His Beatitude Moran Mor Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir نصرالله بطرس صفير |
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Cardinal Patriarch Emeritus of Antioch and the Whole Levant | |
See | Antioch and the Whole East |
Appointed | 7 May 1986 |
Term ended | 26 February 2011 |
Predecessor | Anthony Peter Khoraish |
Successor | Bechara Boutros al-Rahi |
Orders | |
Ordination | 7 May 1950 |
Consecration | 16 July 1961 by Paul Peter Meouchi |
Created Cardinal | 26 November 1994 by Pope John Paul II |
Rank | Cardinal-Bishop Patriarch |
Personal details | |
Born |
Rayfoun, Lebanon |
May 15, 1920
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Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir (Al-Kārdīnāl Mār Naṣrallah Buṭrus Ṣufayr, Arabic: الكاردينال مار نصر الله بطرس صفير; born 15 May 1920 in Rayfoun, Lebanon) is the patriarch emeritus of Lebanon's largest Christian body, the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic Church in communion with the Holy See. He is also a Cardinal. He was elected Patriarch of Antioch for the Maronites on 27 April 1986, and his resignation was accepted on 26 February 2011. He is the third Maronite Cardinal and he was the 76th Patriarch of the Maronite Church with the official title of "His Beatitude and Eminence the seventy-sixth Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole Levant".
Sfeir was born in Rayfoun, Lebanon, on 15 May 1920. He was educated in Beirut, and at Mar Abda School in Harharaya where he completed his primary and complementary studies, and Ghazir where he completed his secondary studies at St. Maron seminary. He graduated in philosophy and theology in 1950 at Saint Joseph's University in Beirut. He was ordained to the priesthood in the same year on 7 May. From 1951 to 1955 he served as priest to the parish of Rayfoun. In 1956, he was appointed the secretary of the Maronite Patriarchate, based in Bkerké. In the same year, he became the professor of translation in literature and philosophy at the Frères Maristes (Marist Brothers) School in Jounieh. On 23 June 1961 Sfeir was appointed Titular bishop and Patriarchal vicar. On 16 July 1961, he was consecrated the titular bishop of Tarsus by Patriarch Paul Peter Meouchi and had as his co-consecrators João Chedid, Titular bishop of Arca in Phoenicia dei Maroniti and Michael Doumith, Eparch of Sarba. Consequently, Sfeir served as Patriarchal vicar.