John George Chedid (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: جون جورج شديد) (July 4, 1923, in

Edde, Lebanon Edde or Eddé () village is located 45 km north of Beirut, Lebanon. It rises to an altitude of 210 metres (689.01 ft, 229 656 yd) of sea level and covers an area of 398 acres. Etymology The name ''Edde'' comes from the Semitic language, ...

– March 21, 2012) was a Lebanese-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

hierarch. He served as the first

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles The Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon (), is a Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church eparchy of the Catholic Church headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri with jurisdiction over the Maronite faithful in the western and central United States. In confor ...

from 1994 until his retirement in 2000.

Life

Born in

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 ...

, John Chedid received after ten years of study in Rome on 21 December 1951 his priestly ordination of the Apostolic Exarchate of the United States of America. On September 1, 1955, he joined the succession of Thomas Aiken as pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon in Los Angeles. In 1969 he was made Monsignor and named Honorary Chaplain to His Holiness. On November 12, 1978, he was ordained a Chorbishop.

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 ...

appointed him on 13 October 1980

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Callinicum dei Maroniti and ordered him to

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

in the diocese of Saint Maroun of Brooklyn.

Maronite Patriarch of Antioch This is a list of the Maronite patriarchs of Antioch and all the East, the Primate (bishop), primate of the Maronite Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Starting with Paul Peter Massad in 1854, after becoming patriarch of the Maronite Ca ...

Anthony Peter Khoraish Anthony III Peter Khoraish (September 20, 1907 – August 19, 1994), (or ''Antonios Boutros Khoraish'', ''Antoine Pierre Khreich'', ''Khreish'', ''Khoraiche'', ), was the 75th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole Levant from 1975 until hi ...

, ordained him on January 25, 1981, to the episcopate and his co-consecrators were

Francis Mansour Zayek Archbishop Francis Mansour Zayek (Arabic: فرنسيس منصور الزايك ; born October 18, 1920, Manzanillo, Cuba – died on September 14, 2010) was a prelate of the Maronite Church. He was the founding eparch of the Maronite Catholic Epar ...

, Eparch of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, and

Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir ('; ; ; 15 May 1920 – 12 May 2019) was the 76th Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and the Whole Levant and head of the Maronite Church from 1986 to 2011. He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1994. E ...

, Auxiliary Bishop of Antioch. Chedid was ordained as the first Bishop of the

at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, on February 19, 1994, by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. He served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80. His resignation due to age was accepted by

on November 20, 2000, and he was succeeded by the second bishop,

Robert Joseph Shaheen Robert Joseph Shaheen (3 June 1937 – 9 August 2017) was an American prelate of the Maronite Catholic Church. He was the former Eparch of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon. He resided at St. Raymond's Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri. Life ...

. Bishop John George Chedid died on March 21, 2012, at the age of 88.

References

External links

Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, USA 🇺🇸 (Maronite Rite)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chedid, John George 1923 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Maronite Catholic bishops American Maronites Lebanese emigrants to the United States Lebanese Maronites