Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut

Archeparchy of Beirut Archeparchia Berytensis Maronitarum
Saint George Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Patriarch	Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
Archeparch	Paul Abdel Sater
Website
http://www.maronitesbeirut.org/

The Archeparchy of Beirut (in Latin: Archeparchia Berytensis Maronitarum) is an archeparchial seat of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Holy See in Lebanon. As of 2012, there were 232,000 baptized. It is currently ruled by Archeparch Paul Abdel Sater.

Territory and statistics

The archeparchy includes the

.

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

. 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

, 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

. 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

where he died.

The archeparchy is one of the most populous among archeparchies and eparchies of the Maronite Church. This archeparchy was visited three times by three Pontiffs: Pope Paul VI (1964), Pope John Paul II (1997) and Pope Benedict XVI (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)
• OLM
  (September 17, 1716 - January 6, 1742 deceased)
• Youhanna Estephan (Istifan) (1743 - 1754 withdrawn)
• Maronite Patriarch of Antioch
  )
• Athanasius Aelcheniei (1768 - 1778 deceased)
• Maronite Patriarch of Antioch
  )
  • Jeremiah Najim (November 11, 1779 - June 8, 1802 deceased)
• Michael Fadel II (June 27, 1796 confirmed^[2] - June 2, 1819 deceased)
• Peter Abu Karam (November 28, 1819 - January 15, 1844 deceased)
• Tobia Aoun (December 31, 1844 - April 4, 1871 deceased)^[3]
• Joseph Debs (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
  (January 26, 1952 - April 4, 1986 retired)
• Khalil Abi-Nader (April 4, 1986 - June 8, 1996 withdrawn)
• Paul Youssef Matar, (since June 8, 1996)

Sources

• ISBN 88-209-7422-3
  .

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

33°53′42″N 35°30′18″E / 33.8950°N 35.5050°E / 33.8950; 35.5050