Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman (Latin: Archeparchy Petrensis et Philadelphiensis) is a branch of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

immediately subject to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Melkites. In 2007 there were 27,000 baptized.

Joseph Gébara Joseph Gébara (born 10 June 1965 in Amatour, Lebanon) is a Lebanese Catholic archeparch of the Byzantine Rite, and current Archeparch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman. Biography After his institutional ...

was elected Archeparch on February 20, 2018.

Territory and statistics

The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction over all the faithful of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Jordan. Archeparchial seat is the city of Amman, where is the Cathedral of St. George. The territory is divided into 28 parishes. The archeparchy at the end of 2007 counted 27,000 baptized.

History

The Archeparchy of Transjordan was erected on May 2, 1932 with the

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Apostolica Sedes of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. The Northern Territory was part of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Bosra and Hauran Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Bosra and Hauran (in Latin: Archeparchy Bostrena et Auranensis) is an archeparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church with its territory located in Syria. It is currently governed by Archeparch Nicolas Antib ...

, while the rest of the territory was part of the ancient metropolis of the

Archbishop of Petra The Archbishop of Petra was the metropolitan bishop of the province of Palaestina Tertia. The Muslim conquest of the Levant, Islamic conquest in the 7th century had eliminated Byzantine Empire, Byzantine control of the area and with it the protec ...

. In this area in the early twentieth century were established missions both by the

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wit ...

. The foundation of the Archieparchy was the occasion of a comparison between the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and 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 ...

. The patriarch thought that the erection of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction depended on him, as the new home was an integral part of his patriarchate. Rome instead started from the principle that most of the territory of the new eparchy depended on the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, of which the patriarch of Antioch was only administrator, and that the conditions of this administration had never been determined or clarified. In the above the bubble archeparchy assumed the name of Transjordan, terminology foreign to the history and tradition not only of the Melkite Church, but of all the Christian East. Moreover, the same bubble adds that "Transjordaniam regionem in veram ac propriam archidioecesim erigimus et constituimus," without specifying further if with Archidioecesis meant a home or an autocephalous metropolis of distinct groups in the Oriental Canon Law. Patriarch

Cyril IX Moghabghab Cyril IX Moghabghab (October 29, 1855 in Ain Zhalta, Ottoman Syria – September 8, 1947 in Alexandria, Egypt) served as Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1925 to 1947 ...

consecrated in Cairo June 5, 1932 the first archeparch Paul Salman, entrusting him with the title of Metropolitan of Petra, Philadelphia and Transjordan. These securities to him two ancient sites, Petra and Philadelphia of Palestine of Arabia: the first is a metropolitan see and the second a simple suffragan dioceses; the first part of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the second that of Antioch. According to Korolevsky (Dict. Hist. Et Geogr. Eccl.), these inaccuracies are signs of 'complete absence of knowledge on the subject of ecclesiastical geography ancient and traditional."vol. IX, Parigi 1937, coll. 1403-1404
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Archeparchs

Paul Salman Paul Salman (born 25 January 1886 in Damascus, Syria - died on 1 July 1948) was the first Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church who, on May 2, 1932 by Pope Pius XI became the archeparch Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Ph ...

(May 2, 1932 - 1 July 1948 deceased) *

Mikhayl Assaf Mikhayl Assaf (27 October 1887 in Damascus, Syria – 10 August 1970) was the second archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman. He was the successor to Archbishop ...

(September 19, 1948 - August 10, 1970 deceased) *

Saba Youakim Saba Youakim, BS (born on 2 June 1914 in El Wardieh in Baalbek, Lebanon – died on 6 March 2003) was Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman. Life Saba Youakim was ordained to the priesthood on Nov ...

, B.S. (October 15, 1970 - August 24, 1992 withdrawn) *

Georges El-Murr Georges El-Murr, BC (11 October 1930 in Ka'a at Baalbek, Lebanon – 8 February 2017) was Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman. Life Georges El-Murr was ordained a priest of the Order of St. Jo ...

, B.C. (August 26, 1992 - June 18, 2007 withdrawn) *

Yasser Ayyash Yasser Ayyash (born December 4, 1955, in Shatana in Irbid, Jordan) is a former archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman and the current Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Archeparchy of Jerusalem. Pr ...

, (June 21, 2007 - April 14, 2015 resigned) *

, (February 20, 2018 elected)

References

External links

Gcatholic.org

Pgc-lb.org

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