Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn (Maronite)
Eparchia Sancti Maronis Bruklyniensis Maronitarum

Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral
Location
Country United States
Ecclesiastical province Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Population
- Catholics		 (as of 2014)
33,000
Parishes 34
Information
Sui iuris church Maronite Church
Rite West Syro-Antiochene Rite
Established January 10, 1966 (51 years ago)
Cathedral Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
Eparch Gregory John Mansour
Emeritus Bishops Stephen Youssef Doueihi
Map
Website
www.stmaron.org

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn (in Latin: Eparchia Sancti Maronis Bruklyniensis Maronitarum)[1] is an entity pertaining to the Apostolic Maronite Patriarchal Church of Antioch and is a diocese of the Maronite Church for the east coast of the United States, being headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. In conformity with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), the Eparchy is under the direct jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff. In 2014 there were 33,000 baptized. It is currently ruled by eparch Gregory John Mansour.

Territory and statistics

The eparchy includes the Maronite Catholic faithful in the eastern coast states of the United States.

It borders in the north with the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Montreal, which covers Canada, and to the west with the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, which covers thirty-four states of the United States.

Its eparchial seat is the city of Brooklyn, where is located the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral (Brooklyn).[2] The Saint Maron Maronite church[3] in Detroit, dedicated to Saint Maron, is the former cathedral church of the eparchy.

The territory is divided into 34 parishes and in 2014 had 33,000 Lebanese Maronite Catholics.

History

Foundation

The diocese has its roots in the establishment of a Maronite Apostolic Exarchate (the equivalent in the Eastern Churches of an Apostolic Vicariate) by Pope Paul VI's papal bull Cum supremi[4] on 10 January 1966. Its object was to provide a unified structure to serve the Lebanese Maronite Catholics scattered around the country, who were subject, up to that point, to the local Roman Catholic diocese.[5]

At that time, Pope Paul appointed Francis Mansour Zayek as the first exarch of the Maronites in the United States. The eparchate was based in Detroit, Michigan. Zayek, who had just spent several years in a similar post in Brazil, arrived in the United States with a rudimentary knowledge of English, only to find an unfinished cathedral and rectory.[6] He took office on 27 January 1966.[5]

Zayek had to face many challenges. First was the very identity of the Church. Arguments raged as to whether it was to be a transplant of Lebanese life or an American institution rooted in its Lebanese heritage. In this he remained guided by the advice which Pope John had given him on his original appointment, "What you Maronites have does not pertain to you alone but is part of the treasure of the Catholic Church". Additionally, he had to deal with the liturgical changes mandated by the Second Vatican Council, in which he had participated. He had the Maronite Divine Liturgy translated into English for the first time, creating a standardized service for use in every parish of the exarchate.[6]

Eparchy

In the Apostolic Constitution Quae spes, issued on 29 November 1971, Pope Paul VI elevated the exarchate to a full eparchy, or diocese, and appointed Zayek as the first bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Detroit.[7] Zayek was installed as its first bishop on June 4, 1972. The seat of the eparchy was moved from Detroit to the Church of Saint Maron in Brooklyn on 27 June 1977[8] by the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and it also renamed the name of the Eparchy to Saint Maron of Brooklyn.[9]

Zayek retired in 1996, with the personal title of Archbishop, and was succeeded by Bishop Stephen Youssef Doueihi, who himself retired on 10 January 2004 and was succeeded by Gregory J. Mansour.[9]

A part of its territory was lost, which encompassed the entire United States, on 19 March 1994 to the newly established Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II's papal bull Omnium Catholicorum.

Parishes and missions

As of 2010, the eparchy counts 42 parishes, served by 50 priests and 17 deacons.[9] Parishes are located in the following states:

St. Anthony Maronite Church: Danbury, CT

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church: Waterbury, CT

St. Maron Maronite Church: Torrington, CT

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church: Washington, D.C.

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church: Miami, FL

St. Jude Maronite Church: Orlando, FL

Mary Mother of the Light Maronite Mission: Tequesta, Florida

Saint Maron Maronite Mission: Jacksonville, FL

Heart of Jesus Maronite Church: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Mission of Saints Peter and Paul: Tampa, FL

St. Joseph Maronite Church: Atlanta, GA

St. Joseph Maronite Church: Waterville, ME

St. Theresa Maronite Church: Brockton, MA

St. Anthony of the Desert Maronite Church: Fall River, MA

Our Lady of the Cedars Maronite Church: Jamaica Plain, MA

St. Anthony Maronite Church: Lawrence, MA

Our Lady of Purgatory Maronite Church: New Bedford, MA

St. Anthony Maronite Church: Springfield, MA

Our Lady of Mercy Maronite Church: Worcester, MA

St. George Maronite Catholic Church: Dover, NH

St. Sharbel Maronite Church: Somerset, NJ

Our Lady Star of the East Maronite Catholic Mission: Pleasantville, NJ

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral: Brooklyn, NY

Blessed John Paul II Maronite Catholic Church: Sleepy Hollow, New York

St. Joseph Maronite Church Olean, NY

St. Ann Maronite Church: Watervliet, NY

St. Louis Gonzaga Maronite Church Utica, NY

St. John Maron Maronite Church: Williamsville, NY

St Michael the Archangel Maronite Church: Fayetteville, NC

Saint Sharbel Mission Cary, NC

Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church: Easton, PA

Our Lady of Victory Maronite Church: Carnegie, PA

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Maronite Mission: Darlington, PA

St. Ann Maronite Church: Scranton, PA

St. John the Baptist Maronite Church: New Castle, PA

St. George Maronite Church: Uniontown, PA

St. Anthony/St. George Maronite Church: Wilkes-Barre, PA

St. Maron Maronite Church: Philadelphia, PA

St. Sharbel Maronite Church: Newtown Square, PA

St. George Maronite Church: Lincoln, RI

Mission of St. Rafka: Greer, SC

St. Anthony Maronite Church: Richmond, VA

St. Elias Maronite Church: Roanoke, VA

Ordinaries

Apostolic Exarch of the United States of America

Eparch of Saint Maron of Detroit

Eparch of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

See also

References

  1. ↑ gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ gcatholic.org
  3. ↑ gcatholic.org
  4. ↑ vatican.va, 10 January 1966, published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS), vol. LIX (1967), No. 8, pp. 529-530 (accessed 6 July 2013)
  5. 1 2 "Obituary: Archbishop Francis M. Zayek, 89". Archdiocese of Miami. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  6. 1 2 "The Maronite Church in the U.S. Mourns the Death of Its First Shepherd" (PDF). The Maronite Voice. VI (IX). October 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  7. ↑ vatican.va, 10 January 1966, published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis (AAS), vol. LIX (1967), No. 8, pp. 529-530 (accessed 6 July 2013)
  8. ↑ [Decree of 27 June 1977, published in AAS, vol. LXIX,(1977), No. 9 (September 30, 1977), p. 548 (accessed July 6, 2013)]
  9. 1 2 3 "Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn (Maronite)". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
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