Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon in Mexico City (in Latin: Eparchy Dominae Nostrae Martyrum Libanensium in Civitate Mexicana Maronitarum) is 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 ...

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 ...

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 R ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. In 2010 there were 160,000 members. Its current

eparch 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 ...

is Georges Saad Abi Younes,

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 ...

Territory and statistics

The eparchy has jurisdiction over the Maronite faithful of the whole Mexico. Its eparchial seat is

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, where is located the Nuestra Señora de Valvanera Cathedral. In Mexico Maronites are present in Puebla, Toluca, Pachuca, Torreon, Veracruz, Monterrey, Chihuahua, Mérida, Guadalajara, Veracruz, Coahuila and Mexico City. On November 6, 2010, the proto-parish devoted (being the first) to Saint Charbel in Chihuahua, was consecrated by the hands of

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ...

George Abi-Younes, Monsignor Constancio Miranda, Archbishop of Chihuahua, Monsignor Juan Guillermo Lopez, bishop of Cuauhtémoc-Madera and Bishop Gerardo Rojas Lopez, bishop of Nuevo Casas Grandes. The territory is divided into seven parishes and in 2010 there were 160,000 Lebanese Maronite Catholics.

History

Since 1960's began to arrive in Mexico immigrants from

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 ...

and temples where Masses were officiated were founded. In 1960 for the pastoral care of the faithful of the

in Mexico City, arrived the first three Maronite priests: Antonio Abiyunes, Antonio Abou Sleiman and Jose Bustany. Due to the increasing number of Lebanese emigrants became necessary to form a new church structure of the Maronite Catholic Church in Mexico. One of the initiatives to improve pastoral care of the Maronites was made by Eparchy Tayah in the translation of the Maronite Missal by its priests into Spanish, instructing the priest Alberto Meouchi to conduct a Missal and Lectionary for the altar and other prayer books for the faithful. Spanish, which along with the Arabic, is used in three parishes of the eparchy. The eparchy was erected on 6 November 1995 with the papal bull Cum Christifidelesw2.vatican.va
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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 ...

. Other initiatives carried out by Eparch Tayah were to remodel the Church of Nuestra Señora de Valvanera, Mexico City, current Maronite Cathedral as well as the acquisition of the Episcopal residence.

Eparchs

* Pierre Wadih Tayah (November 6, 1995 - May 4, 2002) * Georges Saad Abi Younes,

, (since 22 February 2003)

References

External links

* http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dmema.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20160107083703/http://www.cem.org.mx/mod_directorio.php?c=EPA& * https://web.archive.org/web/20080506191106/http://www.sancharbel.org.mx/, Official site of the Eparchy * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/nsma0.htm {{coord, 19.4194, N, 99.1456, W, source:wikidata, display=title Arab Mexican Eastern Catholic dioceses in Mexico Lebanese Mexican Maronite Catholic eparchies Mexico City