Youssef Absi

Joseph Absi, SMSP, even Youssef Absi, (born on 20 June 1946 in Damascus, Syria) is Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and since 2007 Patriarchal Vicar from the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Damascus. On June 20, 2017 the Holy Synod of the Melkite Church announced that he had been elected as its next patriarch.

Ecclesiastical career

Joseph Absi was on May 6, 1973 ordained priest and became Chaplain of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul. On 22 June 2001 he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Tarsus of Greek Melkites and Curial Bishop and Auxiliary Bishop in the Melkite Patriarchate. Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch Gregory III Laham, BS, was his consecrator and the co-consecrators were Archbishop Jean Mansour, SMSP, titular archbishop of Apamea in Syria dei Greco-Melkiti and Archbishop Joseph Kallas, SMSP, Archeparch of Beirut and Jbeil, on September 2, 2001. From 2001 to 2006 he was Superior General of his religious community. Since 2007 he is Patriarchal Vicar in the Archdiocese of Damascus and triggered Archbishop Isidore Battikha from the office of Archbishop of Homs. He assisted as co-consecrator at the Episcopal Ordination of Yasser Ayyash, Archbishop of Petra and Philadelphia in Jordan.

Bishop Joseph Absi was elected, on June 20th, 2017, the new patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The election of Bishop Absi comes a month after Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Gregorius III Latham.

Activities

Joseph Absi since 2001 is President of the Syrian Caritas (Commission Commune de Bienfaisance (CCB)) and forwards with three full-time members more than 40 projects in Damascus, Aleppo and Hassake. He composed for the singer Marie Keyrouz "L'Ensemle De La Paix", a hymn that on the CD was released "Cantiques De L'Orient".

On the Middle East

As a participant in the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Catholic) for the Middle East in October 2010, Absi was the final bulletin to comment. He makes the statement, saying that in a variety of texts usually "It is important", "It is necessary", "It's obvious," "It's safe," "There must be" "or" "We need to". He therefore appeal to the participants that these mandatory statements will be achieved by the end of the Synod in action, and made a further requirement: "The Episcopal Conferences of each country should meet from time to time together. You should allow bi-ritualism, so that no parish without church remains, no matter what the church she belongs."

External links

• http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/babsi.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20100707121947/http://www.pgc-lb.org/english/Church2_Synod2006.html