Abraham Nehmé, BC or Ibrahim Naameh (8 October 1927 – 9 December 2022) was Archbishop of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs (in Latin: Archeparchy Hemesena Graecorum Melkitarum-Epiphaniensis-Iabrudensis) is a nominally Metropolitan Archeparchy (Eastern Catholic archdiocese) of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite, ...

in Syria.

Life

Nehmé was born in Kaïtouly,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

on 8 October 1927. Nehmé was ordained to the priesthood on 3 January 1954 and became Chaplain of the Saint John the Baptist Basilians of St. John consecrated. The Bishops' Conference of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (, ''Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk''; ; ), also known as the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catho ...

appointed him on 20 August 1986 successor of Denys Gaith as Archbishop of Homs. The Patriarch of Antioch

Maximos V Hakim Maximos V Hakim (; May 18, 1908 – June 29, 2001) was elected Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in 1967 and served until 2000. He guided the church through turbulent changes ...

ordained him bishop on 26 October 1986. As co-consecrators assisted the Patriarch Hakim the Archbishops

Habib Bacha Habib Bacha, SMSP (June 24, 1931 in Tyre, Lebanon – 23 November 1999) was Melkite Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos. Priests and promotion Habib Bacha received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1956 leadi ...

, SMSP and

André Haddad André Haddad, BS (20 September 1930 in Roum, Lebanon – 13 December 2017) was an archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol. Ecclesiastical career On June 13, 1954, Andre Haddad was ordained to the priesthood and ...

, BS. During his tenure Nehmé was co-consecrator of the archbishops

Antoine Hayek Antoine Hayek (26 August 1928 – 1 May 2010) was an Eastern Catholic bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and was archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Baniyas. Life Antoine Hayek joined the Congregation of the Basilians ...

, BC, Georges El-Murr, BC and Bishop Jean-Abdo Arbach, BC. In 2006 Archbishop Nehmé after his retirement became emeritus archbishop, and was succeeded by Isidore Battikha. Nehmé died on 9 December 2022, at the age of 95.

About married priests

In 2001 Nehmé declared in an interview, "that the priests had four to nine children in his diocese on average and therefore were not less zealous in its missionary and apostolic work than their unmarried brothers". In another line of thought, he raises the question of whether the "success could not inspire the West with the married Catholic priests in the Orient?" And he gives an answer to this question: "But this development will not proceed stormy, may we have waiting for a third Vatican Council."

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120419194326/http://www.pgc-lb.org/english/Church3.shtml#Homs {{DEFAULTSORT:Nehme, Abraham 1927 births 2022 deaths Melkite Greek Catholic bishops Syrian archbishops Lebanese emigrants to Syria Eastern Catholic bishops in Syria People from Homs