Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol (in Latin: Mariamnensis Graecorum Melkitarum) is a diocese of the

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

. In 2012 there were 150,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Archeparch Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, BS.

Territory and statistics

The archeparchy includes most of the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

in Lebanon. Its archeparchial seat is the city of Zahleh, where is located the Cathedral of Our Lady of Deliverance, built in the 18th century. The territory is divided into 39 parishes and there were 150,000 Melkite Catholics in 2012.

History

The Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol is a Greco-Melchite archeparchy in the

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 has its origins in the 5th century. In the seventeenth, or perhaps in the 16th century, the diocese of Seleucia Pieria was for greater safety transferred by the

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 ...

to Maaloula in the

. The reason of this transfer was forgotten at a later date, and a town of "Seleucia Libani" was invented and identified with Maaloula, though such a town never existed. When the see was transferred from Maaloula to Forzol, the title of Seleucia accompanied it. The Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol has been in communion with Rome since 1724, when the bishop Efthymios Fadel Maalouly proclaimed its union with 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 ...

, thus “leaving the fold” of the

Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...

. In 1727, the headquarters was moved to Zahle, which became the capital of the region of the Bekaa, but it was only a nominal measure. The transfer had already taken place in 1760, for the Catholic titular

Euthymius Fadel Euthymius Fadel of Ma’loula (died 1776) was bishop of Zahle and Forzol of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and took a preeminent part in the 1724 split of the Melkite Church. Life Euthymius Fadel was born in Ma'loula, Syria and he entered in ...

of Malouli then signed as Bishop of Forzol and Beqaa. In 1774, the headquarters of the eparchy was moved permanently to Zahleh. In October 1790, a Catholic bishop of

Zahlé Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area ...

assisted at a council held in the Convent of Saint-Sauveur. The Diocese of Zahle is identical with that of Forzol, under which name it often appears. Since the 1849

Council of Jerusalem The Council of Jerusalem or Apostolic Council was held in Jerusalem around AD 50. It is unique among the ancient pre-ecumenical councils in that it is considered by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox to be a prototype and forerunner of the later ...

, the bishop bears the titles of Forzol, Zahle, and Beqaa. Since 1768 his residence has been at Zahle. In the

the bishop always bears the title of Seleucia. Zahle itself dates only from the end of the seventeenth century, when Catholics fled thither in great numbers, the locality being under the protection of the

emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

s of Lebanese, by whom they were protected from Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and from the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. Gradually the place grew larger; as of 1913 it was a city of about 20,000 inhabitants, nearly all Melkite Greek Catholics. In 1860 the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

s destroyed 2000 houses, and several Christians were massacred, among them four

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s. There are to-day a Jesuit residence and a school, similarly a residence and a school in the Molallaqa quarter. The diocese comprises 30,000 Catholics, forty seven priests, thirty three churches and chapels, nine primary schools, three convents of Salavatorians, Alepins, and of Chouerites, with forty three religious. On 18 November 1964,

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 ...

elevated the eparchy to the rank of archeparchy.

Bishops

* Efthymios Fadel Maalouly (1 October 1724 - 1775; resigned) * Youssef Farhat (1775 - 1793) * Basile Jabaly (1796 - 1811) *

Macarius IV Tawil Macarius IV Tawil (or ''Taouil'') was Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1813 to 1815. Life Macarius Tawil was born in Damascus. He entered in the religious order of the Basilian Salvatorians of which he was Superior from 180 ...

, BS (1811 - 10 December 1813; elected Melkite Patriarch of Antioch) * Ignace Ajoury (1816 - 1834) * Basile Schajat (Shahiat), BS (15 October 1834 - 1864) *

Ambroise Abdo Ambroise Abdo (born 8 January 1820 in Aleppo, Syria - died in 1876) was a bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Jerusalem and Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol. Life He was appointed in 1860 as Apostolic Vicar o ...

(15 November 1866 - 1875; resigned and appointed Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem) * Meletios Fakak (consecrated 23 January 1876 - 16 August 1881 appointed archeparch of Beirut and Byblos) * Ignace Malluk (Malouk) (18 September 1881 - 1898) *

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. ...

(23 April 1899 - 21 June 1926; confirmed Melkite Patriarch of Antioch)

Archbishops

Eftimios Youakim Eftimios Youakim, BS, (born on 15 June 1886 in Qaytuleh – died on 19 May 1972) was an Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol in Lebanon. Life On 25 March 1912 Youakim was ordained priest and appointed Chaplain ...

(30 October 1926 - 21 August 1971; withdrawn) *

Jean Bassoul Jean Bassoul, BS, also John Bassoul, (7 May 1920 in Maghdouché, Lebanon – 9 August 1977) was an archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol. Ordination On 11 July 1943 Bassoul was ordained priest and was appoin ...

(21 August 1971 - 9 August 1977; deceased) *

Augustin Farah Augustin Farah (4 May 1910 in Kara, Lebanon – 31 March 1983) was an archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli and the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol. Ecclesiastical career On September 8, 1937, h ...

(25 August 1977 - 31 March 1983; deceased) *

André Haddad André Haddad, BS (20 September 1930 in Roum, Lebanon – 13 December 2017) was an Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol. Ecclesiastical career On June 13, 1954 Andre Haddad was ordained to the priesthood and ap ...

, BS (14 June 1983 - 15 June 2011; resigned) *

Issam John Darwich Issam John Darwich, BS, (born 4 May 1945, Damascus, Syria) was Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol in Lebanon from 2011 to 2021. Life and education Issam Darwich, whose his baptismal name is John, was born in D ...

, BS (15 June 2011 – 26 June 2021; resigned) * Ibrahim M. Ibrahim (26 June 2021 – present)

References

{{coord, 33.8333, N, 35.9000, E, source:wikidata, display=title Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Lebanon

Zahle and Forzol Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol (in Latin: Mariamnensis Graecorum Melkitarum) is a diocese of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. In 2012 there were 150,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Archeparch Ibrahim M. Ibra ...

Melkite Greek Catholic eparchies