Béchara Pierre Raï

Patriarch Béchara Pierre Cardinal Raï (2013)

Béchara Pierre Cardinal Raï OMM ( Arabic مار بشارة بطرس الراعي, DMG Mār Bišāra Buṭrus ar-Rāʿī ; * February 25, 1940 in Himlaya , Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon ) has been the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole of the Orient since 2011 .

Life

Béchara Raï entered the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary after finishing school at the Notre-Dame College in Louayzé . He studied philosophy and Catholic theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome .

Raï received on 3 September 1967, the sacrament of Holy Orders . He received his doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University . He also obtained a licentiate in Catholic theology. Béchara Raï was director of the Scholasticate of the Mariamite Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. He founded the Institute for Foreign Languages in Louayzé. Raï was then director of the Santa Rita School in Dbayé and judge at the patriarchal church court .

On May 2, 1986, Béchara Raï was appointed titular bishop of Caesarea Philippi and appointed auxiliary bishop in the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch . He was ordained bishop on July 12, 1986 by the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole of the Orient, Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir ; Co-consecrators were the auxiliary bishops in the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch, Roland Aboujaoudé and Georges Abi-Saber OLM , as well as the Bishop of the Eparchy of Jounieh , Chucrallah Harb , the Archbishop of archeparchy Cyprus , Joseph Mohsen Béchara , the Archbishop of archeparchy Beirut , Khalil Abi-Nader , the Archbishop Emeritus of the Beirut Archepark, Ignace Ziadé , the Archbishop of the Tripoli Archepark , Antoine Joubeir , the Archbishop Emeritus of the Archeparchy of Cyprus, Elie Farah , the Bishop of the Cairo Eparchy , Joseph Merhi CML , and the Bishop of the Sidon Eparchy , Ibrahim Hélou . On June 9, 1990, Béchara Raï was appointed bishop of the Eparchy Jbeil .

On March 15, 2011, Béchara Raï was elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole of the Orient by the Synod of the Maronites in Bkerke and, as is customary with Maronite patriarchs, also added the name Pierre ( Peter ) to his name. He also became bishop of the Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh eparchy. The inauguration took place on March 25, 2011. On the same day, Pope Benedict XVI granted him . as provided for in the CCEO , in a personal letter to the church community ( communio ).

In the consistory of November 24, 2012 Benedict XVI took him. as Cardinal Bishop in the College of Cardinals . Cardinal Raï attended the 2013 conclave elected by Pope Francis .

Memberships in the Curia

Congregation for Catholic Education (2013)
Dicastery for Communication (2016)

Web links

Raï, OMM, Béchara Boutros. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed August 19, 2016.
Entry on Béchara Pierre Raï on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved August 19, 2016.

Individual evidence

^ Maronite Church elects Bechara Rai as new Patriarch , www.kathweb.at , March 15, 2011.
^ Press release on the election of the new patriarch on the homepage of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch ( Memento of March 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Arabic), March 15, 2011.
^ Concessione della Comunione Ecclesiastica al Patriarca di Antiochia dei Maroniti , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of March 25, 2011 (Italian).
^ Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico per la creazione di sei nuovi Cardinali: Assegnazione dei Titoli o delle Diaconie ai nuovi Porporati , in: Press Office of the Holy See: Daily Bulletin of November 24, 2012 (Italian).
^ "Pope confirms leadership of the Education Congregation " , kath.net , December 1, 2013

^ Nomina di Membri della Segreteria per la Comunicazione. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , July 13, 2016, accessed July 13, 2016 (Italian).

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Bishop of Jbeil 1990–2011	Michel Aoun
Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir	Bishop of Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh since 2011	---
Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir	Patriarch of Antioch since 2011	---

personal data
SURNAME	Raï, Béchara Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Raï, Béchara Pierre Cardinal OMM (full name); Raï, Béchara (maiden name); بشارة الراعي (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Lebanese religious, bishop, Maronite patriarch of Antioch and the whole of the Orient
DATE OF BIRTH	February 25, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH	Himlaya , Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon

[1] Maronite Church elects Bechara Rai as new Patriarch , www.kathweb.at , March 15, 2011.

[2] Press release on the election of the new patriarch on the homepage of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch ( Memento of March 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Arabic), March 15, 2011.

[3] Concessione della Comunione Ecclesiastica al Patriarca di Antiochia dei Maroniti , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of March 25, 2011 (Italian).

[4] Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico per la creazione di sei nuovi Cardinali: Assegnazione dei Titoli o delle Diaconie ai nuovi Porporati , in: Press Office of the Holy See: Daily Bulletin of November 24, 2012 (Italian).

[5] "Pope confirms leadership of the Education Congregation " , kath.net , December 1, 2013

[6] Nomina di Membri della Segreteria per la Comunicazione. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , July 13, 2016, accessed July 13, 2016 (Italian).