San Diego) *Saint Sharbel Mission (Stockton) *Saint Jude Maronite Mission (West Covina) *Saints Peter and Paul Maronite Mission (San Fernando Valley) Colorado *Saint Rafka Maronite Church (Denver) Illinois *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Lombard) *Saint Sharbel Maronite Church (Peoria) Louisiana *Saint Sharbel Maronite Mission (Baton Rouge) Michigan *Saint Maron Maronite Church (Detroit) *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Flint) *Saint Rafka Maronite Mission (Livonia) *Saint Sharbel Maronite Church (Clinton Township) Minnesota *Saint Maron Maronite Church (Minneapolis) *Holy Family Maronite Church (Mendota Heights) Missouri * Saint Raymond Maronite Cathedral (Saint Louis) Nevada *Saint Sharbel Maronite Mission (Las Vegas) Ohio *Saint Anthony of Padua Maronite Church (Cincinnati) *Saint Maron Maronite Church (Cleveland) *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Mission (Columbus) *Saint Ignatius of Antioch Maronite Church (Dayton) *Our Lady of the Cedars of Mt. Lebanon Maronite Church (Fairlawn) * Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon (North Jackson, Ohio) *Saint Maron Maronite Church (Youngstown) Oklahoma *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Mission (Norman) *Saint Therese Maronite Church (Tulsa) Oregon *Saint Sharbel Maronite Church (Portland) Texas *Our Lady’s Maronite Church (Austin) *Saint Sharbel Maronite Church (El Paso) *Our Lady of Cedars Maronite Church (Houston) *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Lewisville) *Saint George Maronite Church (San Antonio) Utah *Saint Jude Maronite Church (Murray) Wisconsin *Maronite Mission of Milwaukee (Sturtevant) West Virginia *Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church (Wheeling)

Other communities

The Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon also has under its jurisdiction two monasteries: Michigan Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Ann Arbor) Oregon Monks of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Beaverton/Portland)

Eparchs

† (February 19, 1994 - November 20, 2000) Retired *

(December 5, 2000 - July 10, 2013) Retired * Abdallah Elias Zaidan, MLM (since July 10, 2013)

Other priest of this eparchy who became bishop

* Gregory John Mansour, appointed Bishop of Saint Maron of Brooklyn (Maronite) in 2004

References

External links

Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles Official Sitestmaron.org
{{coord, 34, 04, 23, N, 118, 22, 38, W, source:plwiki, display=title Lebanese-American culture in California Eastern Catholicism in California Religion in Los Angeles Maronite Church in the United States Our Lady

Our Lady Of Lebanon ar, سيدة لبنان , native_name_lang = , image = Ladylebanon.JPG , image_upright = , alt = , caption = Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon , map_type = , map_s ...

Eastern Catholicism in Missouri