Rafic Nahra

Last updated

Rafic Nahra
Patriarchal Vicar for Israel
Auxiliary Bishop of Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Titular Bishop of Verbe
Rafic Nahra - Nazareth Dec6, 2023.jpg
Church Catholic Church
Appointed11 March 2022
Predecessor Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Orders
Ordination27 June 1992
by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger
Consecration30 April 2022
by Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa
RankBishop
Personal details
Born (1959-01-27) January 27, 1959 (age 65)
Previous post(s)patriarchal vicar of Nazareth
MottoEx me fructus tuus invenitur
Coat of arms Coat of arms of Rafic Nahra.svg

Rafic Nahra (born 27 January 1959) is a Lebanese-French [1] bishop of the Catholic Church, who serves as patriarchal vicar for Israel and auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. From 2017 to 2021, he served as patriarchal vicar for the Hebrew Catholics. He has been patriarchal vicar for Israel, based in Nazareth, since August 2021, and auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem since 11 March 2022. [2]

Contents

Biography

Born on 27 January 1959 in Ismailia, [3] Egypt, to a Lebanese family, Rafic Nahra grew up in Lebanon and moved to France at the age of 20, where he obtained a doctorate in engineering in 1985 from the École des Ponts et Chaussées, a profession he held for two years in the Geodia Institute. [1]

In 1987, he entered the seminary in the French capital and was sent to Rome to pursue ecclesiastical studies. He obtained in 1991 a bachelor's degree in theology from the Gregorian University and in 1994 a master's degree in Sacred Scripture from the Biblical Institute in Rome. In the framework of his studies, he was sent to Jerusalem from February to September 1993

Ordained priest for the diocese of Paris, in 1992, by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, he was assigned to various pastoral and academic missions. From 1994 to 2001, he was a spiritual director at the "Maison Saint-Augustin" and taught Biblical exegesis at the École Cathédrale of Paris. From 2001 to 2004 he was vicar in the parish St François de Molitor, while teaching biblical exegesis [3]

In 2004, he returned to the Holy Land to pursue a master's degree in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During this period, he served the Maronite parish in Jerusalem and began his pastoral service at the Saint James Vicariate for the Hebrew Speaking Catholics up to 2007.

From September 2007 to September 2011, he served six months a year as a vicar at the Parish Saint-Augustin, while teaching and being in charge of the department of research "Judaism and Christianity" at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris, and spent the other six months in pastoral service at the Saint James Vicariate, while preparing a Doctorate of Philosophy, in Judeo-Arabic literature, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 2011 to 2014, he focused on his doctoral studies which he completed in 2016.

From September 2014, he was appointed parish priest of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Community of Jerusalem, whose gathering place is in the St. Simeon and Anna convent.

When Father David Neuhaus resigned from his office as patriarchal vicar in September 2017, he was appointed to replace him as coordinator for the Pastoral of Migrants [4]

On October 21, 2017, the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, appointed him as Patriarchal Vicar for the Saint James Vicariate for the Hebrew speaking Catholics in Israel [5] [6] and, from Pentecost 2018, as Patriarchal Vicar for the Migrants and Asylum seekers in Israel. [7]

In addition, Father Rafic Nahra speaks five languages: Arabic, Hebrew, French, English and Italian.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem</span> Catholic episcopal see

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, with the Kingdom of Jerusalem encompassing the territories in the Holy Land newly conquered by the First Crusade. From 1374 to 1847 it was a titular see, with the patriarchs of Jerusalem being based at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome. Pope Pius IX re-established a resident Latin patriarch in 1847.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melkite Greek Catholic Church</span> Eastern 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Israel</span> Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Israel

The Catholic Church in Israel is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, in full communion with the Holy See in Rome. The Catholic Church in Israel is divided into three main jurisdictions: the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, and the Salesian Mission. Each of these jurisdictions has its own responsibilities and areas of operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebrew Catholics</span> Jews who converted to the Catholic Church

Hebrew Catholics are a movement of Jews who have converted to Catholicism, and Catholics of non-Jewish origin, who choose to keep Mosaic traditions in light of Catholic doctrine. The phrase was coined by Father Elias Friedman (1987), who was himself a converted Jew. In the Holy Land, they are gathered in the Saint James Vicariate For Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory III Laham</span> Head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 2000 to 2017

Gregory III Laham, B.S., Emeritus Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, is the former spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected on November 29, 2000, succeeding Patriarch Maximos V Hakim. He retired on May 6, 2017.

Assyrians in Israel are Assyrians living in State of Israel, totaling approximately 1,000 individuals.

Maronites in Israel are an ethnoreligious minority who belong to the Maronite Catholic Church, which has historically been tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac Saint Maron, whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria, establishing the Maronite Church, most of whose members currently reside in Lebanon. The Maronites in Israel encompass the long-existing Maronite community in Jish, Haifa, and Nazareth areas, as well as the families of former South Lebanon Army members, 7,000 of whom fled South Lebanon in April–May 2000 to Israel. Of these approximately 7,000 migrants, just 2,700 have remained in Israel: over the years, most of them have decided to either return home to Lebanon or to move to Europe or the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham</span> 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishop

Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Tunis from 2005 to 2010, and the first Archbishop of Tunis from 2010 to 2012. He later served as the Patriarchal Vicar to Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem from 2012 until his retirement in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Hanna Shomali</span>

William Hanna Shomali is a Palestinian Catholic prelate who serves as an auxiliary bishop for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Born in 1950 and ordained priest on June 24, 1972, he has served for eight years in the parishes of Jordan, 19 years as professor then as rector of the Seminary of Beit Jala, and then became General Administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo</span> 20th and 21st-century Catholic Italian bishop

Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo is a Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, resident in Nazareth. As at December 2020, he was Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo</span> Catholic missionary jurisdiction in Syria

The Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo is an apostolic vicariate and is immediately subject to the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches

Moussa El-Hage, is a Maronite Catholic eparch, now Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicolas Antiba</span> Syrian archbishop

Nicolas Antiba is a Syrian archbishop of Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He is the current Patriarchal Vicar of Damascus, Syria.

Basil Kfoury was bishop of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Egypt and Sudan named by Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum.

Maronite Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem and Palestine is an exarchate of the Maronite Patriarchate of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronites. In 2017 there were 504 members. It is currently governed by archeparch Moussa El-Hage, OAM.

The Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem and Amman is the missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction of the Armenian Catholic Church sui iuris in the Holy Land (Palestine/Israel) and (Trans)Jordan.

David Neuhaus or David Mark Neuhaus SJ is an Israeli Jesuit from German descent and the superior of the Jesuit community of the house of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem. Previously, from 2009 to 2017, he assumed the office of Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierbattista Pizzaballa</span> Italian prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1965) and Latin patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020

Pierbattista Pizzaballa is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 6 November 2020. A Franciscan friar, he served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2004 to 2016, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate from 2016 to 2020, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis on 30 September 2023. On 16 October 2023, Pizzaballa offered himself as a hostage in exchange for captive Israeli children held in Gaza.

The Syriac Orthodox Vicariate is under direct control of the Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarch of Antioch. The church is administrated by a Bishop as Vicar. In Catholic Church, titular bishop administrated by Pope of the Roman Catholic church, who administrate the church is known as Apostolic vicariate.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nahra P. Rafic". 12 August 2015.
  2. "Appointment of two new bishops for the diocese of Jerusalem". Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Curia". Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  4. "Asylum-seekers: Fr Rafic Nahra, "Israel knows what it means to be enslaved and attain freedom. Give dignity to these people"". AgenSIR. 4 April 2018.
  5. "Rafic Nahra officiellement vicaire patriarcal de la Kehilla".
  6. "Un nouveau vicaire pour les catholiques hébréophones de Jérusalem".
  7. Catholic Church [ dead link ]