Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of São Paulo

Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of São Paulo (Maronite) Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Libanensis Sancti Pauli Maronitarum
Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral, São Paulo
Location
Country	Brazil
Ecclesiastical province	São Paulo
Statistics
Population - Catholics	(as of 2013) 489,000
Parishes	10
Information
Denomination	Maronite Church
Rite	West Syro-Antiochene Rite
Established	29 November 1971 (46 years ago)
Cathedral	Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Patriarch	Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
Eparch	Edgard Madi
Metropolitan Archbishop	Odilo Scherer
Website
www.igrejamaronita.org.br

The Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of São Paulo (Portuguese: Eparquia Nossa Senhora do Líbano em São Paulo) (Latin: Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Libanensis Sancti Pauli Maronitarum) is a diocese of the Maronite Church, based in the city of São Paulo, in the Ecclesiastical province of São Paulo in Brazil. In 2013 there were 489,000 members. It is currently ruled by Eparch Edgard Madi.

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in São Paulo includes all Lebanese Maronite Catholic believers living in Brazil. Its eparchial seat is São Paulo (city) where is located the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral. The eparchy also includes Maronite parishes in Brazil, which are situated mainly in the southeastern part of the country: São Paulo, Bauru, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Rio de Janeiro, Campinas, Guarulhos and Piracicaba.

The territory of the eparchy is divided into 10 parishes and in 2013 there were 489,000 Maronite Catholics.

On 30 May 1962, Pope John XXIII established the Maronite Apostolic Exarchate (the equivalent in the Eastern Churches of a Vicariate Apostolic) for Maronite Catholics in Brazil and appointed Bishop Francis Mansour Zayek to head it. He was the first bishop appointed to operate outside the historical areas of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East to serve in the Maronite diaspora. He was officially ordained bishop on 5 August 1962 as an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, and titular bishop of Callinicum dei Maroniti.