The Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the Orient ( French: Conseil des Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient, CPCO) is an agency of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

that meets the patriarchs of

Eastern Catholic Churches 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 t ...

and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Permanent seat of the organisation is the

Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch The Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch (in Latin: Patriarchatus Antiochenus Maronitarum) is the seat of the Patriarch of the Maronite Church. It is currently governed by the Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, OMM. The Maronite C ...

in Bkerke,

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Nature and objectives

The nature of the Conference has to be a sign and instrument of patriarchal collegiality and communion between the

and the universal

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. It aims to: * reflect on and promote the Christian life in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

* coordinate pastoral activity, said the future of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in those lands, and strengthen ties among the faithful to the homeland and the diaspora * promote ecumenical and interreligious dialogue * ensure the active participation of Catholics in the Council of Churches of the Middle East * promote peace, development, respect for the rights of man and woman.

History

19-24 August 1991: I Annual Conference in

Bikfaya Bikfaya ( ar, بكفيا, also spelled Bickfaya, Beckfayya, or Bekfaya) is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after su ...

1992: Second Annual Congress at Coptic Patriarchal Seminary,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

1993: Third Annual Conference for Latin bishopric in Amman,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

19-24 September 1994: Fourth Annual Conference at the Melkite patriarchal residence in

Raboueh Rabieh () is a suburban area on the northern edge of Greater Beirut, Lebanon, about 13 kilometers driving distance from Beirut. It is located in the foothills of Mount Lebanon, on the road to Bikfaya. Rabieh saw its population increase sharply in ...

4-11 September 1995: Fifth Annual Conference on Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar near Beirut 13-18 October 1996: Sixth Annual Conference at the patriarchal residence in Syriac Convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Sharfeh,

19-25 October 1997: Seventh Annual Conference in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

11-16 October 1998: Eighth Annual Conference in Amman,

3-6 November 1999: Ninth Annual Conference at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke: Pastoral Letter of Catholic Patriarchs of the East on the movement œcuménique 16-20 October 2000: Tenth Annual Conference on Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar 23-27 September 2001: Eleventh Annual Conference at the patriarchal residence in Syriac Convent of Our Lady of Deliverance in Sharfeh,

16-20 October 2006: XVI Annual Conference at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Bzoummar,

15-19 October 2007: XVII Annual Conference at the summer Melkite patriarchal residence in Ain Traz, near

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 ...

25-29 November 2019: Cairo, Egypt, where they met the

President of Egypt The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the E ...

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...

and

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria Pope Tawadros II or Theodore II ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲑⲉⲟ́ⲇⲱⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲙⲁϩ ⲃ̅', translit=Papa Abba Theódōros II ; ar, البابا تواضروس الثاني, translit=al-Bābā Tawāḍurūs al-Th ānī, ...

Composition

In 2012, the conference was composed of:Conseil des Patriarches Catholiques d’Orient (C.P.C.O.)
from GCatholic.org, retrieved 30 March 2021 *

Antonios Naguib Antonios I Naguib ( ar, أنطونيوس نجيب; 18 March 1935 – 28 March 2022) was the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria from 2006 to 2013. He was made a cardinal in 2010. He was bishop of Minya in Egypt from 1977 to 2002. Biography ...

, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Coptic Catholic Church *

Béchara Boutros Raï Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (or Raï; syr, ܡܪܢ ܡܪܝ ܒܫܐܪܐ ܦܛܪܘܣ ܐܠܪܐܥܝ; ar, بشارة بطرس الراعي, Mor Bishārah Buṭrus al-Rāʿī; la, Béchara Petrus Raï) (born on 25 February 1940) is the 77th Maronite Patr ...

Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

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 ...

Gregory III Laham Gregory III Laham, Basilian Salvatorian Order, B.S. ( ar, غريغوريوس الثالث لحام; la, Gregorius III Lahamus; born Lutfy Laham, December 15, 1933, in Darayya, Syria), Emeritus Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, Patriarch ...

of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church *

Ignace Joseph III Younan Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Yonan (or ''Younan'', syr, ܐܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܝܘܣܦ ܬܠܝܬܝܐ ܝܘܢܢ, born November 15, 1944) is the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syriacs for the Syriac Catholic Church since his el ...

of the Syriac Catholic Church * Emmanuel III Delly,

Patriarch of Babylon The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

of the Chaldean Catholic Church *

Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni Nerses Bedros XIX ( hy, Ներսէս Պետրոս ԺԹ. Թարմունի) (17 January 1940 – 25 June 2015) was the patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church. He was the second son and the fifth of eight children born to Elias Taza and Josephine ...

, Patriarch of Cilicia of the

Armenian Catholic Church , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

Fouad Twal Fouad Twal ( ar, البطريرك فؤاد طوال; born 23 October 1940 in Madaba, Jordan) is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem from 2008 to 2016. He has also served as the Grand Prior of the Equestria ...

, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

References

{{Authority control 1991 in Christianity * Catholic Church in Asia Keserwan District