Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon
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Archeparchy of Sidon (Melkite Greek) Archieparchia Sidoniensis Graecorum Melkitarum |
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|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | Lebanon |
| Statistics | |
| Population - Catholics |
(as of 2010) 32,000 |
| Parishes | 53 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Melkite Greek Catholic Church |
| Rite | Byzantine Rite |
| Established | 1964 |
| Cathedral | Saint Nicholas Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Patriarch | Gregory III Laham |
| Archeparch | Elie Bechara Haddad |
Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Sidon (in Latin: Archeparchy Sidoniensis Graecorum Melkitarum) is a diocese of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church suffragan of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre. In 2010 there were 32,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Archeparch Elie Bechara Haddad, BS.
The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction over the Melkite Greek faithful of Sidon District and Chouf District in Lebanon. Its archeparchial seat is the city of Sidon, where is located the cathedral of Saint Nicholas.
The territory is divided into 53 parishes and had 32,000 Melkite Catholics in 2010.
Sidon was the site of an ancient Christian community, dating back to the dawn of Christianity. The historical and Christian origins of Sidon dates back to the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 15: 21-28) reports: "From there, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon" and in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 7, 31) states: "Jesus left the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee midst of the coasts of Decapolis". On the arrest and imprisonment of Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 27.3): "The next day we touched at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul the benevolent, allowed him to go to his friends and to seek care." However, the presence of a bishop is historically attested for the first time at the First Council of Nicaea of 325. In Roman crusade was the seat of a diocese of the Latin Rite.
Only from 770 was recovered the life of the Sidon Christian community. With the conquest of the last Crusader bastion in Acre by the Mamelukes in 1291, the Christian community in Sidon largely was vanished from there. The reconstruction of the Christian communities in and around Sidon began again until 1604 with the election of Ignatius Houtiyeh as bishop of Tyre and Sidon.
During the Catholic missionary work since the end of the 16th century some individual Melkite Orthodox priests were converted to the Latin rite. They converted to the Catholic faith Euthymius II Karmah (died in 1635) whom was ordained in 1634 Melkite Patriarch of Antioch united with Catholic Church.
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