Pierre Bostani
| Pierre Bostani | |
|---|---|
| Catholic Archbishop | |
 |
|
| Church | Maronite Church |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 12 October 1842 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 1819 |
| Died | November 15, 1899 |
Pierre Bostani or Boutros Boustani (November 1819 – 15 November 1899) was a Maronite prelate, Assistant to the Pontifical Throne, Archbishop of Tyre and Sidon, Count of Rome, Bishop of Saint-John-Acre, and Council Father of the First Vatican Council.
Bostani was born in Debbié in November 1819 and baptized 8 days later. Having chosen the priesthood at a young age, Bostani enrolled in the Ain-Warca Maronite university where he studied Syriac, Arabic, Latin, Italian, rhetoric, philosophy, dogma, moral, canon law, the calendar and Church music. He was ordained a Maronite priest on 12 October 1842 by the rector of the university. Upon leaving the university, Bostani taught Syriac and Arabic at the Maronite seminary of Tyr and Sidon for two years. He then returned to his university to teach the youth enrolled there. He had only been teaching for a year that he was quickly called upon by his relative, the Archbishop of Tyre and Sidon Abdallah Bostani, who named him his private secretary. In 1845, Pierre Bostani was called by the Maronite Patriarch to serve as his private secretary, treasurer of the Patriarchy, judge for ecclesiastical affairs, and Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarchy. He would hold this position for 11 years.
On 28 July 1856, Maronite Patriarch Massad named him Coadjutor-Archbishop of Tyre and Sidon alongside his relative the Archbishop Abdallah Bostani who was becoming very old and weak. He also received the title of Bishop of Saint-John-Acre. He immediately set out to preach in his diocese, repairing the various abuses and combatting the advances made by the Protestant missionaries in converting the people. His biography states that he challenged, on four distinct occasions, the Protestant ministers to public discussions of faith and religious doctrine in front of six thousand people in the villages of Deir al-Qamar and Hasbeiya.
Eugène Poujade, the French Consul of Beirut, travelled with his relative Bishop Abdallah Bostani to the 1845 synod in Dimane for the election of the new Patriarch of the Maronites. He states that he was the oldest Bishop present. He says of him: "he was a small old man full of youth, very active and filled with gaiety. His liveliness was inexhaustible, he either apostrophized the peasants on the road or worried about the food he would find in Meyfouk. But behind this gaiety was a character of steel who had braved a thousand dangers. The Druze, in the last conflict, had burnt his convent and destroyed everything he owned, he was ruined." Poujade states that Bishop Abdallah Bostani particularly regretted a painting of the Virgin Mary given to him by Emir Bechir II that had been burnt by the Druze in the conflicts. The Apostolic Delegate had replaced this loss with a painting of the Virgin Mary inspired by Sassoferrato which he gave to Bishop Abdallah Bostani.
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