Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham (; born 20 July 1948,

Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

) is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Tunis from 2005 to 2010, and the first Archbishop of Tunis from 2010 to 2012. He later served as the Patriarchal Vicar to Jordan of the

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem () is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the archbishop of Latin Church Catholics of th ...

from 2012 until his retirement in 2017.

Biography

On 24 June 1972 Lahham was ordained a Catholic priest in Jerusalem. He later became Fidei donum in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and vicar and priest in Jordan. In 1992, Lahham received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in pastoral theology and catechesis in the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

. In 1994, he was appointed rector of the Latin Seminary in Beit Jala. On 8 September 2005 Lahham was appointed Bishop of Tunis by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

and was ordained on 2 October that year in the parish church of Beit Jala by Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,

Michel Sabbah Michel Sabbah (; born 19 March 1933) is a Catholic Church in Palestine, Palestinian Catholic prelate who served as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, the first non-Italian to hold the position in m ...

. On 22 May 2010 Pope Benedict XVI raised the Diocese of Tunis to an Archdiocese and gave to Lahham the title of Archbishop of Tunis. Less than two years later, on 19 January 2012, Lahham was recalled to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

where he became

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. ...

and vicar of the

for Jordan. He 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 Madaba and maintained, as an individual, the dignity of archbishop. On 6 February 2017 Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Lahham as Auxiliary Bishop of Jordan.The Holy Father has accepted the resignation of His Excellency Msgr. Maroun Lahham
/ref>

Distinctions

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

References

External links

jeuneafrique.com

1948 births Living people Roman Catholic archbishops of Tunis Jordanian Roman Catholic bishops People from Irbid Pontifical Lateran University alumni {{Africa-RC-archbishop-stub