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Maronite History The Maronites "By the intersession of your Mother, O Lord, turn your wrath from the land and its inhabitants. Put an end to trouble and sedition, banish from it war, plunder, hunger and plague. Have pity on us in our misfortunes. Console those of us who are sick. Help us in our weakness. Deliver us from oppression and exile. Grant eternal rest to our dead. Allow us to live in peace in this world that we may glorify you." VIIth century Maronite prayer This prayer is an act of faith in Jesus, son of Mary, a conjuration of the tragedies they know well and an expression of their indefectible faithfulness to the Lord. During their history, the Maronites will recite it often. The Origins of the Maronites In 325, the emperor Constantine called on an ecumenical council in Nicene and recognised the important role of Christianity in the successful functioning of the Roman Empire. This historical decision, very momentous for the unity of the Empire and for the control on both religious and political affairs of the state, had been preceeded and prepared by the Edict of Milan in 313 that granted freedom of religion and that theoretically put and end to the executions and persecutions that Christians had suffered. At the same time, on the west bank of the strait that separates the Agean from the Black Sea, Constantine founded a city that would bear his name Constantinople. this city would play a very important role in the fate of Christians in the Orient. It is only in 392, with the Edict on Thessaloniki, under the reign of Theodosius, that the Christian religion became the official religion of the Empire and that paganism was officially outlawed. Upon Theodosius' death, the Roman Empire was divided in two parts: the Western Empire with Rome as its capital and the Eastern Empire with Constantinople as its capital. The first would keep Latin as its official language, while the second, which would become the Bzyantine Empire, would opt for Greek. Theodosius' decision to make Christianity the official religion of the Empire did not have an instant effect on the whole of the population or regions. Many areas remained resistant, especially those far from the urban centers and means of communications. This was the case of the Lebanese Mountain that stayed very attached to the ancient cult and that had an impressive number of temples in honour of the phoenician divinities. On the other hand, the coastal cities had long since they had their churches. The first "gentile" desciples of Christ date back to the time when Jesus who went preaching in Galilee just south of the phoenician coast, had made His way, with His Mother, to the seaside villages and cities such as Cana, Tyre and Sidon. After the death of Christ, the Apostles of whom He had asked to "find disciples in every nation", began their apostolate by heading north along the Eastern Mediterranean and establishing churches in Tyre, Sidon, Bertyus, Byblos, Tripoli and Antioch. Quickly Antioch became an important spiritual center, thanks to the work of Paul and Barnabas. Even Peter, before he had left for Rome, visited and would have been its first Bishop. Along with Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Rome, Antioch would have the privilege of being one of the five patriarchial seats. It would play a role of primordial importance in the christianization of Syria Prima in the cities of Aleppo, Barad, Cyrr and Hierapolis as well as of Syria Secunda in the cities of Apamee and Shayzar. It is in Antioch that the desciples of Jesus were first called Christians. Unfortunately, the city would not be immune to the theological quarrels over the nature of Christ that, at the time, had perterbed the Church. On one hand were those who believed in the dualistic nature of Christ, human and divine, and on the other were the monophysites who recognisd solely the divine nature of Christ. These quarrels were not limited to pacific arguments; they had often degenerated into extreme acts of violence. It is during this period of torment and conflict caused by fratricidal battles that would have lived a monk named Maron (Maroun). The only written testimonies we have of Maron's life and the apostolat are from the bishop of Cyrr. In his Religious History of Asceticism, written some 30 years after Maron's death in 410 (year of the sack of Rome by the Visigoth king Alaric), Theodoret brings many details of the monk's life and apostolat to light. Probably to be shielded from the tumultuous religious quarreling, Maron retreated to the top of Nabo Mountain to devote his life to prayer and contemplation. This ascetic life in the wilderness would encourage many emulators and would give way to solitary monachism. Maron's exemplary life devoted to extreme sacrifice, to prayer and to God brought about many vocations and many disciples that would isolate themselves in grottoes or on the mountain tops to consecrate their lives to follow the example of their master, to the adoration of God. Their numbers gradually increased, especially after Maron had left his retreat to preach the Gospel among the people, and they took the name Maronites. One of his disciples, Abraham (Ibrahim) of Cyrrhus (350-422) later called the Apostle of Lebanon, set out to convert, with some difficulty, the Lebanese Mountain to Christianity. He then founded a community of hermits in the backcountry of Byblos near Aqura at the source of the Adonis River. In his memory, the river was renamed the Abraham River (Nahr Ibrahim). The conversion of the Lebanese Mountain to Christianity had begun and would continue. This land, some years later, would become a refuge for his apostles. The Council of Chalcedon The continuous religious quarrels were becoming a danger to the unity of the church, the emperor Marcien brought together the IVth ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451, forty years after Maron's death. Ther council condemned monophysitism without ambuguity: "We teach with one voice the same and only Son, Our Savior Jesus Christ, the same perfect in humanity, the same God, truly God and truly man, made of a reasonable soul and of a body, cosubstancial to the Father according to divinity, co-substancial to us according to humanity, resembling us without sin..." The council, however, was not able to put an end to the quarrels and scissions. Even up until today it would distinguish chalcedonians from monophysites: the first with the Pope and the western Church, the patriarch of Constantinople and the Byzantine Greeks, the Greek-catholic Melikites, the Greek-orthodox and the Maronites, and the seconds, the monophysites with the Coptic Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Church, the Armenian Gregorian Church and the Syriac-orthodox Church. Concerned about defending the chalcedonian faith, the emperor Marcien had an important monastery built not far from the city of Apamee. Known as the Mar Maroun, the monastery would become the most important of all and a great defender of the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon. Because of their zeal to spread their faith, Maronite monks attracted hostility from the monophysites. At the beginning of the VIthe century, Bzyantine power had switched sides and taken the monophysites side! This is how the patriarch Severus of Antioch, monophysite, supported by the emperor Anastase, went persecuting chalcedonians with the monks of Mar Marone as his prime target. In 517, three hundred and fifty Maronite monks that were on their way to a supposed reconciliatory meeting with the monophysites were ambushed and massacred. In spite of the massacre and Bzyantium's religious incoherence, the Maronite church would keep its chalcedonian faith, would remain attached to the magisterium of the universal Church and would show unfailing loyalty to Peter's successors. Those constants will forge the Maronite soul. The Arab invasion of Syria and Lebanon The invasion began with the fall of Damascus in 635. Two years later, in 637, Baalbak, Acre and the Phonician coastal cities up to Byblos were already occupied. The mountain, however, was of no interest to the Arabs. Hidden in areas difficult to access, the Maronites were able to survive. They even began to counter-attack their invaders with the help of the Mardiates fron Taurus who, like the Maronite, spoke Aramaic and were of Chalcedonian faith. They were recruited by the emperor of Bzyantium to harass the Arab armies and stop the expansion of the Umayyyad Empire. The hardiness and courage of these allies allowed them to retialiate strongly. Caught between great empires and too many different interests, the Maronites would once again be a victim of inconsistent Byzantine politics. Without them or the Mardiates noticing, the baseleus autocrator (as the emperor was known since 630) came to an agreement with the Khalif the ensured the end of Mardiate-Maronite military activities in exchange for a tribute. This decision would have heavy consequences on Christians in the East. It is also around this time (638) that a theological quarrel had erupted amongst chalcedonians between those who believed Christ's duality was both in His nature and His will and those who believed in the duality of Christ's nature but His solely divine will. At the Council of Constantinople in 680, monothelism, that is to say the affirmation of only one will (thelema) was condemned. Some sources report that Maronites may have been, for a certain time, monothelists. This accusation, however, cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. John- Maron, first patriarch of Antioch, Maronite (685) Tired of Byzantium's political incoherence and seeing the patriarchial seat empty, the chalcedonians of the Church of Antioch elected as patriarch, in 685, John- Maron (Yohanna Maroun) who was bishop of Batroun and of Mount -Lebanon, without Constantinople's concent. This decision was highly consequential for the history of Lebanon, as it was the official consecration of the Maronite Church. The basileus considered this to be an act of insubordination that was a direct attack on his imperial authority. He sent in an army to capture the patriarch who had been residing in the convent of Mar Maroun on the Orontes. Youhanna Maroun escaped from the emperior's attack and found refugenear Byblos. The convent at Mar Maroun was destroyed and five hundren monks were slain. Hiding in the Lebanese Mountain with their patriarch, the Maronites resisted the Byzantine army and won a decisive victory in 694. Both commanders of the imperial armywere killed in the battlefield. Just as the election of Youhanna Maroun as patriarch had officially consecrated the Maronite Church, this victory marked the birth of the Maronite nation. The XVIIIth century English historian Edward Gibbon wrote: "Maronite was transferred from a hermit to a monastery, and from a monastery to a nation. This humble nation survived the empire of Constantinople, which persecuted it." After this episode, the Maronite patriarchs shared their time between the convent at Khfarhay in Lebanon and the newly rebuilt convent of Mar Marone on the Orontes. It is only in 938, after the sack of Mar Marone by the Arabs that the patriarchial seat was definitely established in Lebanon to be far from the conflicts in the East that opposed the Byzantines, Seldjukides and the Fatimides until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1098. Persecuted by the Muslims as well as by the Bzyantines, the Maronites despite their small numbers and poverty demonstrated remarkable pugnaciousness when they had to defend their faith and identity. The Crusaders At the council of Clermont in 1095, Pope Urban II conceived and idea to take back the Holy Sepulchre and to free Jerusalem from Muslim occupation. For about two hundred years (1098-1292), the West organized many military expeditions to recnquer the Holy Land and also crusaders to defend the kingdoms, principalities and counties that estabilshed along the coast of the Mediterranean, including the kingdom of Jerusalem, the county of Tripoli, the principality of Antioch and the kingdom of Cyprus that all directly concerned the Maronites. Besides some minor incidents, Maronite and Latin relations were excellent . From the moment they arrived, the Crusaders had spontaneous and immediate help from the Maronites who, in turn, benefitted from particular protection and privilege. Louis IX, King of France (Saint Louis) went so far as to declare that the Maronite nation was part of the French nation, recommended it to his successors and exhorted it to remain loyal to Saint Peter's successors. Thanks to the good relations between the two parties, the Maronites were able to rebuild many bridges with the West and come out of the isolation they had been confined to for so many centuries. The Holy Seat, which believed that the Maronites had disappeared, was happily surprised to hear of their survival. Official ties were quickly reestablished and consolidated, the Maronites having definitely affirmed their loyalty to the Pope when the Crusaders had arrived. It is also while the Crusaders were present in the Orient that the patriarch, jeremiah of Amshit visited the Pope Innocent III in 1215 and took part in the Latran Council. The XIIIth century would be prosperous for the Maronites. Because of the Crusaders' protection, they were able to proclaim their faith freely and saw their everyday living conditions improve. This was a time of construction of many convents and churches. The Crusaders' Departure In 1291, the Mamluks conquered Tripoli and put an end to the Crusaders' presence on the eastern banks of the Mediterranean. Mnay Maronites left with the Crusaders for Cyprus where they would establish a community that still exists today. This was the first wave of Maronite emigrants to leave Lebanon. It is estimated that fifty thousand Maronites died defending the Holy Cross. Despite a negative outcome, the Crusaders were able to re-establish contacts between East and West, to begin commercial exchanges that never stopped increasing during the Italian Renaissance in the quattrocento and cinquecento. This new reality would only serve the Maronites well as their ties with the West and Rome will never be broken. The Tyrrany of the Slaves Become Kings, the Mameluks After the Crusaders' departure, the Maronites fell victim to the violence of the Mameluks, slaves that had become soldiers, organised in a powerful military oligarchy. After conquering Egypt in 1250, the Mameluks then conquered Syria and Lebanon and remained rulers until 1517 when they themselves fell victim to the Ottoman Empire. Contrary to Arabs who saw no military interests in the Lebanese mountain, the Mameluks, in their battles against the Crusaders, realized the strategic importance of the mountain and understood that they had to first disable the Maronites hiding in areas that were difficult to access and from where they had planned many surprise-attacks. The Mameluks, both before and after the Crusaders' departure, organized many bloody raids. Several patriarchs were humiliated, or killed. One of them, Gabriel of Hjoula, was burnt alive in tripoli in 1367. It is said that there are none as more violent than slaves that have become kings. The Mameluks were violent and massacred a great number of Maronites. In spite of all the misfortune and suffering they endured, the survivors were able to regroup and reconstruct their community life around their patriarch. They were even able to ensure themselves relative autonomy and saw a demographic expansion due to a very high birth rate. The Maronites were not only the victims of Mamluk cruelty. Other Islamic countries were also persecuted and in turn also found refuge in the mountain. This was the case of the Chiites, Druzes and the Nosairis who all came to inhabit Kesrouan. Taking advantage of the battles between Mameluks, Crusaders and Mongols, they revolted against their oppressor. The Mameluks that had just vanquished Franks and Mongols, quickly and forcefully stopped the revolt. The repression and vengance were terrible. Those who survived the massacre were deported, the Nosairis to Akhar, the Druzzes to Shouf and the Chiites to the south. the empty Kesrouan allowed for Maronite installation and did no inconvience to the Mameluks. Maronite demographic expansion would progressively force inhabitants to spread out in the mountain and a new reality is born: cohabitation and inter-community relations would be both a source of richness for Lebanon as an intercultural dialogue and unique experience of conviviality. On the other hand, it was an Achilles Heel allowing the occupants, or those wishing to take over from them, to divide as to better rule. The Ottoman Rule The Ottoman domination of Lebanon begins in 1516 with Sultan Salim I, known as the Cruel, conquering Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. The conquest brings no change to the feudal system or the social organization of Mount -Lebanon. His successor, Soleiman the Magnificent, confirmed the rights of the Maronites to manage their own affairs and the patriarch was the only one whose investiture did not have to be confirmed by the Sultan. This generosity towards the Maronite was, however, not without a price. Francis I, King of France, who was fighting against the Hapsburgs of Austria who ruled on the Holy Roman Germanic Empire, became very close to their enemy Soleiman the magnificient and had obtained in 1535, a convention known as "Capitulation" concerning the ststus of foreigners and of Christians living in the East. These ties were very advantageous to thew Sultan who had his eye on Hapsburg territories. Francis I, for his part found this to be advantageous in both: the West against the Hapburgs and the east where he had entry and a pretext to intervene. The Maronites could only profit. The Ottoman rule was, unfortunately, not always so profitable for the Maronites. There were so many dark moments. In 1860, for example, the Turks disarmed the Christians and encouraged the Druzes to attack. At least ten thousand Maronites were slain. During World War I, Turkey allied with Germany, blocked food supply to the mountain. Hundreds of thousands of peopleDied of Hunger. To this, one must add the arrogant and arbitrary behavior of the occupant, insulting measures, corrupted administration and unlawful seizing of belongings. The Maronite College of Rome An initiative that proved to be very beneficial to the Maronites was Pope Gregory XIII's decision to build the Maronite College of Rome in 1584. Preoccupied by the quality of instruction given to the Maronite clergy that did not have teaching institutions and wanting to consolidate the ties between the Maronite Church and Rome, the Pope chose this solution that turned out to be the most fruitful. This allowed for the education of many students that would have great roles to play in the evolution of Lebanese society. True mulitpliers, they are the main artisans of a schooling system set in place in the mountain. In 1610, they introduced the first printing machine to the Orient that they installed in the convent of Kozhaya. Other students of the college would hold important status in many prestigious European institutions: Gabriel Sionite, professor of Semitic languages at College de France; Ibrahim-el-Hakim, curator of the Oriental Library of France; Merj Ibn Namroun, professor and translator; Joseph Assemani, director of the Vatican Library and translator is an exceptional figure: his research covering Syria, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Persian and Ethiopian embodied his Biblioteca Orientalis, remains a reference today. These men and others made the Europeans coin the expression "Erudite as a Maronite". The Maronite College of Rome also gave forty bishops and of them, twelve will become patriarch. The most famous is Patriarch Douaihy, the first historian of his Church. Beginning in the XVIIth century, Latin religious communities would come to support the maronites in their educational missions: the Capuchins in 1626, the Carmelites in 1635, and the Jesuits in 1656. Other communities followed later. The Maronite College of Rome allowed the Maronites to come out of their intellectual isolation and to be in permanent contact with Western thinking while waiting to become the principal artisans of the Renaissance of the Arabic language and literature. It also instilled in the Maronite community the great importance of education. The Lebanese Synod held in Louaize, Kesrouan 1736 affirmed: "We exhort, in the name of Jesus Christ the ordinaries of the diocese, of the cities, of the villages, of the convents to help each other to encourage this mission that has been very fruitful. They must find a teacher where there are none, they must write down the names of the children who are apt to learn, they must order parents to bring their children to school, even against their will. If they are orphaned or poor, the Church or the convent must give them food and if the Church cannot, they must give some and the parents must give the rest." This decision is remarkable when considering the time in which it was taken. It has made all parents; even those of today see their children's education as a priority. One of the greatest sources of pride for Maronites during the construction of modern Lebanon is the creation of schools. These schools have been open to all communities and have allowed Lebanon to become a center of intense cultural activity. The Experience of Conviviality or a Plural Society The demographic expansion of the Maronites that began in Kesrouan after the massacre and the deportation of the Chiites, Druzes and Nosairis populations in 1305 by the Mameluks continued towards the Shouf and Metn. This migration brought them to cohabitate with other communities and to live the experience of cultural and religious diversity. Because of existing tensions between Sunnites, Druzes and Chiites, Maronites will often be mediators. With time and common obstacles, a sense of conviviality and belonging to the same nation developed. The severity of the Ottoman occupation brought the idea of a common destiny to this multicultural society. Many momentsin the history of Lebanon illustrate this new reality. The reign of Fakhr al Din II (1572-1635) a Druze and the reign of Bashir II (1789-1840) a Sunnite converted to Christianity are testimonies of the mobilization of all communities against an occupant. Another signifigant example of this inter-community soidarity is the meeting in 1832 in the Church Mar Elias of Antelias of Chiite, Druze, Maronite and Sunnite representatives. They pledged to fight together against Ibrahim Pasha that had just invaded Lebanon at the head of an Egyptian army. Unified, they were able to push this army back. Fighting with them was a young Maronite, Youssef Bey Karam, who would later become a heroic figure in the war against the Ottoman Empire. More recently, in 1918, after Turkey's defeat, all Lebanese communities asked Patriarch Hoayek to represent them at the conference of Versailles and to demand the independance of Lebanon. Choosing "Great Lebanon", the patriarch, clearly demonstrated the will of the Maronite to live in peace and harmony with other communities. In this experience of conviviality, there have been serious accidents such as the massacres of 1860, the troubles in 1958and the war in 1975. When the war ravaged the country, endangered inter-community links, divided families and almost spelled the end of Lebanon. History will one day tell us if it was a Lebanese civil war or someone else's war in Lebanon, direct consequence of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Maronite Emigration By its size, distribution on five continents and presence in most of the world's countries, the Maronite emigration is remarkable and surprising. How could such a demographically small nation attain such cultural importance? Neither distance, nor climate,nor language, nor religion,nor political or economis regimes constitute obstacles to the expansion. The number of Maronites living abroad is estimated to be four million. Five times more than those who are actually living in Lebanon today. The causes of Maronite emigration are known. One does not leave their homeland for no reason:
And more recently:
This last cause has provoked an unprecedented wave of Maronite and Christian emigration. It is a great human as well as social tragedy whose consequences on Lebanon have yet to be fully measured. Blessed with adaptability, hard-working and ambitious, the Maronite emigrant while remaining attached to his patrimonial heritage, integrates well into his new homeland and quickly becomes an active member of his new society, participating fully in its development and progress. As his forefathers did, he considers his children's education as a priority. Preserving and sharing these values, without a doubt, contribute to diminishing social problems, to augmenting the chances of integration and socialsuccess and to improving the quality of life in the community. Canada Welcomes the Maronites Canadian Maronites come from many different countries in the Middle East, from Egypt, Syrai and especially Lebanon, their ancestral home. The first Maronites in Canada are believed to have arrived at the end of the nineteenth century, during a time when a signigigant number of Lebanese emigrated towards the West, especially towards America. the first lebanese are thought to have arrives around 1884. They would have made their homes where destiny and resources would have brought them : Windsor, Vancouver, Sydney and Quebec... the Lebanese and Maronite emigration movements went in tandem with the socio-economic and political movements in the Middle East and Lebanon. This is why, during World War I, many families emigrated towards the West looking for refuge, security and better living conditions. This taste for exodus has always been part of the Lebanese spirit and probably dates back to their origins, the Phoenicians, who were among the first to take on the sea and come in contact with foreign lands. With the event of World War II, the emigration movement only grew. The first Lebanese immigrants to arrive in Canada were Greek-Orthodox. They spoke little or no French and integrated, not to say assimilated, into the surrounding Anglophone society. this is heavily due to the education system. the public schools, at the time, were controlled by denominatinal school commissions. By definition, Catholic schools cold only accept Roman Catholic students. Consequently, the Orthodox community had to send their children to Prodestant, English-speaking schools. this phenomenon facilitated the Orthodox community's insertion into their Anglophone world, Prodestant or Anglican. this occurence turned out to be hugely beneficial for business and Montreal's Orthodox formed an affluent and rich community. In the second wave of emigrants, Maronites and Greek-Melkites from Egypt arrived: a small francophone middle-class that adapted well to French-Canadian society and especially to Quebec. The efforts to adapt and to rally themselves to the Canadian majority proved fruitful for this community that had always been a minority in Egypt. Their advancements in many professions and in the business world were very successful; the problem of placing their children in schools, though it was an important one, was not an issue for these well-to-do families. It is significant to note that the Egyptian Maronite community of "Lebanese origin", as they were referred to, adopted the French-Canadian language and married into French-Canadian families, all the while forging many business ties, as they began to better blend in with their community. The lack of socialization between the younger generations of the community also helped their integration. The third wave, the most substancial one, is that of the Lebanese. They are emmigrants of a war-torn country. They are mostly Maronites of relatively modest social backgrounds. It is starting in 1975, as hostilities that would last for twenty years break-up the Lebanese population, that Lebanon will know the most signifigant departure of its people. It is at this time, that Canada opened its doors to the Lebanese, and Maronites adopted the land. Their community became so considerable that the Holy-Seat decided to grant them their own eparchy, known as Saint Maron of Montreal's Canadian Eparchy, to serve their spiritual needs in a permanent and organized fashion. There is a very special phenomenon in the history of Lebanese emigration: when the Lebanese left their homeland, it was to find fortune and work. They fully intended to return to Lebanon, wealthier and more affluent. This, however is not the case of Lebanese emigrants today. They have lost their two poles of existance in emigrating and towards Lebanon. Fortune is no longer a primary objective. All is temporary. No employment or commitments to help them better take root in their new country. For many, it is waiting for their return to Lebanon, it is living day-to-day, it is public assistance, it is guaranteed medical care: two certainties of highly industrialized societies that keep them here. There is no doubt that more fears joys get them through each day. The first years, and one must count at least ten, are always the most difficult. This last wave of emigration did not wish or search for their upheaval, thus making their cultural, than professional, social and especially religious integration much more difficult. Which way should we head? Rich or poor, we are born, as we become as we are born Maronite, we will become practicing or indifferent. Faced with these geo-human realities, we must invite the faithful to coexist with new cultures and to live their faith to the sound of new church bells. A Minority's Expansion in a Vast Land Without being able to advance an exact number, it is estimated that approximately 80,000 Maronites are living in Canada with half of the faithful in Montreal, seat of the eparchy. Presently, the faithful are divided into many parishes, some naturally in Montreal where there are three. There are two parishes in Windsor that offer pastoral services. As for other Canadian cities, there is one parish in Quebec City, one in Ottawa as well as in Halifax, Fredericton, Toronto, Pickering, London, Leamington, Edmonton and Calgary. The Maronite's great national achievement to their country of origin as well as their devotion to the Virgin Mother, venerated in Lebanon, brought the Leamington community to build a major sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Lebanon. It should also be noted that the Maronite presence in Canada largely juts out over the portrait lines that have been drawn up until now. There are important Maronite groups in other Canadian cities such as Sydney, Vancouver, Saint John, Charlottetownand more. In 1977, despite a serious lack of priests and financial means, it was possible to found a mission in Calgary, a second in Edmonton, Alberta and a third in London, Ontario. The day that there will be reliable statistics on the Maronite presence in Canada and better financial means, more missions will surely be established. The Maronites of Egypt deserve particular recognition, as they were the ones who founded the Maronite community in Montreal; it was they who worked very hard and made many sacrifices to assure the solidity of our community. It is also signifigant to note the presence of many eminent members of the Egyptian Maronite's in the educational, financial, commercial and professional communities. Everywhere they are, Maronites work actively to keep their faith and traditional values and look to pass them on to their children. They are Anglophones or Francophones that have adapted themselves to the different Canadian cultures without losing sight of their own. They are also fundamentally hard workers, aware of their responsibibities and have an excellent business sense. They are qualified politicians, well-respected professionals and particularly skilled businessmen. It is obvious that to keep their faith and to develop their values and traditions, they should, as the Holy See has judged, rely on the Church. Attachment to Tradition In their national and religious histories,
the Maronites have sacrificed themselves for two great causes. Firstly,
the attachment to their Catholic faith and to their religious traditions
symbolized by their unconditional loyalty to the Pope. Their Catholicy
never suffered the shadow of a conflict or of a rupture with Rome.
Thus, the Maronites are the only oriental church that does not have
a parallel non-Catholic (Orthodox) branch. The attachment to Rome,
to the See of Peter, kept the authenticity of their faith, and helped
them to open to the Christian West, to its culture and perspectives
as an evolving society. This deep and beneficial bond did not form
without provoking some non-Catholic and non-Christian distrust towards
the Maronites. Another passion also animated the Maronites. It is
their love for Lebanon, a sacred love for their land, considered
to be their homeland and that constitutes the natio maronitarum.
They fought with other Lebanese communities to keep enemies and
conquers at bay, especially in these past years, in an effort to
let Lebanon retain the face of its culture, open towards all religious
and human values. It is important to note that the Maronite presence
is felt outside the borders of Lebanon, that it often constitues
living, dynamic communities that hold spiritual and cultural values
around the world. It is in 1982 that the Holy Seat decided that it was time to intervene and founded in Montreal, for all of Canada, Saint Maron's Eparchy. The first appointed bishop was Mgr. Elias Chahine. Mgr. Geroges Abi-Saber followed in 1990 who then retired from the eparchy's pastoral government in 1996. Between the two mandates there were two as interim administrations: that of the Mgr. Elias El-Hayek, Vicar General to Mgr. Chahine, who became Apostolic administrator before the appointment of Bishop G. Abi Saber as successor to Bishop Chahine, and that of the Mgr. Kheirallah Aoucar, Vicar General to Mgr. Abi-Saber. In February 1996, Mgr. Joseph Khoury, former Holy Seat official to the congregation for the oriental churches and apostolic visitor for the Maronites of Europe was sent to Canada as Apostolic administrator, then on November 24th, 1996 was named ordinary bishop of the diocese. Mgr. Joseph Khoury, Apolostic administrator and eparchial Bishop The Holy Father accepted the resignation of Mgr. Georges Abi-Saber on February 5, 1996 and names Mgr. Joseph Khoury as Apolostic administrator of the eparchy. Mgr Abi-Saber then retired from his administrative position as he and those that had worked with him returned to Lebanon. The arrival of the apostolic administrator in Montreal allowed for another eparchial government to follow. The activities begun first as Apostolic administrator for a year and then and then as eparchial bishop, were to create the necessary structures for a central government and to revise the structures of the churches by reviving the parishioners interest and confidence in their Church. It also became the important at this time to harmonize the Maronite pastorate with that of the local church, building good relations with the Archdiocese of Montreal, today guided by His Eminence, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte. It is also in the interest of the Maronites' prestige and good reputation to keep excellent relations with the Eparchs of fellow Catholic and Orthodox churches as well as with the Muslim leaders of the Middle East. Ecumenism in a mulit-denominational and mulit-cultural society such as Canada must take on great dimensions. As for the Maronite community, it was important to favor fraternal meetings with fellow oriental communities in Montreal, both Catholic and Orthodox. The inter-religious dialogue with Muslims, for the moment limits itself to social meetings; the Muslim leaders are regularly invited to diocesian banquets as Maronite leaders attend Muslim festivities. All parties are convinced, however, that dialogue between the two faiths will come with regular contact: this is not a new feat for the Lebanese. At many occasions they supported the initiatives taken by Maronite bishop that encourage a spirit of understanding and collaboration between the different oriental religious communities in Canada. The new eparch, used to integrating himself into new social and cultural surroundings as most Lebanese are, joined the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Canada, even becoming president of the commission of inter-rites canonical law, as well as moderator in Canada's eccliastical tribunal. He is also a professor of Oriental Canon Law at Saint Paul's University in Ottawa. The First Sacerdotal Ordination in Canada The first sacerdotal ordination of a Canadian ordained Maronite priest was held on the eve of the Immaculate Conception in 1997. He had completed his studies at the Seminary of Montreal and the eparchy decided, in a pastoral vocations setting, to present this event as the starting point of reviving the younger generations who will eventually heed the call of the Lord. This new priest will certainly reinforce the member of pastoral in the eparchy. It is also important to mention the obligation of the Mother Church to implement positive commitments to supply qualified personnel for the church of the emigration. In many countries, and especially in Canada, where the pastoral structure takes on characteristics very particular to the American continent, the priests sent must know the language, have adequate instruction and most importantly, must be driven by a deep missionary spirit. Justice in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal At the annual retreat in 1999, the priests of the eparchy renewed the desire they had previously voiced that their Church should entirely take-on the responsibility of administering justice to their members. They insisted on the necessity to create family reconciliation committee. This pastoral organization had become more and more urgently needed to reconcile families before their grievances are brought before the court. The eparchy can now count on qualified personnel to manage its own tribunal. This is certainly a part of an eparchial reorganization but it must also allow the eparchy to better serve its community and replenish pastoral relations as to better confront these very delicate problems. The Transmission of Information The diocese wants to have its own means of transmission of information of information that would encourage and promote knowledge of the spiritual and cultural heritage of our church which in turn, would strengthen the ties between community members. To accomplish this, the diocese wanting to use the means of communication of the third millennium, build its own web site at www.stmarouneparchy.ca. It is significant to mention that each Maronite Church is equipped with its own computer system and is capable of reaching all who are interested in this vast country. The Great Challenge of a Pastoral Mission The evangelization of the faithful is intimately tied into direct pastoral actions based on administration of the sacrements as well as an appropriate and explanatory catechesis. Pastoral visits are always the best way to better grasp the pastoral situation of the community members. As a Visitor and then as eparchial Bishop, the new diocesian pastor saw that the Maronites who have recently arrived in Canada are effected by problems that are effecting North American countries: family morals, civil divorce, civil unions, the restriction of family ties, the solitude of inactive elderly as well as the isolation felt by community memebrs because of the many hours they have consecrated to working. These factors necessarily bring changes to members' morals as well as their personal and social ethics and demands that the Church adopt a new pastoral strategy. The anti-Christian movements (Jehovah Witnesses, Free Masonery) are gaining more and more followers and may effect the faith and morals of many Christians whose knowledge of their faith is fragile and fragmentary. Mixed marriages (with Orthodox and Prodestants) are more common and those with Muslims are also becoming more frequent. Socially, we can observe febrile activity in political parties formed in Lebanon, some of whose members have emigrated. For some time they have been regrouping and organizing themselves, orchestrating several meetings. the foreign visits of some Lebanese leaders fire in them a nostalgic past. A Clergy With Many Concerns All the clergy in Canada came from Lebanon. Apart from the diocesan priests, there are two religious Orders: the Order of Lebanese Maronites in Montreal as well as the Maronite Antonin Order that is in Ontario (Windsor and Toronto) and was founded well before the eparchy. A residing priest runs each parish. In Calgary, Edmonton and London, Ontario, the pastoral service is only part-time because of the lack of clergy members. The situation of the Maronite clergy and their pastoral service is quite particular. It is primordial to say that the priests worked very hard to keep the community unified, especially outside Montreal. Their zeal and their love for the community is not at all doubted. Of the twelve priests that work in the eparchy, few have received instruction in a diocesian seminary; one has followed seminary classes as an external student. Also there are two Antonin priests and one from the Order of the Lebanese Maronites. The others are all former religious priests. Priests are given a monthly salary of $1500 Canadian dollars, have means of transportation as well as possessing the rights of the stole. Parishes without borders Maronite parishes in Canada cannot have the structure that they have elsewhere since they are personal parishes that distinguish themselves because of the great distances that separate them. The great difficulties that we encounter are more often than not those of ties between the different pastoral agents as well as those caused by the mobility of the faithful, as is the case in Windsor and Montreal. This mobility renders the job of geographically defining the parishes to make them both personal and territorial very difficult. As an introduction to the general discription of the Maronite Churches in Canada, it is important to mention that all Maronite communities in Canada have organized their own pastoral, social and cultural activities in the same basic fashion. Pastoral activities are organized everywhere where there are Gospel vigils, movements of young people, Marian congregations, associations of volunteers, Scouting organizations, catechism classes for children, a church choir, children preparing for First Communion, couples preparing for marriage and baptism, cultural associations, Arab-language classes in the church ... Parishes everywhere confront the same problems: linguistic problems communicating the liturgy, catechism and information in church meetings; the disappearance of the faithful, the work of the priests and the race for happiness, the isolation of the parishioners, the lack of places of worship especially in big cities like Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton...etc... The Laymen in the Service of the Church In November 1996, a first meeting with the faithful was organized. This meeting counted forty people from the Montreal community. The participants recognized the serious situation that the Maronite Church of Montreal was in. They showed their faith in the eparchial government while expressing their desires to see the Maronite church organize its pastoral service with energy and transparency as well as reclaiming the place it has always occupied within the Church and society. They insisted that the Maronites of Montreal have their own church and community center. One year later, in October 1997, the diocese organized a plenary meeting todemocratically debate the problems faced by the communities in this enormous country, aided by the diocesan administrative and pastorial Councils, recently constituted according to canonical norms. (Can.243,272) The object was to encourage participation to allow a greater majority to democratically express their opinions on questions of community interest. Representatives came from all over Canada. At this meeting, the first of its type because of its size, were invited His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Mgr. Michel Hakim, the Melkite bishop and representative of sister-churches. His Eminence Cardinal Turcotte encouraged the assembly as he told Maronites to remain loyal to their faith and to both their spiritual and cultural heritage. His words were much appreciated. The pastoral and administrative ideas and decisions from this meeting were studied. Some speakers insisted upon the necessity to take charge of the younger generation and to consecrate more effort to contact them. This generation does not read and does not always understand the Arabic language. It is important to consider securing for them liturgies and activities in French. On this subject, we have noticed that there used to be many more families coming to Mass and today, more and more, children and younger people seem to be missing. More importantly, we must think of the children and the transmission of fundiamental Maronite values, while keeping an open mind towards the Western world. To do so, we must once again identify Maronite values, believe in them and live them. A third meeting was held on February 13 and 14, 1999 to evaluate the progress made by the parishes and the concretization of the decisions made for the future of the eparchy. The participants brought out two important aspects of the lives of the parishes and diocese on both the pastoral and administrative levels. The points emerging from the meeting
are the following: This is why the participants insisted
on the following points:
Administration On an administrative level, the deligates declared themselves willing to support the diocese in any way possible. They adopted a budget for the diocese and left it to the bishop's discertion to decide the prorata impositions for each parish. They wished that there be commuinty statistics and asked that there be more national Maronite conferences. the administrative assembly insisted for stricter rules for property alienation and debt. The parishes' financial participation will change. During the 1999 annual retreat, the bishop unveiled his plan to the priests. He mainly denounced the idea of a contract stipulating the amount parishes had to give to ensure the survival of the doicese. The bishop declared in front of the priests that his relationship with the parishes should be one of service and charity and preferred to rely on the generousity of the parishes than on imposed contributions. This attitude relieved the parish priests and made for better relaions between the two. This decision is not one without risk, but it was, without a doubt, one that needed to be taken. The Financial State of the Eparchy The Church's funds come only from faithful
donations when they are able to be generous. Some parishes organize
"bingo" games, similar to tombola, that are very popular
in North America. The Church of Canada had no financial revenue
from organizations of enterprises: schools, hospitals, land, apartments
or otherwise. This is why the eparchy's finances depend entirely
on two factors:
In general the financial situations of the parishes are good. There are however, two or three parishes that are experiencing some difficulty. The eparchy and its administration should rely only on the help that parishes grant them. |
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