Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Bosra and Hauran
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Archeparchy of Bosra and Hauran (Melkite Greek) Archeparchy Bostrena et Auranensis |
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|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | Syria |
| Statistics | |
| Population - Catholics |
(as of 2012) 27,000 |
| Parishes | 31 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Melkite Greek Catholic Church |
| Rite | Byzantine Rite |
| Established | 1881 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Patriarch | Gregory III Laham |
| Archeparch | Nicolas Antiba |
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Bosra and Hauran (in Latin: Archeparchy Bostrena et Auranensis) is an archeparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church with is territory located in Syria. It is currently governed by Archeparch Nicolas Antiba, BA.
The archeparchy includes the region of Hawran, in southern Syria, bordering the states of Israel and Jordan. Its archeparchial seat is the city of Khabab, where is located the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition.
The territory is divided into 31 parishes and has 27,000 baptized.
It is not known the exact origin of the Christian community in this region: the seat goes back to the third century and about in Roman and Byzantine Bosra (or Bostra) there was an Ecclesiastical province with about 25 seats suffragan, and was full of churches and especially of monasteries. The ancient sources point about 15 archbishops known in Bostra. The last is Stefano, mentioned in 700 or so. Following the invasion of the Arab region, the headquarters disappeared.
Annuario Pontificio indicated 1687 as the date of founding of the Catholic eparchy in what the first time presents a Greek-Melkite Catholic bishop. However at the time of the schism of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, which gave rise to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (1724), does not seem that Bosra had a bishop. Only in 1763 the Melkite Catholic patriarch Michel Jawhar ordered for the seat of Bosra Archimandrite Francis Siaj. He was probably only a titular bishop; in fact, when he was elected patriarch (1796), did not bother and perhaps did not have time to appoint a successor on the seat he had left vacant.
In 1798 the new Patriarch Agapius II Matar, wanting to raise the episcopate his brother Athanasius, named him the Archbishop of Bosra; However, only two years later transferred him to the bishopric of Sidon.
The seat then had no bishops, neither residential nor holders until 1836. One of the first concerns of Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum was to visit in person this old archeparchy abandoned; noted the progress of Catholicism among the ranks of the Melkites, and then decided to restore the seat by appointing the monk Lazarus Fasfous, who took the name of Cyril. Since then, the venue has had an unbroken series of bishops.
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