Joseph Raya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archbishop Joseph Raya (August 15, 1916–June 10, 2005), born in Zahlé, Lebanon, was a prominent Melkite Greek Catholic archbishop, theologian and author. He served as metropolitan of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee from 1968 until 1974 and was particularly known for his commitment to seeking reconciliation between Christians, Jews and Muslims. In 2005, the year of his death, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Contents |
[edit] Life
Joseph Marie Raya completed his seminary studies at St. Anne's in Jerusalem and was ordained a priest of the Melkite Catholic Church on July 20, 1941. He had also studied in Paris and taught for a while at the Patriarchal College on Queen Nazli Street in Cairo, Egypt. He was expelled from Egypt in 1948 by King Farouk for championing the rights of women. He served in Lebanon and Egypt before immigrating to the United States in 1949. After serving as assistant pastor of St. Ann Melkite Catholic Church in West Paterson, NJ he was appointed pastor of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in Birmingham, AL in 1952. His championship of civil rights brought him into close friendship with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Raya marched several times at King's side and suffered three times at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. He was also very close to social justice activist Catherine Doherty, and he became the first Associate Priest of her Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ontario, Canada on July 1, 1959. When he became Archbishop of Nazareth he ordained her husband Eddie Doherty to the priesthood.
As a priest in Alabama he saw the need of younger generations to have church services in their own languages, and translated the Gospels and Byzantine Divine Liturgy into English. He also published his "Byzantine Missal" which has now become a rare book. His invitation to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the famous television personality, who was also one of his friends, to celebrate the Pontifical Byzantine Divine Liturgy in English in 1958 at the Melkite National Convention raised a storm of ire that broke harmless upon his shoulders. The Divine Liturgy, celebrated by Sheen as the Legate of Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh, was reported on the television from the Convention in Birmingham and made a deeply favorable impression upon many. In 1960 Blessed Pope John XXIII intervened at the request of Patriarch Maximos IV to decide the question in favour of the authentic Byzantine custom of celebrating the Divine Mysteries in the vernacular and against the Holy Office command to cease and desist. In 1963 his liturgical translation was declared the official English translation for the Catholic Byzantine rites. He served in the Patriarchal Delegation to the Second Vatican Council as Grand Archimandrite of Jerusalem. In 1968, with Baron Jose de Vinck of Alleluia Press in New Jersey, he authored his enormously valuable "Byzantine Daily Worship" a compendium in English of the Divine Liturgy, Office of the Hours, and the sacraments which has gone through three printings and is still very much in demand.
Following his appointment as archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee on October 20, 1968, Archbishop Joseph led a peaceful demonstration of thousands of Arabs and Jews in Israel seeking justice for the villages of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit in Upper Galilee that had been depopulated in 1948, and then destroyed. The former village is the home place of his second successor, Archbishop Elias Chaccour. He sought justice through non-violent means and called upon Palestinians to be good citizens of Israel. In August, 1972 he ordered all churches in his eparchy closed one Sunday to mourn for "the death of justice in Israel" as the two villages remained dispossessed.
As archbishop, Raya was a controversial figure. While many admired his charismatic style and ecumenical leadership, some Arabs resented his overtures to Israel. Ironically, the government of Israel considered him dangerous, but when he resigned Prime Minister Golda Meir begged him to reconsider.
He resigned his archbishopric in September 1974, moving to Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario, Canada. At some time between his resignation and 1975, he suffered a massive heart attack and had a quadruple bypass operation in Lexington, Kentucky. From his home in Combermere he lectured and wrote on Byzantine spirituality at various places, among them the John XXIII Ecumenical Center in The Bronx, near Fordham University and the Patriarchal Major Seminary at Raboue in Antelias, Lebanon. He returned to Lebanon in 1985 to assist the Diocese of Beirut with Archbishop Habib Bacha. In 1987 he assumed interim leadership of the Archdiocese of Paneas in Marjayoun, Lebanon which had been destroyed by the Lebanese civil war (1974-1991). He moved back to Canada after the completion of this assignment and retired at Madonna House in 1990.
[edit] Books and publications
- Abundance of Love: The Incarnation and the Byzantine Tradition. Educational Services. ISBN 1561250155.
- Byzantine Church and Culture. Alleluia Press. ISBN 0911726551.
- Raya, Joseph, de Vinck, Baron José. Byzantine Daily Worship. Alleluia Press. ISBN 0911726071.
- Christmas: Birth of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ and His Private Life. Madonna House Publications. ISBN 0921440456.
- Raya, Joseph, de Vinck, Baron José. The Divine and Holy Liturgy of our Father among the Saints, John Chrysostom. Alleluia Press. ISBN 0911726640.
- Face of God: An Introduction to Eastern Spirituality. God With Us Publications.
- Metalipsi: Service of Holy Communion without Divine Liturgy. Madonna House Publications.
- Theophany and Sacraments of Initiation. Madonna House Publications. ISBN 0921440367.
- Theotokos: Mary, Mother of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ. Madonna House Publications. ISBN 0921440405.
- Transfiguration of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Madonna House Publications. ISBN 0921440294.
