Tobias El Khazen

Tobias El Khazen
(طوبيا الخازن)
Patriarch of Antioch
Church Maronite Church
See Patriarch of Antioch
Elected February 28, 1756
Reign ended May 29, 1766
Predecessor Simon Awad
Successor Joseph Estephan
Orders
Consecration 1730 (Bishop)
by J. D. El Khazen
Personal details
Died May 29, 1766

Tobias El Khazen (or Tubiya al-Khazin, Arabic: طوبيا الخازن‎, Latin: Tobias Alchasen) was the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1756 to his death in 1766.

Life

Tobias El Khazen was a member of the Abu Nawfal branch of the Khazen family, which ruled the Keserwan District, and he was a nephew of Patriarch Joseph Dergham El Khazen. He entered in the Lebanese Maronite Order and in 1730 he was consecrated titular bishop of Banyas by his uncle. In 1733, when his uncle became patriarch, Tobias was appointed administrator of the Patriarchal residence of Qannubin Monastery, in the Kadisha Valley,[1]:115 and titular bishop of Naplouse. In 1735 he was appointed bishop of the Maronite diocese of Cyprus[2] and with this title he participated to the 1736 Maronite Synod of Mount-Lebanon.

In 1743 at the death of his uncle Patriarch Joseph Dergham Khazen, after the initial refusal of Simon Awad, Tobias in competition with Elias Mohasseb tried to be elected patriarch, but the case arrived to the Pope who choose Simon Awad in place of the two pretenders.[3] In 1750 Tobias was appointed bishop of Tyre and Vice-Patriarch [1]:130 and at the death of Simon Awad, Tobias succeeded to be elected patriarch on February 28, 1756. He was confirmed by Pope Benedict XIV on March 28, 1757.[4]

As patriarch, Tobias had three main issues to manage: the implementation of the 1736 Maronite Synod, the Hindiyya's case and the problems in the Lebanese Maronite Order. To implement the 1736 Synod he summoned on August 25, 1756 a new synod without great results, and again an other synod in 1762 which arrived to reduce the dioceses only to fifteen in place of the target of eight as requested in 1736. About Hindiyya he took a neutral position which anyway allowed Hindiyya to grow her influence during his patriarchate. The dispute into the Lebanese Maronite Order could be solved only under his successor. Tobias El Khazen died on May 29, 1766.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Leeuwen, Richard (1994). Notables and Clergy in Mount Lebanon: the Khazin Sheiks and the Maronite Church. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9004099786. 
  2. ^ K. Rizk (2003). "Khazen Thobie". Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. 28. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. pp. 1425–1426. 
  3. ^ de Clercq, Charles (1949). Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, Tome XI Conciles des Orientaux Catholiques. 1. Paris: Letouzey et Ané. p. 274. 
  4. ^ a b Dib, Pierre (2001). Histoire des Maronites: L'église maronite du XVIe siècle à nos jours, Volume 3. Libairie Orientale. pp. 194–196. ISBN 9789953170053.