The Eparchy of San Charbel in Buenos Aires (; ) is a

Maronite Church The Maronite Church (; ) is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The head of the Maronit ...

ecclesiastical territory or

eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

of the

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 ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is a suffragan eparchy in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

Archdiocese of Buenos Aires The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Metropolitae Bonaerensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a metropolitan archdiocese with 13 suffragan sees in ...

, a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

archdiocese. It has a

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 ...

, the Catedral San Marón, located

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In 2010 there were 750,000 members. It is governed by Habib Chamieh,

Mariamite Maronite Order The Mariamite Maronite Order (; abbreviated OMM), also called the Aleppians or Halabites, is a monastic order in the Levantine Catholic Maronite Church, which from the beginning has been specifically a monastic Church. The order was founded in ...

History

From July 5, 1901 began to come to Argentina the first Lebanese Maronite missionaries who founded the first mission in the

Lebanese diaspora Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries. There are more people of Lebanese origin (15,4 million) living outside Lebanon than within the country (6 mill ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The Eparchy of San Charbel was established by

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 ...

on 5 October 1990, on territory previously without proper ordinary of the particular church. It is named after its

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

, Charbel Makhluf.

Territory and statistics

The jurisdiction of the eparchy extends to all Maronite Catholic faithful living in Argentina. Its eparchial seat is the Argentine capital,

, where is located the Saint Maron Cathedral. It is not exempt, nor a hierarchical part of the Maronite patriarchal ecclesiastical structure, but a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

see in the

of the Roman Rite Metropolitan

in Argentina, like its Ukrainian Catholic counterpart, the Eparchy

Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

. The Christians of this diocese are mostly

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

and are originally from

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 ...

. Their naming is originated from Saint

Maron Maron, also called Maroun or Maro (, '; , '; ; ), was a 4th-century Syriac Christian hermit monk in the Taurus Mountains whose followers, after his death, founded a religious Christian movement that became known as the Maronite Church, in full ...

the founder of the Maronite Church. The Eparchy of Saint Charbel of Buenos Aires counted some 750,000 Lebanese Maronite Catholics of prevalent

Arab Christian Arab Christians () are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, bu ...

origin in 2010 and there were four parishes.

Episcopal ordinaries

;Eparchs of San Charbel of Buenos Aires * Charbel Georges Merhi,

Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries The Kreimists, known formally as the Congregation of the Maronite Lebanese Missionaries (; abbreviated LM), is a religious institute of the Maronite Church founded at the monastery of Kreim – Ghosta (Mountain of Lebanon) in 1865 by Youhanna ...

(M.L.M.) (5 October 1990 – 17 April 2013) * Habib Chamieh,

(O.M.M., Aleppians) (22 November 2019 – present) ** Apostolic Administrator from 17 April 2013 to 22 November 2019

References

;Additional sources * Ecclesiastical Guide of Argentina (AICA), Catholic Argentina Agency.

Sources and external links

GigaCatholic

Lebanese diaspora in Argentina Eastern Catholic dioceses in Argentina Maronite Catholic eparchies Maronite Church in Argentina Christianity in Buenos Aires Dioceses established in the 20th century Christian organizations established in 1990 {{Maronite-stub

History

Territory and statistics

Episcopal ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links