| His Beatitude Paul I Peter Massad (بولس الأول بطرس مسعد) |
|
|---|---|
| Patriarch of Antioch | |
| Church | Maronite Church |
| See | Patriarch of Antioch |
| Elected | November 12, 1854 |
| Reign ended | April 18, 1890 |
| Predecessor | Joseph Ragi El Khazen |
| Successor | John Peter El Hajj |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 13, 1830 (Priest) |
| Consecration | March 28, 1841 (Bishop) by Joseph Peter Hobaish |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 15, 1806 Ashqout, Lebanon |
| Died | April 18, 1890 (aged 84) Bkerké, Lebanon |
Paul I Peter Massad (1806–1890), (or Boulos Boutros Massaad, Mas'ad, Arabic: بولس الأول بطرس مسعد), was the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1854 until his death in 1890.
Paul Peter Massad was born in the village of Ashqout, in the Keserwan District, Lebanon on February 15, 1806.
He studied in the seminary of 'Ain-Ourakat and later in Rome in the College of the Propaganda where he remained seven years. Returned in Lebanon, he became secretary of Patriarch Joseph Peter Hobaish,[1] who ordained him priest on June 13, 1830.
Patriarch Joseph Peter Hobaish consecrated Paul Peter Massad titular bishop of Tarsus on March 28, 1841, and appointed him own spiritual vicar.[2] After Patriarch Joseph Ragi El Khazen's death, Paul Peter Massad was elected patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites on November 12, 1854[3] and confirmed on March 23, 1855 by Pope Pius IX.[4]
Paul Peter Massad was patriarch during one of the more difficult period for the Maronites. The 1858 rebellion of the peasants in the Keserwan was a internal conflict that weakened the Maronite society, and it led to the 1860 Lebanon conflict in which the Druzes, with the support of the Ottoman Empire and Great Britain, massacred several thousands of Christians. During these events, Massad tried to relieve the sufferances of his nation, but he couldn't prevent the bloody war.
In 1867 Paul Peter Massad traveled to Rome, the second Maronite Patriach after Jeremy el-Amchiti (died 1230), and later he went to France where he met Napoleon III, asking for financial and political help for the Christians of Lebanon. He did not personally participated to First Vatican Council in 1870, but he delegated the archbishop of Tyre, Pierre Boustani.[4]
From a religious point of view, Massad fully established the Maronite Church within the Roman framework while maintaining many of its own typical elements.[5] He died on April 18, 1890 in the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate in Bkerké, Lebanon.[6]