Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar (in Latin: Eparchia Helipolitana-Rubrimonasteriensis Maronitarum) is an eparchy of the Maronite Church located in

Deir El Ahmar Deir El Ahmar ( ar, دير الأحمر) is a Lebanese town, located 100 km from Beirut and 22 km northwest of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Demography and religion The population of Deir el Ahmar is approximately 23,000. Th ...

, Lebanon. In 2012 there were 45,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Eparch Hanna Rahmé, OLM.

Territory and statistics

The eparchy includes the cities of

Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...

, Hermel and

Deir el Ahmar Deir El Ahmar ( ar, دير الأحمر) is a Lebanese town, located 100 km from Beirut and 22 km northwest of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Demography and religion The population of Deir el Ahmar is approximately 23,000. Th ...

, its eparchial seat, where is located the Saint George Cathedral. The territory of the diocese covers 27 percent of the area of Lebanondeirelahmar.com
and encounters the east and north of the Lebanese-Syrian border, to the west it extends to the high mountains and in the south it joins the Zahleh, established in 1990. Its territory is divided into 34 parishes and in 2012 there were 45,000 Maronite Catholics.

History

The presence of Christian churches in the city of Baalbek can be traced to the year 96, when is mentioned its first Christian bishop. Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

(around 288-337) had to build a large church there and the work of excavation of its remains began in 1933. The Maronite Eparchy of Baalbek is relatively recent. The first bishop known is Gabriel I Moubarak, mentioned around 1671. Like all Maronite seats, its canonical erection was confirmed in the Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon in 1736. On August 4, 1977 it was united to the

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh (in Latin: Eparchia Mariamnensis Maronitarum) is an eparchy of the Maronite Church in Lebanon immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. In 2014 there were 50,000 baptized. It is currently ruled by ...

. On 9 June 1990 the two eparchies were separated and simultaneously the Eparchy of Baalbek assumed its present name. Its first elected eparch on August 5, 1990 was

Philippe Boutros Chebaya Philippe Boutros Chebaya (May 20, 1920, in Bsharri, Lebanon – 8 October 2002) was the first Maronite bishop in 1990 of the newly established Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar in Lebanon. Life On March 25, 1944, Philippe Boutros ...

Eparchs of Baalbek

* Gabriel I Moubarak (about 1671 - 1732 deceased) * Arsenius (mentioned in 1757) * Gabriel II Moubarak (1763 - July 28, 1788 deceased) * Peter Moubarak (1788 - November 17, 1807 deceased) * Anthony Khazen (1808 - February 18, 1858 deceased) *

John Peter El Hajj John XII Peter El Hajj (1 November 1817 in Dlebta, Keserwan District – 24 December 1898 in Bkerké), (or Youhanna Boutros El Hajj, ''El-Hage'', ''El-Haj'', ''El-Hadj'', ar, يوحنا الثاني عشر بطرس الحاج), was an Eparch of ...

(August 15, 1861 - June 23, 1890 confirmed Maronite Patriarch of Antioch) * John Murad (June 12, 1892 - May 1, 1937 deceased) * Elias Richa (October 10, 1937 - August 24, 1953 deceased) * Abdallah Nujaim (April 4, 1954 - November 12, 1966 resigned) *

Chucrallah Harb Chucrallah Boutros Harb (May 5, 1923 – December 31, 2019) was a Lebanese Hierarch of Maronite Church and an eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek and Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Jounieh. Biography Harb was born in Tannour ...

(March 15, 1967 - August 4, 1977 appointed Eparch of Jounieh)

Eparchs of Baalbek and Zahle

Georges Scandar Georges Scandar (12 May 1927 in Zahleh, Lebanon – 15 May 2018) was the first eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh and a former eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek and Zahleh. Biography Georges Skandar was born in t ...

, (August 4, 1977 - June 9, 1990 appointed Eparch of Zahleh)

Eparchs of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar

, (June 9, 1990 - June 10, 1995 withdrawn) *

Paul-Mounged El-Hachem Paul-Mounged El-Hachem ( ar, بول منجد الهاشم; 8 September 1934 – 7 October 2022) was a Lebanese Maronite prelate of the Catholic Church. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See as apostolic nuncio to Kuwait, Bahrain, ...

, (June 10, 1995 - August 27, 2005 appointed titular archbishop of Darni) *

Simon Atallah Simon Atallah, OAM (born on 10 January 1937 in Hemayri, Lebanon) is a Lebanese Maronite emeritus eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar. Life Simon Atallah joined the OAM and received on 8 December 1963 his ordination t ...

, OAM, (September 24, 2005 - March 14, 2015 withdrawn) * Hanna Rahmé, OLM, (since June 20, 2015)

Sources

* http://booksnow2.scholarsportal.info/ebooks/oca2/4/dictionnairedhis06bauduoft/dictionnairedhis06bauduoft.pdf, vol. VI, Paris, 1932, coll. 7-8. * Annuario Pontificio, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, 2003, .

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbdea.html * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/baal1.htm {{coord, 34.1260, N, 36.1335, E, source:wikidata, display=title Maronite Catholic eparchies Maronite Church in Lebanon