Habib Bacha, SMSP (June 24, 1931 in Tyre,

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 ...

– 23 November 1999) was Melkite Archbishop of the

Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos The Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos (in Latin: Archieparchia Berytensis et Gibailensis Graecorum Melkitarum) is a metropolitan bishop, metropolitan eparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church since 1881, an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Cat ...

Priests and promotion

Habib Bacha received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1956 leading church offices. Previously, he was at the seminary of St. Paul in Jerusalem, where completed his studies in theology and philosophy. Bacha was appointed in 1975 Melkite Archbishop of Beirut and Byblos and continued his studies in Rome after episcopal ordination. He received his title of Doctor in Theology in Rome and at the same time he taught at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, where he was secretary for Islam. From 1968 to 1975 he was Superior General of the Congregation of the St. Paul.

Archbishop

On August 23, 1975, Habib Bacha was appointed Archbishop of Beirut and Byblos. The consecration took place on 14 September 1975, being his consecrator Archbishop

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 ...

(Melkite Patriarch of the Patriarchate of Antioch). The co-consecrators were Jean Bassoul, BS (Archbishop of Zahle and Furzol) and Nicolas Naaman, MSSP (Archbishop of Bosra and Hauran). In 1979 started the official theological dialogue between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Of the 29 representatives of the Roman Catholic Church Habib Bacha was 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 ...

. Between 1985 and 1987 Bacha was also Apostolic Administrator of Banyas. During the apostolic visit of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1997, he was Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity and responsible representative of the youth in Lebanon. At 68 years old Habib Bacha died on 23 November 1999 of a heart attack.

Consecrations

He consecrated in 1995 future Archbishop Georges Bacouni of Tyre priest and also consecrated bishop Spiridon Mattar (Bishop of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo), Archbishop "pro hac vice" Jean Mansour, SMSP (auxiliary bishop in the Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch and Titular Archbishop of Apamea in Syria of Greek Melkites), Boulos Nassif Borkhoche, SMSP (Archbishop of Bosra and Hauran), Abraham Nehmé, BC (Archbishop of Homs, Syria) and Jean-Clément Jeanbart (Archbishop of Aleppo in Syria).

References

External links

Catholic-hierarchy.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacha, Habib 1931 births 1999 deaths Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Melkite Greek Catholic bishops