Bechara Boutros al-Rahi

His Beatitude Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
Cardinal Patriarch of Antioch
See	Antioch and All the East
Appointed	15 March 2011
Installed	25 March 2011
Predecessor	Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir
Orders
Ordination	3 September 1967
Consecration	12 July 1986 by Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir
Created Cardinal	24 November 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Rank	Patriarch (Cardinal Bishop)
Personal details
Born	(1940-02-25) 25 February 1940 Himlaya, Lebanon
Denomination	Maronite Catholic
Previous post	Auxiliary Bishop of Antioch (1986–1990) Titular Bishop of Caesarea Philippi (1986–1990) Bishop of Byblos (1990–2011)
Coat of arms

Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (or Raï, Arabic: مار بشارة بطرس الراعي‎ Mor Bishārah Buṭrus al-Rāʿī) (born 25 February 1940) is the 77th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Maronite Church, a position he has held since 15 March 2011, succeeding Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Rahi also holds the position of a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Early life and education

Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi was born in Himlaya, Matn District, Lebanon on 25 February 1940. He attended Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour, a Jesuit school in Lebanon. He entered the Mariamite Maronite Order on 31 July 1962 and was ordained as a priest on 3 September 1967.^[1] From 1967 to 1975 he was responsible for the Arabic programs of Vatican Radio.^[2] In 1975, he received a PhD in canon and civil law. He also studied for three years at Lateran University in Rome.^[3]

Religious positions

He was consecrated as auxiliary bishop of Antioch on 12 July 1986, by Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir and on 9 June 1990, he was elected bishop of Byblos.^[4] In 2003 he was elected Secretary of the Maronite Synod, and in 2009 he was appointed President of the Lebanese Episcopal Commission for the Media.^[1]

Maronite patriarch

At 71, he was elected patriarch of the Maronites on 15 March 2011,^[5] after getting more than two-thirds of the votes of the 39 bishops and replacing Nasrallah Sfeir.^[6] The new patriarch formally requested and received ecclesiastical communion from Pope Benedict XVI on 24 March 2011 pursuant to Canon 76 § 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.^[7][8] The Mass for the inauguration of his Patriarchate took place on 25 March 2011, in Bkerké, the see of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate. As is customary for all Maronite Patriarchs, Patriarch al-Rahi took the additional name Boutros, that of Saint Peter, who briefly held the See of Antioch before moving to Rome to become Bishop there. On 7 March 2012, Patriarch al-Rahi was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.^[9]

Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi was created a Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in a consistory on 24 November 2012.^[10] Patriarch al-Rahi is the fourth Maronite Patriarch created cardinal, the first three being his three immediate predecessors Paul Peter Meouchi, Anthony Peter Khoraish, and Nasrallah Sfeir.

On 31 January 2013, Cardinal Patriarch al-Rahi was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants, and the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.^[11]

In February 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Patriarch Rai, being a Cardinal, became a candidate to the papacy. He participated as a cardinal elector in the conclave that elected Pope Francis.^[12][13][14] Cardinal Rai was one of four cardinal-electors from outside the Latin Church who wore distinct vestments proper to their respective churches. The other three cardinal-electors from outside the Latin Church were Coptic Catholic Patriarch-Emeritus Antonios Naguib, Syro Malabar Major Archbishop George Alencherry, and Syro-Malankara Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis. Cardinal Rai's attire during the opening day was distinct from most of the other electors in that he wore all-red vestments with distinct headgear proper to the Maronite Church^{[lower-alpha 1]}.^[15] Cardinal Rai is also the first Maronite Cardinal Patriarch ever to participate in a papal conclave.^{[16][lower-alpha 2]}

Cardinal Patriarch al-Rahi was named a Member of the Congregation for Catholic Education by Pope Francis on Saturday, November 30, 2013.^[17]

On March 18, 2015 Cardinal-Patriarch al-Rahi became the sole cardinal-elector from the order of cardinal-bishops when Cardinal Naguib turned 80 and ceased to be a cardinal-elector.

Religio-political views

In April 2011, Rahi said that, for the sake of communion and love, he would work "to establish a sincere and complete dialogue" with Muslims "and build together a future in common life and cooperation." He said his predecessor "struggled with insistence to free both the national decision-making and the land of Lebanon from all forms of tutelage and occupation, worked for reconciliation in Mount Lebanon and realized needed church reforms. All of these constitute an extension of the church's springtime started by the Second Vatican Council."^[18] Patriarch Rai does not use the term "Arab spring", but "Arab winter" to express his unenthusiastic reaction.^[19]

Syria and Hezbollah

In September 2011, some of the Christian community of Lebanon, partly supportive of the March 14 alliance, were upset over his controversial comments in Paris, France supporting Hezbollah's right to hold arms in defense against Israel and that the 2011 Syrian protests could awaken the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood if President Bashar al-Assad was removed from office. The opposition March 14 alliance criticised him for the comments and sought clarification from him, especially seeing that his predecessor patriarch Sfeir had very different views and was almost fanatically supportive of the Lebanese Forces, the main March 14 Christian party. However the Christians of the March 8 alliance welcomed his comments. Prime Minister Najib Mikati also supported his stance saying "The Maronite patriarch spoke about a part [of the problem]. No one is against the resistance’s arms as long as [Israeli] occupation continues. There is Lebanese unanimity on the resistance’s arms in the face of [Israeli] occupation." ^[20]

He said that after his meeting with al-Rahi that he was satisfied with the explanation and that he was "very relieved and reassured by the Patriarch’s wisdom."^[21] President Michel Suleiman said that al-Rahi's comments were not "politics or political employment" and that he had an all-encompassing vision to show the French. He also added that "the Patriarch is not in need of anyone to defend him and his positions emanate from his central role as a person in charge of Lebanon's and the Middle East's Christians and that of Lebanon's independence and sovereignty;"^[22] and that "the patriarch does not need to be defended, and his stances represent his way of taking responsibility for Lebanon’s Christians."^[23]

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said that Rai's "comments in Paris protect Lebanon from danger and I agree with what he stated and affirm his vision that is rooted in both a religious and national background" and that "If the situation further deteriorated in Syria and we reached a more radical rule than the current rule, like the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, Christians there would pay the price, either in the form of killings or displacement. Here is the picture of Iraq in front of us."^[24]

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun expressed support for al-Rahi and added that no one wants the Syrian government to fall. "Rai’s statements express the concerns of the minorities because he is entrusted with the Synod for the Middle East. Gradual changes doesn’t harm stability and wouldn’t get Syria into the [same] troubles as Palestine, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. [As some of the Syrian demonstrators are armed and are destroying the country] the Syrian government cannot but bring order to the country."^[25] Former 14 March Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, who sits with the incumbent March 8 alliance in government, also criticised Rai's assessment of Hezbollah’s arms with the fate of the Middle East conflict on the grounds that "Lebanon cannot remain hostage to regional conflicts." He also criticised Rai’s assessment of regime change in Syria as posing a threat to Christians in the country.^[26]

In an interview with Reuters on 4 March 2012, al-Rahi said: "All regimes in the Arab world have Islam as a state religion, except for Syria. It stands out for not saying it is an Islamic state...The closest thing to democracy [in the Arab world] is Syria."^[27]

Awards

In 2011, Patriarch Rai was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor by the president of France, Nicholas Sarkozy.^[28] In 2012, he received the award of the National Order of the Cedar.^[29]

Gallery

• 

  Patriarch Raï, at Chair of Saint Peter, last 11 October 2014.

• 

  Patriarch Rahi lays on his hands to father Maurizio Malvestiti during his episcopal ordination. Behind them, the cardinals Sandri and Müller, 11 October 2014.

Notes

References

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir	Maronite Patriarchs of Antioch 2011–present	Incumbent