Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City

Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City (Melkite Greek)

**Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Paradisi in Civitate Mexicana Graecorum Melkitarum**
Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City (Melkite Greek); Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Paradisi in Civitate Mexicana Graecorum Melkitarum
Location
Country	Mexico
Ecclesiastical province	Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Population; - Catholics	(as of 2004); 4,600
Parishes	1
Information
Denomination	Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Rite	Byzantine Rite
Established	1988
Cathedral	Porta Coeli Cathedral, Mexico City
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Patriarch	Youssef Absi
Eparch	Sede vacante (Joseph Khawam, BA, of Venezuela, as Apostolic Administrator)

Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City (Latin: Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Paradisi in Civitate Mexicana Graecorum Melkitarum) is an eparchy of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, based in Mexico City.

Territory and statistics

The eparchial jurisdiction extends to the faithful of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church throughout Mexico.

Eparchial headquarters is Mexico City, where the only parish of the eparchy, called Porta Coeli, is located.

The eparchy at the end of 2004 had 4,600 baptized.

History

The emigration of Melkite Christians from the Middle East to Mexico began between approximately 1875 and 1895. It was followed by increased emigration after the two world wars. The vast majority came from southern Lebanon and some also from Syria. The first worship in the Byzantine rite was celebrated in 1927. The first pastoral care was taken by the Salvatorians. The first Chaplain Father Sleiman Khoury, from the Missionary Society of St. Paul (SMSP), a Melkite religious community, who remained at the request of his relatives in Mexico, and was granted the title of Archimandrite later. He was the first pastor of a parish for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Mexico. The Lebanese Ambassador to Mexico Joseph Abu Khater requested from the Mexican government planning permission for a church in Mexico City, today there is a cathedral and the seat of the Exarchate of Mexico, at Porta Coeli Cathedral, Mexico City.

The Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso de México was finally erected on February 27, 1988, by Pope John Paul II by the Apostolic constitution Apostolorum Principis.^[1]

Following the sudden death of the Eparch Boutros Raï in 1994, four apostolic administrators have been named for this seat: the archimandrites Antoine Mouhanna (1994-2006) and Gabriel Ghanoum (2006-2015), the bishop Nicholas Samra (2015-2019), also serving as bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton, in the United States, and Joseph Khawam (2019-), also appointed as apostolic exarch for the Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela.

In November 2008 the VI Congress of the Melkite Greek Catholic bishops of the emigration was held in Mexico.

Eparchs

Bishop Boutros Raï, BA, (27 February 1988 - 7 June 1994 deceased)
Archimandrite Antoine Mouhanna, 2000–2006 (Apostolic Administrator)
Archimandrite Gabriel Ghanoum, BS, 2006-2015 (Apostolic Administrator)
Bishop Nicholas Samra, 2015-2019 (Apostolic Administrator)
Joseph Khawam, BA, 2019- (Apostolic Administrator)

References

^ vatican.va

External links

19°25′10″N 99°08′44″W / 19.4194°N 99.1456°W / 19.4194; -99.1456

[1] vatican.va

[1]

v t e Melkite Catholic Church
Byzantine Rite
Patriarchs	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Eparchies	Archeparchy of Damascus Archeparchy of Aleppo Archeparchy of Bosra-Hauran Archeparchy of Homs Archeparchy of Latakia Archeparchy of Tyre Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos Archeparchy of Baalbek Archeparchy of Baniyas Archeparchy of Sidon Archeparchy of Tripoli Archeparchy of Zahle and Forzol Archeparchy of Petra and Philadelphia in Amman Archeparchy of Akka Patriarchal Dependent Territory of Jerusalem Patriarchal Exarchate of Iraq Patriarchal Exarchate of Kuwait Patriarchal Dependent Territory of Egypt, Sudan, and South Sudan Patriarchal Exarchate of Istanbul Eparchy of Newton Eparchy of Saint-Sauveur of Montréal Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City Eparchy of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo Apostolic Exarchate of Argentina Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela Eparchy of Saint Michael Archangel in Sydney
Churches	Cathedrals: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition, Damascus St. Elias Cathedral, Beirut St. George's Cathedral, Amman St. Elijah Cathedral, Haifa Cathedral of Our Lady of the Annunciation, Jerusalem Annunciation Cathedral, Boston St. Anne's Cathedral, Los Angeles Saint Sauveur Cathedral, Montréal Porta Coeli Cathedral, Mexico City Our Lady of Paradise Cathedral, São Paulo St. George's Cathedral, Caracas Churches: Sts Peter and Paul Church, Ottawa St. Peter and St. Paul Church, Shefa-Amr Synagogue Church, Nazareth St. George's Church, Milwaukee St. Jude's Church, Miami Chapel of Saint Paul, Damascus Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, Paris Shrine: Our Lady of Awaiting
Religious institutes	Basilian Aleppian Order Basilian Aleppian Sisters Basilian Chouerite Order of Saint John the Baptist Basilian Chouerite Sisters Basilian Salvatorian Order
See also	Mariam Baouardy Lebanese Melkite Christians
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