The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction over all the faithful Maronites of the island of Cyprus. Its arcieparchial seat is the city of Nicosia, where is located the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral (Nicosia).
The archeparchy at the end of 2013 out of a population of 838,897 people had 10,400 baptized, corresponding to 1.2% of the total. Its territory is divided into 12 parishes.
Parishes
Parish of Our Lady of Grace in Nicosia
Parish of Saint George in Kormakitis
Parish of Saint Michael the Archangel in Αsomatos
Parish of Saint Croix in Karpasha
Parish of Saint Marina in Saint Marina
Parish of Saint-Maron at Anthoupolis
Parish of Saint-Marina of Kotsiatis
Parish of Saint-Charbel in Limassol
Parish of Saint Marina in Polemidia
Parish of Saint Joseph in Larnaca
Parish of Saint Kyriaki in Pafos
History
The Maronite community of Lebanon arrived and settled in the northern part of Cyprus during the period between the 9th and 12th centuries, and went through all the vicissitudes of the Christian community of the island: the 1191–1473 French occupation under the House of Lusignan, rule under the Venetians from 1473 to 1571, and Ottoman feudalism from 1571 to 1878. The largest Maronite migrations were in the years 1224, 1570, 1596, 1776 and 1878.[citation needed]
A Cypriot Maronite community in communion with Rome is reported since 1316 when a Maronite bishop, Hananya, who during the reign of the Lusignan took office in Cyprus.[3] The Catholic Bishops' series begins in 1357, when in the hands of the Latin bishop of Nicosia the Maronite community with his bishop emit a profession of the Catholic faith. This union is confirmed and reinforced by the Papal bull Benedictus sit Deus promulgated by Pope Eugene IV at the Council of Florence on August 7, 1455.
The Maronite community of Cyprus was the second largest community of Eastern Christians, after the Greeks. During the occupation of the island by officially Latin states, with the first Lusignan and then by the Venetians, the Maronites increased in number, thanks to the many properties and privileges granted to them by the new rulers of the island; they were present in sixty villages and, as estimated by Hackett,[4] the number of faithful rose to around 180,000. In 1514, the Maronite Patriarch informed Pope Leo X about the machinations of and the seizure of Maronite churches by the Latin bishop of Nicosia.[citation needed]
The Ottoman occupation of Cyprus from 1571 to 1878 saw a continued decline of the Maronite community, with drastically fewer faithful and of communities, as Maronites were driven out of their villages, the churches were destroyed, and the bishop was forced from his episcopal see.[citation needed]
With the death of Bishop Luc, a Cypriot, in 1673 there were not Maronite bishop of Cyprus till 1878. The bishops of Cyprus visited only sporadically the island, and the remaining Maronite faithful were cared by Franciscans (OFM). In 1735 were sent by the Superior general of the OML two monks to Cyprus, and they build a school for the Maronite community, which was inaugurated in 1763 by the synod of Maronite bishops, because the seat of the Bishop of Cyprus should initially remain in Lebanon.[citation needed]
The archeparchy was canonically erected in the Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon in 1736. Since the end of the 16th century, the Maronite bishops, who until then had always resided in Nicosia, began to put their home on the mainland and returned only on the island starting from nineteenth century. In this period there were Latin priests to take care of the few island's Maronite community.[citation needed]
Most of the Maronite community chose to leave their homes and move to the South. In the city of Kormakitis (50km from Nicosia), the heart of the community, all the churches and Christian religious buildings have been converted into other structures, becoming warehouses, museums, or mosques. Today, it is the center of the Maronite Christian community, with about 130 people.[5] Two villages have been turned into military bases. There is only one church in the north where Mass is regularly celebrated, dedicated to St. George.[6]
In 2003, the North unilaterally eased border restrictions, allow Maronites to legally cross the border southward for the first time in 30 years.[7]
From 4 to 6 June 2010, Pope Benedict XVI made an apostolic visit to the Christian community of Cyprus.[8] This was the first time a pope visited the island of Cyprus.
There are currently 11 communities that host a substantial Maronite presence: Nicosia (home of the archbishopric), Kormakitis, Asomatos, Ayia Marina, Karpasha, Anthoupolis, Kotsiatis, Limassol, Polemidia, Larnarca, Paphos.[9]
Kyrenia District is one of the six districts of Cyprus. Its main town is Kyrenia. It is the smallest of Cyprus' districts, and is the only one controlled in its entirety by the unrecognised de facto state of Northern Cyprus, where the same territory is administered as the de facto Girne District, a distinct entity.
The Catholic Church in Cyprus is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Kormakitis is a small village in Cyprus. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus. Kormakitis is one of four traditionally Maronite villages in Cyprus, the other three being Asomatos, Agia Marina and Karpaseia. The Maronites of Kormakitis traditionally speak their own variety of Arabic called Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA) in addition to Greek and recently Turkish and they follow the Catholic Maronite Church. Cape Kormakitis is named after the village.
Maronite Cypriots are an ethnoreligious group and are members of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus whose ancestors migrated from the Levant during the Middle Ages. A percentage of them traditionally speak a variety of Arabic known as Cypriot Arabic, in addition to Greek. People speaking this Arabic dialect originate from one village, specifically Kormakitis. As Eastern Catholics of the West Syriac Rite, they are in full communion with the Catholic Church of Rome.
Philip Gemayel was the 65th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch for a few months in 1795–1796.
Jacob IV Aouad was a former Eparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli and the 59th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1705 to his death in 1733. In Latin he is called Iacobus Petrus Evodius Hasruensis.
Nasser Gemayel is the first and current eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris.
Paul Nabil El-Sayah is an Archeparch of the Maronite Church and Curial Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch.
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.
The Archeparchy of Aleppo of the Maronites is a seat of the Maronite Church. The archeparchy's current ordinary is Archeparch Joseph Tobji.
Samir Nassar is the current archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Damascus.
Joseph Antoine Soueif is a Lebanese clergyman serving as the Maronite Archbishop of Tripoli. He previously served as the bishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus.
Boutros Gemayel was an emeritus Maronite Archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus.
Joseph Mohsen Béchara was a Maronite archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Cyprus and the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Antelias.
Christianity in Cyprus is the largest religion in the country, making up 78% of the island's population. The largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church, while the rest are smaller communities of Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Latin Christians, Maronites, Armenian Apostolics, and Greek Evangelicals.
The Archeparchy of Beirut 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.
Paul Youssef Matar was the former Archeparch of the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut. The archeparchial seat is the city of Beirut, at the Saint George Cathedral.
The Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli is a non-Metropolitan Archeparchy of the Maronite Church in the north-west of Lebanon.
Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh is an eparchy of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in Lebanon. In 2013 there were 396,250 baptized. It is currently governed by the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, OMM.
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 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 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.
http://www.persee.fr/web/ouvrages/home/prescript/article/mom_1274-6525_2000_act_31_1_1841, Gilles Grivaud, Les minorités orientales à Chypre (époques médiévale et moderne), in Chypre et la Méditerranée orientale. Formations identitaires: perspectives historiques et enjeux contemporains, Actes du colloque tenu à Lyon 1997, Lyon 2000, pp.43–70 (i Maroniti, pp.53–57)
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