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Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka

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Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka (Arabic: أبرشية عكا وحيفا والناصرة وسائر الجليل للروم الملكيين الكاثوليك) is an Eastern Catholic diocese of Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite, Arabic), directly subject to the Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch. Its Cathedral episcopal see is St. Elijah Greek-Melkite Cathedral, in Haifa.

Archeparchy of Akka (Melkite Greek)

Archieparchia Ptolemaidensis Melchitarum

أبرشية عكا وحيفا والناصرة وسائر الجليل للروم الملكيين الكاثوليك
St. Elijah Cathedral
Location
CountryIsrael
HeadquartersSyria
Statistics
Population
- Catholics		(as of 2022)
73,921
Parishes37
Information
DenominationMelkite Greek Catholic Church
RiteByzantine Rite
Established1753
CathedralSaint Elias Cathedral
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
PatriarchYoussef Absi
ArcheparchYoussef Matta [de]
Bishops emeritus
Website
https://logosofgalilee.com/

Territory and statistics

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Church of Saint Andrew, Acre.

The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction to Melkites of Israel, especially of Galilee. The headquarters of the archeparchy (archdiocese) is Haifa, where the Saint Elias Cathedral is located. The Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka counted 73,921 baptised members,[1] and had a territory subdivided into thirty-seven parishes in 2022.[1]

As of 2014 the Melkite Greek Catholic Church was the largest Christian community in Israel, with roughly 60 per cent of Israeli Christians belonging to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.[2]

The city of Haifa has the largest Melkite Greek Catholic community in Israel, followed by the cities of Nazareth and Shefa-Amr. Melkite Greek Catholic communities exist in a number of other towns in Galilee, either as the sole religious community or amongst other commuunities of Muslims, Druze and other Christians, including in:[3]

They also have a presence in other mixed cities, especially Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ramleh, Lod, Acre, Nof HaGalil, and Ma'alot Tarshiha.[3] It is reported that all the inhabitants of Fassuta and Mi'ilya are Melkite Christians.[4]

History

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Ancient Ptolemais-Acre was visited by Paul of Tarsus during his trip described in chapter 21 of the Acts of Apostles. Soon, the city was a strong Christian community. In the third century was established headquarters of an ancient episcopal see here and the capital of the bishop of the diocese, which is suffragan of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre, referring to the ancient period in Ptolemais in Phoenicia, called Acre in the Crusader period.

In 1753, the see was restored as a Melkite diocese by Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas and attached once again to Tyre, which had become independent from Jerusalem. However, the Melkite bishops of Acre began to reside there only in 1804.[5]

Before 1932, the jurisdiction of Acre included Transjordan. The see became an Archeparchy on 18 November 1964 with the Papal Bull Apostolic constitution of Pope Paul VI[6] and includes all Galilee.

List of episcopal ordinaries

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Eparchs of Akka

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The following were Melkite Greek Catholic eparchs (bishops) of Akka:

Archeparchs of Akka

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A list of Melkite Greek Catholic archeparchs (archbishops) of Akka is shown below:

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Previously (1975–1987) the Superior General of Society of Missionaries of Saint Paul; and eparch (bishop) of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo (Brazil), 20 April 1990 – 29 July 1998
  2. ^ Simultaneously apostolic exarch of Argentina (20 April 2002 – 19 December 2005), Titular Bishop of Myra (20 April 2002 – 14 October 2006); later Archeparch of Baniyas (Lebanon), from 14 October 2006
  3. ^ Simultaneously Maronite archeparch of Haifa and Holy Land and Maronite patriarchal exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan, since 16 June 2012
  4. ^ Formerly Metropolitan Archeparch of Tyre (Lebanon), [27 June 2005] 20 October 2005 – 21 June 2014), later metropolitan archbishop of Beirut and Byblos (since 9 November 2018)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Archeparchy of Akka [San Giovanni d'Acri; Tolemaide ] (Melkite Greek Archeparchy)". Catholic Hierarchy
  2. ^ "The Christian communities in Israel". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b Zeedan, Rami (2019). Arab-Palestinian Society in the Israeli Political System: Integration versus Segregation in the Twenty-First Century. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 52. ISBN 9781498553155.
  4. ^ "Celebrating Christmas in Israel's ancient Greek Catholic villages". Ynetnews. Ynet. 23 December 2018.
  5. ^ catholicchurch-holyland.com
  6. ^ Paulus VI (18 November 1964). "Constitutio Apostolica – Ptolemaidensis Melchitarum: Ecclesia episcopalis Ptolemaidensis Melchitarum ad gradum archidioecesis evehitur". Acta Apostolicae Sedis: Acta Pauli Pp. VI (in Latin). Vol. LVII (1965). Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana; The Holy See. pp. 629–630. no. 9. PDF file
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32°49′09″N 34°59′41″E / 32.8192°N 34.9946°E / 32.8192; 34.9946

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