Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut (in Latin: Archeparchia Berytensis Maronitarum) is an archeparchial seat of the

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an 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. The current head of the Maro ...

immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

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 li ...

. As of 2012, there were 232,000 baptized. It is currently ruled by Archeparch Paul Abdel Sater.

Territory and statistics

The archeparchy includes the Beirut Governorate and the central part of the

Mount Lebanon Governorate french: Gouvernorat du Mont-Liban , native_name_lang = , image_map = Administrative divisions of Lebanon 2017-08 (Numbered).png , map_caption = The governorates of Lebanon, including Mount Lebanon (in pink, label ...

. Its archeparchial seat is the city of

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 ...

, where is located the Saint George Cathedral. The territory is divided into 127 parishes and as of 2012, there were 232,000 Maronite Catholics.

History

The presence of a sizeable Maronite community in Beirut dates back to 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 ...

, as witnessed by

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

. With the departure of the Crusaders, the community had an inevitably decrease. Its first bishop known is Youssef, mentioned in 1577 in the Annals of Patriarch Boutros

Estephan El Douaihy Estephan El Douaihy ( ar, اسطفانوس الثاني بطرس الدويهي / ALA-LC: ''Isṭifānūs al-thānī Buṭrus al-Duwayhī''; french: Étienne Douaihi; la, Stephanus Dovaihi; it, Stefano El Douaihy; August 2, 1630 – May 3, 1704) ...

. However the history of the Maronite bishops of Beirut for the past times is too flawed to be able to say with certainty that it was Youssef its first bishop. After that Beirut had at least a century before finding the name of another bishop, Youssef Damascus (as-Sami, 1691). By now the number of Bishops is regular and uninterrupted until today. Among the successive bishops there was a special mention to Abdallah Qara'ali, founder of the

OLM The olm or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and br ...

, renowned jurist, who played an important role in the Synod of Maronite Bishops of Mount Lebanon in 1736. This synod canonically established the Maronite episcopal sees, including even that of Beirut. The residence of the bishops was not the city, but the monastery of Saint John of Qataleh. Only from Peter Karam Abu bishops began to reside permanently in Beirut. This favored the development of the Maronite community in a few years (1850 - 1870) from 3,000 to 15,000 faithful. Bishop Tobia Aoun had trouble when he took possession of his seat facing opposition from a segment of the Maronite population, which supported a candidate who aspired to become bishop of Beirut, Nicolas Murad. Aoun eventually convinced him to abandon his project. Bishop Aoun finally took possession of the chair on June 10, 1847. Tobia Aoun travelled to Rome in 1862 and was personally received during a private audience by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

who named him Assistant to the Pontifical Throne. In becoming Assistant to the Pontifical Throne, Tobia Aoun immediately entered the Papal nobility as Count of Rome. In 1862, Bishop Aoun was received by

Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

in Paris and awarded the French Legion of Honour. That same year, he was received by Sultan Abdul-Aziz in Constantinople and awarded the Ottoman Empire's Order of Medjidjie (Nishan-i-Majidia). In 1869, Tobia Aoun returned to Rome as Council Father of the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

called by

. He started the construction of the archiepiscopal palace, which was completed by his successor Yusuf Dibs. Dibs rebuilt the Saint George Cathedral, in the forms we see today, and opened a minor seminary. Bishop Pierre Chebly formed himself in France where he had spent most of his youth. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was exiled by the Turks in

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

where he died. The archeparchy is one of the most populous among archeparchies and eparchies of the

. This archeparchy was visited three times by three Pontiffs:

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 ...

(1964),

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 ...

(1997) and

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 ...

(2012).

Archeparchs

* Youssef (1577 -) * Youssef Natan al-Blousani (1626-1650 deceased) * Youssef as-Sami (27 January 1691 - 1698 resigned) * Georges Khairallah Istifan (1698 - 1716 resigned) * Abdallah Qara'ali (Aqraoli),

(September 17, 1716 - January 6, 1742 deceased) * Youhanna Estephan (Istifan) (1743 - 1754 withdrawn) * Joseph Estephan (August 1754 consecrated - April 6, 1767 confirmed

Maronite Patriarch of Antioch This is a list of the Maronite patriarchs of Antioch and all the East, the Primate (bishop), primate of the Maronite Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Starting with Paul Peter Massad in 1854, after becoming patriarch of the Maronite Ca ...

) * Athanasius Aelcheniei (1768 - 1778 deceased) *

Michael Fadel Michael II Fadel (born in 1710 in Beirut, Lebanon - died on May 17, 1795 in Dayr Harrash, Lebanon), (or Mikhail Fadil, ar, ميخائيل الثاني فاضل), was a Lebanese priest and Maronite Archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchie ...

(1779 - September 10, 1793 elected

) ** Jeremiah Najim (November 11, 1779 - June 8, 1802 deceased) * Michael Fadel II (June 27, 1796 confirmed - June 2, 1819 deceased) * Peter Abu Karam (November 28, 1819 - January 15, 1844 deceased) * Tobia Aoun (December 31, 1844 - April 4, 1871 deceased)

e could take possession of his see only on 10 June 1847. E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

/ref> *

Joseph Debs Joseph Debs (born 8 October 1833 in Raschiva, Lebanon - died on 7 October 1907 in Beirut, Lebanon) was an archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut. Life Joseph Debs was appointed and consecrated on 11 February 1872 by Maronite P ...

(February 11, 1872 - October 7, 1907 deceased) * Pierre Chébly (Scebly) (February 14, 1908 - May 30, 1917 deceased) * Ignace Mobarak (February 23, 1919 - January 20, 1952 withdrawn) *

Ignace Ziadé Ignatius Ziadé (also Ignace Ziade; ar, إغناطيوس زياده, 26 January 1906 in Herharaya, Lebanon – 31 March 1994 in Beirut, Lebanon) was the Archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo and the Maronite Catholic Archeparc ...

(January 26, 1952 - April 4, 1986 retired) *

Khalil Abi-Nader Khalil Abi-Nader (born December 6, 1921, in Mtein, Lebanon – died on June 14, 2009) was an Archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut. Biography Life Khalil Abi Nader came from the well-known Lebanese family Abi Nader and was ...

(April 4, 1986 - June 8, 1996 withdrawn) *

Paul Youssef Matar Paul Youssef Matar (born 1 February 1941 in Naameh, Lebanon) was the former Archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut. The archeparchial seat is the city of Beirut, at the Saint George Cathedral. Life Paul Youssef Matar was bor ...

, (since June 8, 1996)

Sources

Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' (Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides names ...

, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 2003, .

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbrtm.html * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/beir3.htm * http://booksnow1.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft/dictionnairedhis08bauduoft.pdf, vol. VIII, Parigi 1935, coll. 1319-1322 e 1336 {{coord, 33.8950, N, 35.5050, E, source:wikidata, display=title Catholicism in Beirut Maronite Church in Lebanon Maronite Catholic eparchies 1577 establishments in Asia Organisations based in Beirut