The following changes in the hierarchy of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church of Antioch were announced today:

• Archbishop Cyrille Bustros, 72, until now Bishop of Newton, Massachusetts, has been elected Metropolitan Archbishop of Beirut and Jbeil. He succeeds Archbishop Joseph Kallas, 79, who has retired for reasons of age.
• Bishop Issam Darwish, 66, until now Bishop of St. Michael's of Sydney, Australia, has been elected Archbishop of Zahleh and Furzol, Lebanon. He succeeds Archbishop André Haddad, 80, who has retired for reasons of age.
• Bishop Nicholas James Samra, 66, has been appointed Bishop of Newton, Massachussets. He served as auxiliary Bishop of Newton from 1989 to 2005 and has carried out valuable pastoral work since then.
• Archimandrite Robert Rabbat, 51, has been appointed Bishop of St. Michael's of Sydney. Born in Beirut in 1960, he studied mathematics and engineering at Ohio State University. He studied philosophy and theology at Harissa and was ordained priest in 1994. He has been parish priest of St. Michael the Archangel in Hammond, Indiana, and editor of the eparchial journal Sophia. Since 2005 he has been rector of Annunciation Melkite Cathedral, West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Axios! Axios! Axios!

I just read that as well. May God grant them all many fruitful years as they guide their respective flocks!

Axios! Many years!

Whoa! Axios indeed. And many, many years.

Axios!

Was there a typo in the announcement? :




Did the Melkite Holy Synod elect these Archbishops in June of last year and this is only now being announced? Or did the announcement give the wrong date for the canonical election by the Synod? Also, is Lebanon part of the Melkite patriarchal territory?

David, my brother,

No typo. It has been very heavily rumored since the conclusion of last year's Synod that Archbishop Cyril was elected to the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Beirut and Bishop Issam to the Archeparchy of Zahleh - as well as that the Synod had put forth the names of Bishop Nicholas and Archimandrite Robert for the posts to which they've now been confirmed.

As to Lebanon, yes it is indeed within the historical territory of the Melkite patriarchate - and you have obviously noted the papal 'assent' to the elections of Archbishop Cyrille and Bishop Issam. I have no comment to offer that won't aggravate me to no end, so I'll refrain from offering any on that point and just rejoice in the naming of Bishop Nicholas, something long-awaited by many.

Many years,

Neil

Thanks, Neil, for the explanations. I, too, am glad for the Melkite Eparchy in the US. Bishop Nicholas is a great man.

AXIOS! AXIOS! AXIOS!

for Vlayda NICHOLAS (Samra) being elected Bishop of Newton!

It's about time too!
(to my shame, I had lost hope of it)

Yes, I remember Bishop Issam telling me last year over lunch that Bishop Nicholas was the designated person to be the Eparch of Newton.

Father Joseph announced that Bishop Cyril had been elected Archbishop of Beirut some time ago--possibly before Nativity. I don't think it was a great secret.

Axios! Axios! I'd heard rumors about Bishop Nicholas, and I rejoice that they are rumors no more!

Axios!
May God grant him many years!

I am curious why he wasn't selected as Bishop John's successor in the first place.

I guess the assent might be more to make sure that there will be some continuity. I was told that the Pope personally opposed the transfer of Bp. Issam, my wishful thinking says it's because of the eparchy's expansion efforts to South East Asia. You would want continuity for such a big project, I suppose. Yes, Bp. Issam told me 3 mths ago that he expects to move to Zahle soon, and that Archimandrite Robert will be his successor. He assured my friends and I here in Indonesia, that the Archimandrite is well informed and is very supportive of bringing the Melkite Church to South East Asia, and Indonesia in particular. So, Axios for all four of them!