Joseph Estephan
| Joseph VI Estephan (يوسف السادس اسطفان) |
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|---|---|
| Patriarch of Antioch | |
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| Church | Maronite Church |
| See | Patriarch of Antioch |
| Elected | June 9, 1766 |
| Term ended | April 22, 1793 |
| Predecessor | Tobias El Khazen |
| Successor | Michael Fadel |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | August 1754 (Bishop) by Simon Awad |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1729 Ghosta, Lebanon |
| Died | April 22, 1793 (aged 63–64) Ghosta, Lebanon |
Joseph VI Estephan (born in 1729, Ghosta, Lebanon – died on 22 April 1793, Ghosta, Lebanon) (or Yusuf Istifan, Stephan, Arabic: يوسف السادس اسطفان) was the 63rd Maronite Patriarch of Antioch from 1766 until his death in 1793 with the name of Joseph VI Estephan.
Joseph Estephan was born in the village of Ghosta, in the Keserwan District, Lebanon in 1729. He studied in Rome in the College of the Propaganda where he remained from 1739 to 1751. Returning to Lebanon on May 21, 1752 he was ordained as a priest by his uncle, bishop John Estephan, and in August 1754 he was consecrated bishop of Beirut by Patriarch Simon Awad.
His uncle, John Estephan, participated in the 1736 Council of Mount-Lebanon and in 1742 became bishop of Beirut. In 1754 John Estephan retired in order to let his nephew, Joseph, be appointed bishop of the same town. Joseph Estephan became bishop in 1754 and remained bishop of Beirut till 1762, when he quarreled with Patriarch Tobias El Khazen, because he refused to support the uncanonical arrangement of dioceses decided by Tobias, and also because he was accused of being ordained bishop at 23 years, not 25 years as Joseph Estephan always claimed.
After Tobias' death, Joseph Estephan was elected patriarch on June 9, 1766, and confirmed by Pope Clement XIII on April 6, 1767.
The new patriarch placed his residence in the monastery of St. Joseph al-Hosn of Ghosta. Among his first acts, there was a celebration of a synod of the Maronite Church, in order to apply the reform of the discipline of the church established by the Maronite Synod of 1736. He shared his plans with the pope, who replied on August 2, 1767 by approving his initiative. Estephan prepared the synod which was held between 16 and 21 September 1768 in the presence of the Apostolic Delegate, the Franciscan Luigi from Bastia, Custody of the Holy Land and was concerning to the distribution of tithes, an issue on which he collided with many bishops who complained against Propaganda Fide. Propaganda Fide approved the acts of the synod, but with some modifications.
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