Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut

Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut

*Vicariatus Apostolicus Berytensis*
Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut; Vicariatus Apostolicus Berytensis
Location
Country	Lebanon
Statistics
Parishes	8 parishes
Members	15,000
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4 June 1953
Cathedral	St Louis
Secular priests	1
Current leadership
Apostolic Vicar	Cesar Essayan, OFMConv
Website

Last updated December 01, 2023

The Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Berytensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in Lebanon, where Eastern Catholics are far more numerous. In 2010, there were 15,000 baptized. Its current bishop is Cesar Essayan.^[1]

Antecedents

The Catholic presence in Lebanon of the Latin Church began with the Crusades in the late of eleventh century and ends with the final defeat of the Crusaders and the disappearance of the Crusader principalities in the Levant after the middle of the thirteenth century. In this period, in the lands corresponding to the current Lebanon were established several Latin ecclesiasticals, which most of the time they were supplanting ancient bishoprics of the early days of Christianity: the Archdiocese of Tyre from which depended the suffragan dioceses of Latin Catholic Bishop of Acre, Caesarea Philippi, Sidon and Berytus (modern Beirut), while from the Latin Patriarch of Antioch depended the suffragan dioceses of Byblos, Tripoli and Antarado. These dioceses disappeared with the end of the Crusader period and remain today mostly as the venue owners.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Latin continued presence in the country with the Friars Minor, who arrived as early as the thirteenth century, and then with missionaries of other religious orders, such as the Capuchin Friars, the Carmelites, the Vincentians and the Jesuits, who arrived in the seventeenth century. For the faithful of the Latin Rite of Lebanon was not instituted any ecclesiastical district until the end of the French mandate at the end of World War II: the Apostolic Delegate (papal diplomatic envoy) of Syria held the functions of the bishop of the Latin Catholics of Lebanon.

History

The apostolic vicariate was erected on 4 June 1953 with the Papal bull Solent caeli^[2] of Pope Pius XII, with territory that was taken from the Syrian Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo. The apostolic vicar is a member of the Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions.

It enjoyed a papal visit from Benedict XVI in September 2012.

Organisation

The apostolic vicariate extends its jurisdiction over all Catholic faithful of the Latin Rite in Lebanon. It is exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part if any ecclesiastical province.

Its territory is divided into only eighth Latin parishes.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman Rite)

Eustace John Smith, OFM, Titular Bishop of Apamea Cibotus (8 December 1955 – 1973 Resignation)
Paul Bassim, OCD, Titular Bishop of Laodicea ad Libanum (8 September 1974 – 30 July 1999 Retired)
Paul Dahdah, OCD, Titular Archbishop of Aræ in Numidia (30 July 1999 – 2 August 2016)
Cesar Essayan, OFMConv (2 August 2016–present)

Related Research Articles

The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in the Levant that uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church is a self-governed sui iuris particular church, while it is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.

The Eritrean Catholic Church or Eritrean Eastern Catholic Church is a sui iuris (autonomous) Eastern Catholic church based in Eritrea. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. It was established in 2015 when its territory was separated from the Ethiopian Catholic Church. The church is organized under a metropolitan bishop who exercises oversight of a number of suffragan dioceses. In its liturgical services, it uses the Alexandrian Rite in the Ge'ez language.

The Catholic Church in Syria is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

The Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba, officially the Metropolitan sui iuris Archeparchy of Addis Abeba is the metropolitan see of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, a sui iuris metropolitan Eastern Catholic Church.

The Archeparchy of Hajdúdorog is a Hungarian Greek Catholic Church archeparchy of the Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Holy See. The archeparchy is the metropolitan see of its ecclesiastical province which covers the whole of Hungary. The archeparch is also, ex officio, the metropolitan bishop of the metropolis. The cathedral church of the archeparchy is the Cathedral of the Presentation of Mary in the city of Hajdúdorog.

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka is an Eastern Catholic diocese of Melkite Greek Catholic Church, directly subject to the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch. Its Cathedral episcopal see is St. Elijah Greek-Melkite Cathedral, in Haifa.

The Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara, officially the Archeparchy of Asmara, more informally Asmara of the Eritreans, is the metropolitan see of the Eritrean Catholic Church, a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church whose territory corresponds to that of the State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It depends on the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon is a diocese of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church suffragan of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre. In 2010 there were 32,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Archeparch Elie Bechara Haddad, BS.

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs is a nominally Metropolitan Archeparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in central Syria. It was established on March 4, 1849 and has no suffragan, but two merged-in eparchial titles.

The Maronite Eparchy of Latakia or Latakia of the Maronites is a Maronite Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Syria. As of 2011, there were 35,000 members. The current eparch is Antoine Chbeir.

The Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Beirut is the sole eparchy of the Chaldean Catholic Church for all Lebanon.

The Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Qamishli is a suffragan eparchy of the Armenian Catholic Church sui iuris in the Patriarch's own ecclesiastical province 'of Cilicia', serving part of Syria.

The Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli is a non-Metropolitan Archeparchy of the Maronite Church in the north-west of Lebanon.

Catholic dioceses in the Holy Land and Cyprus is a multi-rite, international episcopate in Israel and Cyprus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maronite Church</span> Syriac Eastern Catholic Church

The Maronite Church is an 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. The current head of the Maronite Church is Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, who was elected in March 2011 following the resignation of Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. The current seat of the Maronite Patriarchate is in Bkerke, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon. Officially known as the Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church, it is part of Syriac Christianity by liturgy and heritage.

References

1 2 3 "Beirut {Bairut} (Vicariate Apostolic) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with incumbent biography links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[cath_hier-1] 1 2 3 "Beirut {Bairut} (Vicariate Apostolic) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".

[2] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]