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Visit of Patriarch Bechara Peter Cardinal Rai to the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn His Eminence and Beatitude Patriarch Bechara Peter Cardinal Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and Allthe East, will visit the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn on October 23 - 29. 2017.
Washington, D.C.
Monday, October 23Private Dinner for all the visiting Patriarchs hosted by the Embassy of Lebanon
Tuesday October 24
Morning: Meetings with Congressmen, Senators and State Department Officials2:00 p.m.: Press Conference for In Defense of Christians Summit (IDC)7:00 p.m.: Evening Ecumenical Prayer Service for Peace in the Middle East at the Cathedral of Saint
Matthew the Apostle. His Excellency Christophe Pierre, Papal Nuncio to the U.S., willpreside, along with Patriarch Rai, Patriarch Yazigi, Patriarch Absi, and Catholicos Aram, aswell as Bishops and other Church leaders. Reflection by Mr. Johnnie Moore, and Hymns byAbeer Nehme of Lebanon. All are welcome. For more information on all IDC events pleasesee their website at www.indefenseofchristians.org
Wednesday October 25
Morning: IDC Workshops7:30 p.m.: IDC Banquet
Thursday October 26
Morning: More Meetings with Congressmen, Senators and State Department Officials7:00 p.m.: Visit to Our Lady of Lebanon Parish for Divine Liturgy and Dinner in Church Hall
afterwards. All are welcome.
Boston, Mass.
Friday October 27
Afternoon: Visit to Our Lady of the Cedars Maronite Catholic Church, Jamaica Plains [Boston], Mass.5:00 p.m.: Divine Liturgy at Our Lady of the Cedars Parish. All are welcome. 7:30 p.m.: Dinner at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Norwood, Mass. For tickets contact the Parish
at 617- 522 - 0225.
New York, New York
Saturday October 28
12:00 p.m.: Dedication, with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, of the new Shrine for Saint Sharbel at SaintPatrick Cathedral in Manhattan, N.Y. All are welcome.
Sunday October 29
11:30 a.m.: Divine Liturgy at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral, Brooklyn, N.Y., followed immediatelyby an open reception. All are welcome.
2:00 p.m.: Reception/ Cocktails, then3:00 p.m.: Luncheon hosted by the Antiochian Orthodox Church with Patriarch John X Yazigi and
Patriarch Bechara Rai at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott. Tickets are available by email [email protected] or by calling 718 - 855 - 6225.
Som e High l ights in the Life of Patriarch Rai
On March 15, 2011, His Excellency Bishop Bechara Rai, Bishop of the Eparchy of Jbeil, Lebanon, waselected as the 77th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. Patriarch Rai succeeded PatriarchNasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir, who had retired earlier that year at the age of 91 after twenty five-years asPatriarch. He was named a Cardinal on November 24, 2012. The son of Youssef and Taminee Rai, Patriarch Rai was born in Hemlaya (a town in the Metn District inLebanon and is the town of St. Rafka) on February 25, 1940. He pursued his elementary and secondarystudies at the Collège Notre Dame at Jamhour. He took his monastic vows with the Mariamite Order onAugust 31, 1962; was ordained a priest on September 3, 1967; and was consecrated Bishop on July 12,1986. Patriarch Rai founded Notre Dame University in Louaizé and was its president from1978 -1984. From 1982to 1986 he presided over the Court of Appeals of the Maronite Tribunal. From 1986 to 1990 he served as aPatriarchal Vicar at Bkerke, and in 1990 he was appointed Archbishop of Jbeil. His Holiness Pope JohnPaul II appointed him Coordinator of the Synod for Lebanon (1990-1995). He chaired the EpiscopalCommission for the Affairs of the Family (1997) and that of Communications since 2009. Patriarch Rai holds a degree in philosophy and theology, and a doctorate in canon and civil law from theLateran University in Rome. He taught Canon Law and Theology at St. Joseph University in Beirut (USJ),at Holy Spirit University in Kaslik (USEK), and at the Sagesse University. Patriarch Rai is the Head of the Council of Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, and the Middle East. He is astrong voice for dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and is an active partner in ecumenical dialoguewith all Christians of the Region. He continues to be a well respected member of several differentDicasteries and Commissions for the Holy See (see www.bkerki.org). He is the “Father and the Head” ofthe Maronite Church worldwide with over fifty bishops. There are two eparchies (dioceses) in the UnitedStates.
Hosting the Patriarch from October 23 through October 29, 2017, is the Eparchy of Saint Maron ofBrooklyn, which comprises forty-five parishes, a Seminary, a Convent, and a Monastery, with Maronitefaithful in sixteen states located along the East Coast of the United States from Maine to Florida. TheEparchy of Saint Maron is served by Bishop Gregory J. Mansour.
For more information contact the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, www.stmaron.org, at 718. 237 -9913 or by email at: [email protected].
