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Boutros Pierre Mouallem is the retired Melkite Eastern Catholic archbishop of Acre, Haifa and the Galilee, in Israel. He was born in 1928 and consecrated eparch of Brazil on June 29, 1990. He is active in seeking interfaith reconciliation and for championing the rights of Palestinians. He also currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute. [1]
His appointment as archbishop of Galilee was actively opposed by the government of Israel, who said that he favours the Palestine Liberation Organization, resulting in a row between the Holy See and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[2] The Holy See noted that selection of a bishop was matter reserved for the Church, "free of all external pressure," and that the Fundamental Accord between the Holy See and the State of Israel "provides for the autonomy of Church and State, each one in its own area."[3] Sources close to Netanyahu said that he wanted to make a "courteous persuasion" in favor of the competing candidate after the PLO began to insistently intervene in favor of Mouallem.
Later, in October 2002, Archbishop Mouallem was prevented by Israeli airport guards from leaving Jerusalem to attend an interfaith meeting in London.[4]