Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela
Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela (Melkite Greek)
Exarchatus Apostolicus Caracensis Graecorum Melkitarum
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Location | |
Country | Venezuela |
Ecclesiastical province | Immediately Subject to the Holy See |
Statistics | |
Population - Catholics |
(as of 2010) 25,000 |
Parishes | 5 |
Information | |
Sui iuris church | Melkite Greek Catholic Church |
Rite | Byzantine Rite |
Established | 19 February 1990 (34 years ago) |
Cathedral | Catedral San Jorge[1] |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Patriarch | Gregory III Laham |
Exarch | Georges Kahhalé Zouhaïraty, B.A. |
Website | |
www.catedralsanjorge.org.ve |
Melkite (Greek) Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela (in Latin: Exarchatus Apostolicus Caracensis Graecorum Melkitarum, meaning - of Caracas) is an exarchate (missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction) of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, a Greek language Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic church in communion with other Catholic Churches.
The Apostolic exarchate is exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See (notably the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches), not part of any (Melkite or Roman Catholic) ecclesiastical province, and encompasses Venezuela.
The Exarch's cathedral see is the Cathedral of St. George, in the national capital city Caracas, which also has the see of the Latin Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela.
Contents
Territory and statistics
The Apostolic Exarchate extends to all the faithful of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Venezuela.
The territory is divided into five parishes and had 25,000 Melkite Catholics in 2010.
History
Melkite Catholic Immigration in Venezuela, especially from Aleppo in Syria, dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century and intensified in particular between the two world wars.
In 1957 for the first time, a priest of the Society of the Missionaries of St. Paul, Gabriel Dick, took pastoral care of the Melkite community in the country.
The Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela was erected on 19 February 1990 with the Papal Bull Quo longius[2] of Pope John Paul II.[3][4]
Incumbent Ordinaries
Conform the Eastern tradition, ordinaries are generally monks, so far of the Basilian Aleppian Order (B.A.)
- Boutros Raï, B.A. (19 February 1990 - 7 June 1994 deceased)
- Georges Kahhalé Zouhaïraty, B.A. (12 October 1995 – ...)
References
- ↑ pgc-lb.org
- ↑ vatican.va
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Sources and External links
- GigaCatholic, with ordinary biography links
- http://www.pgc-lb.org/fre/melkite_greek_catholic_church/Apostolic-Exarchate-of-Venezuela*
- Articles containing Latin-language text
- Venezuela articles missing geocoordinate data
- Melkite Greek Catholic Church in South America
- Melkite Greek Catholic apostolic exarchates
- Eastern Catholic dioceses
- Roman Catholic dioceses in Venezuela
- Religious organizations established in 1990
- Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century
- 1990 establishments in Venezuela