• Comment: Two sources, one of which is an offline one cited with insufficient bibliographic detail, the other a blog, is not enough to either establish notability or to support the information. DoubleGrazing (talk) 16:55, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Pietro Sfair
TitleArchbishop and Ordinarius for the Maronite faithful of Rome
Personal
Born
Pietro Sfeir

February 10, 1888
DiedMay 18, 1974
ReligionMaronite Catholic
Organization
ChurchMaronite Church
Senior posting
ConsecrationMay 24, 1953
OrdinationMarch 8, 1913


Pietro Sfair (born February 10, 1888 in Kleiat, Keserwan, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire; died May 18, 1974 in Rome, Italy) was a Lebanese clergyman, Archbishop and diocesan bishop (Ordinary) for the Syriac-Maronite Church of Antioch Catholic faithful in Rome.[1] [2] He is the only cleric to date to be named the Titular Archbishop of Nisibis (Nusaybin) by the Maronite Catholic Church.[3] The wikipedia article Nusaybin states that "the Maronite titular see was established as Titular Archiepiscopal see of Nisibis (informally Nisibis of the Maronites) in 1960. It is vacant, having had a single incumbent of the (intermediary) archiepiscopal rank: Pietro Sfair (1960.03.11 - 1974.05.18)". A 695-page biography of Sfair authored by Butrus Fahd is in the collection of both the Library of Congress in Washington DC and the New York Public Library, according to such library's research catalogue.[4]

Sfair was the embodiment of the adage "as learned as a Maronite." He spoke eight languages (Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, Latin, Arabic, French, Italian & English), was a professor of Theology, oriental languages (Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic) and Islamic Law at the Lateran University in Rome, and Honorary Rector of the Accademia Universale Guglielmo Marconi in Rome.[5] [6] [7] He also served as the spiritual advisor to the Pontifical Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers) at the Basilica of St. John Lateran.[8]

Sfair's views on theological questions were sought out by the Pope during the Second Vatican Council. He was instrumental during the drafting of the Second Vatican Council document Nostra Aetate to highlight the House of Mary (in Ephesus, Turkey) and Marian devotion as a matter of shared interest between Christians and Muslims.[9] He was a strong advocate for good relations with Judaism and Islam.

Sfair was somewhat of a local celebrity in the 1960s and 1970s in Rome, known for walking all around central Rome without concerning himself with vehicular traffic and having established friendships with Italian Admiral and Senator Angelo Ugo Conz [it], Christian Democracy leader and future prime minister Aldo Moro, and movie star Sylvia Koscina, who fondly called him "my grand dad" ('nonno' in Italian).[10] In December 1972, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported on the 84-year-old cleric's visit to a popular discotheque in Rome (the Piper Club).[11]

Family

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Sfair's birth name in Arabic is Butros Javad Sufayr. Sfair's father was Georges Sfeir and his mother was Philomene Sfeir. The names of some of his siblings were Salim, Chaia, Maria, Racquel, Antoun. Emile (Emilio) and Isaie. He received his primary and secondary education in Keserwan, Lebanon, first at St. George's School in Kleiat (founded by an illustrious ancestor Dagher Sfeir) and then at St. Joseph's School in Cornet Chawan. Thereafter, he studied in Italy at the Collegio Maronita di Roma.

Entering into the religious life was a Sfeir family tradition. A great uncle of Sfair was Michel Sfeir (1854-1920), a Maronite priest and scholar who catalogued thousands of ancient Arabic and Syriac manuscripts found in Lebanese monasteries. A cousin was Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. Other family members, however, were engaged in worldly pursuits.

One of Sfair's younger brothers was Emilio Sfeir, a hero of Bolivian counter-intelligence during the Guerra del Chaco (Chaco War) against Paraguay.[12] [13] Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez was his niece. Bolivian petroleum executive and football entrepreneur Mauricio Gonzalez Sfeir is a great nephew; he met his great uncle on a visit to Rome in 1970. Swiss-Lebanese banker Salim Sfeir may be the grandson of Sfair's older brother.

Religious life

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Pietro Sfair was ordained to the priesthood on March 8 1913. He pursued graduate studies from 1913 to 1916 at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.[14]

On March 11, 1953 Pope Pius XII appointed Sfair Titular Bishop of Epiphania in Syria (Hama) and Ordinary for the Maronite faithful of Rome. Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Eugène Cardinal Tisserant, consegrated Sfair a Bishop on May 24, 1953; Co-consecrators were Vice Regent for the Diocese of Rome, Luigi Traglia, and the Auxiliary Bishop of the Ostia and Porto und Santa Rufina, Pietro Villa FSCJ. Pope John XXIII appointed Sfair on March 11, 1960 as Titular Archbishop of Nisibis Nisibis dei Maroniti[15]

Pietro Sfair participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council as a Council Father.[16]

In the early 1970s, Sfair served as the Rector of the Collegio Maronita di Roma (Pontificio Collegio dei Maroniti) and his Vice Rector was the future Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi. Sfair's assistant in Rome was a young Maronite Catholic seminarian and deacon Faouzi Elia, who went on to become pastor of St. Sharbel Church in Peoria, Illinois and Chorbishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon in Los Angeles, California.[17]

Awards and Honors

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In Rome on May 11, 1935, His Majesty Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy, conferred upon Sfair the title of Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia (Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy).[18]

Monsignor Sfair was also a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness (Domestic Prelate).[19]

Selected Writings

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The Syriac-Maronite mass, annotated (1946)

Biography of St. Abraham of Clermont[20] (1962)

Syriac-Maronite traditions regarding the martyrdom of Saint Peter (1969)

References

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  1. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  3. ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1)
  4. ^ "Pietro, Sfair 1974". New York Public Library Research Catalogue. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  5. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  6. ^ "Testimonial Letter from Emilio Ambron". www.sannyas.wiki. The Sannyas Wiki. October 3, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2024. Rettore "Honoris Causa" Mons. Pietro Sfair Primate nel Libano Arciescovo di Nisibi
  7. ^ Martinez Sanchez, Santiago (2013). "Conversacion en Pamplona con Jose Luis Illanes" [Conversation in Pamplona with Jose Luis Illanes] (PDF). Anuario de Historia de la Iglesia (in Spanish). 22: 359–402. ISSN 1133-0104. Retrieved August 2, 2024. page 371, footnote 51
  8. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath. p. 62.
  9. ^ George-Tvrtkovic, Rita (Autumn 2017). "Merye Ana Evi, Marian Devotion and the Making of "Nostra aetate" 3". The Catholic Historical Review. 103 (4): 755–781. doi:10.1353/cat.2017.0186. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  10. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  11. ^ "Personalien: Gerhard Frey, Pietro Sfair, Walter Scheel, Achim Niehuss, Hans Friderichs, Carol Doda" [Personalities: Gerhard Frey, Pietro Sfair, Walter Scheel, Achim Niehuss, Hans Friderichs, Carol Doda]. Der Spiegel 53/1972 (in German). Germany: Spiegel Politik. December 24, 1972. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  12. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). "La Exitosa Operacion Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco" [The Successful Operation Sfeir during the Chaco War].
  13. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). El Servicio de Inteligencia Entre 1927-1938: El Espionaje, Contraespionaje de Bolivia Durante la Guerra del Chaco [The Intelligence Service Between 1927-1938: Bolivian Espionage and Counterespionage during the Chaco War] (Licenciatura thesis). La Paz, Bolivia: Universidad Mayor de San Andres Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educacion Carrera de Historia. pp. 121–128. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "Pontificium Institutum Biblicum: Vita functus". Biblica. 56. St. Martin's Press: 288. 1975. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
  15. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  16. ^ Melloni, Alberto (January 27, 2021). Atlante Storico del Concilio Vaticano II [Atlas of the Second Vatican Council] (in Italian). Milan: Editoriale Jaca Book. ISBN 978-88-16-60510-7.
  17. ^ Willems, Jennifer (July 27, 2016). "1,700 Maronite Rite Catholics Visit Peoria For Feast of St. Sharbel Celebration". The Catholic Post. Diocese of Peoria, Illinois. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  18. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  19. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
  20. ^ Sfair, Pietro (1962). "Sant'Abramo di St-Cirgue". Enciclopedia dei Santi - Bibliotheca Sanctorum (in Italian). Vatican City: Edizioni Citta Nuova. 57320. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
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