Justin Najmy, BA (April 23, 1898 – June 11, 1968) was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

prelate who served as the first Eparch of Newton in 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 ...

from 1966 to 1968. He served for two years before his death at age 70. He was a member of the

Basilian Aleppian Order The Basilian Aleppian Order (Latin: ''Ordo Basilianus Aleppensis Melkitarum''; French: ''Ordre Basilien Alepin'') is a religious order of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The order was founded in 1697 in Dhour El Shuwayr by Aleppine monks w ...

Biography

Justin Abraham Najmy was born on April 23, 1898. He joined the

, studied at the seminary at Deir-ech-Chir and at the Propaganda Fidei, and was ordained a priest in Rome on December 25, 1926. Moving to the United States, he served as pastor of

St. Basil the Great Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...

Church in

Central Falls, Rhode Island Central Falls is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,583 at the 2020 census. With an area of only , it is the smallest and most densely populated city in the smallest state, and the 23rd most densel ...

, before his appointment as apostolic exarch by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

on January 27, 1966. The appointment of Najmy as exarch at first drew protest from the Melkite patriarch Maximos IV, because he and the Synod of the Melkite Church had chosen a different candidate, and the appointment, decided by the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, made the new Exarch subject to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, and only responsible to the Patriarch and the Synod in liturgical matters. On May 29, 1966, in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Najmy was consecrated a bishop by

Athanasios Toutoungi Athanasios Toutoungi (6 September 1899 in Alexandretta, now İskenderun, Turkey – 20 February 1981) was an archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo in Syria. Life Athanasios Toutoungi was on July 20, 1927 ordained to the p ...

, archbishop of Aleppo, his former seminary colleague, and received the title of

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 Augustopolis-in-

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; , ''Phrygía'') was a kingdom in the west-central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Stories of the heroic age of Greek mythology tell of several legendary Ph ...

. The following month he was formally enthroned as exarch. He established his episcopal see at the Church of the Annunciation in suburban Boston, which became the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

for the newly created Apostolic Exarchate of United States of America, Faithful of the Oriental Rite (Melkite). In the wake of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in June 1967, Najmy welcomed the bishops of Middle Eastern churches in the United States for a meeting in Boston. Bishops of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Maronite Catholic Church, and from Armenian and Syrian churches attended. Bishop Najmy did not serve as exarch for long. He died of a heart attack on June 11, 1968, and was succeeded by

Joseph Tawil Joseph Elias Nicolas Tawil (December 25, 1913 – February 17, 1999) was a Syrians, Syrian prelate who served as Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton, Eparch of Newton in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1970 to 1989. He is remembered f ...

. He is buried at the parish cemetery of St. Basil the Great in

Cumberland, Rhode Island Cumberland is the northeasternmost town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled in 1635 and incorporated in 1746. The population was 36,405 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh-largest municipality and the largest ...

Notes

External links

Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem

Official Website of the Melkite Church in the US

{{DEFAULTSORT:Najmy, Justin American people of Syrian descent American Melkite Greek Catholic bishops American Eastern Catholics 1898 births 1968 deaths Melkite Greek Catholic bishops 20th-century American clergy

Biography

See also

Notes

External links