Paul Achkar (3 February 1893 in Damascus, Syria - 23 April 1982) was the first Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Latakia 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 ...

Life

Paul Achkar was on August 15, 1921, ordained priest. He was appointed Archbishop of Latakia on 20 September 1961. His election was on November 11, 1961, and was confirmed by 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 ...

. On 17 December 1961 he was consecrated by the Patriarch of Antioch

Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos IV Sayegh (or ''Saïgh''; 10 April 1878 – 5 November 1967) was a Catholic Church in Syria, Syrian Catholic prelate who served as List of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria ...

, SMSP and his co-consecrators were Archbishop

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 ...

of Aleppo and Archbishop

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 ...

, Auxiliary Bishop of Antioch. Achkar was from 1962 to 1965 a participant in the four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. As co-consecrator he assisted in the episcopal ordinations of Bishop Justin Najmy, BA (Patriarchal Exarch of the United States), Nicolas Naaman, SMSP (Archbishop of Bosra and Hauran) and

Joseph Raya Joseph Raya () (15 August 1916 – 10 June 2005) was a Lebanese-born Melkite Catholic prelate who served as Archeparch of Akka from 1968 to 1974. He was also a theologian and civil rights advocate. Raya was particularly known for his commitme ...

(Archbishop of Akka). From 1974 to 1975 he was a part-time Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem. Following the provisions of age he became on 18 August 1981 at the age of 88 years, Archbishop emeritus, and until his death on 23 April 1982 Archbishop Emeritus of Latakia. His successor was Michel Yatim.

References

External links

Archbishop Paul Achkar [Catholic-Hierarchy]
1893 births 1982 deaths Religious leaders from Damascus Melkite Greek Catholic bishops Syrian archbishops Syrian Melkite Greek Catholics 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Lebanon Eastern Catholic bishops in Syria {{lebanon-reli-bio-stub