Jacob of Ghazir

Jakob von Ghazir , born as Khalil Haddad , (born February 1, 1875 in Ghazir , † June 26, 1954 in Beirut ) was a Lebanese Capuchin who was beatified.

Life

He was the third child of eight children of the Maronite couple Boutros and Shams Haddad. After attending primary school in Ghazir and middle school in Beirut , he emigrated to Egypt, where he decided, moved by two formative experiences, to join the Capuchin order at the age of 19. Haddad traveled back to Lebanon and entered the Capuchin monastery of St. Anthony of Padua in Ghazir. After completing his theological studies, he was ordained a priest in 1901 in the chapel of the Apostolic Vicariate by Bishop Duval, the apostolic delegate in Lebanon. He was initially charged with the administration of five monasteries by his order. From 1905 he became director of the schools in Lebanon run by the Capuchins. In Beirut he founded the Third Order of St. Francis who spread in Lebanon. He founded the magazine Familienfreund . When the French Capuchins left Lebanon during the First World War, he was in charge of the Capuchin mission. He distributed food to the needy and buried the dead who lay in the streets from the street battles. The situation improved with the end of the war. After the return of the French confreres he was able to devote himself to new social tasks. He opened facilities for orphans and women in need.

He brought Franciscan Sisters from France to Lebanon, who helped him with the education of the girls, and founded a new congregation, the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross, which particularly cares for disabled, old and needy girls and women and sick priests. He also founded hospitals for the handicapped, sick and old priests. The beatification process was prepared by the diocese as early as 1960 and initiated in November 1979 and started in 1992. The healing of Mariam Kattan from Maghdouché, who suffered from an incurable and malignant cancer, opened the process of beatification in 1998. On June 22, 2008, he was beatified in Lebanon. Cardinal José Saraiva Martins presided over the celebration. The beatification was the first not to take place in Rome.

Web links

• Jacob of Ghazir