LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO HIS BEATITUDE BÉCHARA BOUTROS RAÏ, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH FOR MARONITES ACCEPTING HIS REQUEST FOR ECCLESIASTICAL COMMUNION

To His Beatitude
Béchara Boutros Raï
Patriarch of Antioch for Maronites

The election of Your Beatitude to the Patriarchal See of Antioch for Maronites is a very special event for the whole Church and I receive your request for Ecclesiastical Communion with great joy. The whole Church, particularly the Maronite Church, gives thanks to the Blessed Trinity for the gift she has been granted in you, Your Beatitude.

I address to you my most fraternal and cordial congratulations. My fervent prayer is raised to Christ Our Lord and our God, that he may accompany you in carrying out this new mission.

I wholeheartedly grant to you, venerable Brother, the Ecclesiastical Communion, in conformity with the Tradition and the wishes of the Catholic Church. Being united with the Successor of Peter from the beginning is a cause of pride for your Church. Peter was called by Jesus to keep his One Church in unity, truth and love. In accordance with a beautiful and ancient tradition, the name of Peter has been added to the Patriarch’s first name.

I am certain, Your Beatitude, that with the good advice of your Predecessor, H.B. Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, and the collaboration of the Fathers of your Patriarchal Synod, in communion with the Episcopal College and above all with the power of Christ who, with his Resurrection triumphed over evil and death, you will have all the zeal, illuminated by wisdom and tempered by prudence, that you need to guide the Maronite Church. She will be able to go forth to the encounter with her Spouse, Our Saviour, clad in the glory of St Maron and of the throngs of Lebanese Saints, St Charbel, St Nimatullah, St Rafqa and Bl. Estéphan.

May the Lord help you in your ministry as “Father and Head” to proclaim the word that saves, so that it may be lived and celebrated in accordance with ancient spiritual and liturgical traditions of the Maronite Church! May all the faithful who are entrusted to you find consolation in your fatherly care!

May the Holy Mother of God, Our Lady of Lebanon, the Virgin of the Annunciation whose baptismal name you bear, make you a herald of unity so that the Lebanese nation — also thanks to the contribution of all the religious communities present in your country and with ecumenical and interreligious enthusiasm — may play its role of solidarity and peace in the East and throughout the world.

I greet you, Your Beatitude, “with the kiss of love” (1 Pt 5:14), in the Lord Jesus, the Good and Eternal Shepherd, and, as I assure my prayers for the whole Church entrusted to your care, I impart to you and to everyone, Bishops, priests, men and women religious and the faithful, my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican 24 March 2011

BENEDICTUS P P. XVI

Read more...

THE EASTERN CHURCHES CONFIRMATION OF THE ELECTION OF ARCHBISHOP Major of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-MALABAR (INDIA)

The Holy Father has granted the confirmation may be required in accordance with canon 153 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by Bishop George Alencherry, Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Thuckalay, May 24, 2011 which was canonically elected Major Archbishop of Ernakulam - Angamaly of the Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church, which met at Mount Saint Thomas , Kakkanad, Kochi (Kerala, India).

Archbishop George Alencherry

Archbishop George Alencherry was born April 19, 1945 at Thuruthy, nell'Arcieparchia of Changanacherry.

He was ordained a priest November 19, 1972. E 'was secretary of the Archbishop of Changanacherry, assistant pastor of the Cathedral, Director of the " Sunday Schools "dell'Arcieparchia.

He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Seminary St. Joseph Alwaye and earned a doctorate at the ' Institut Catholique de Paris , where he specialized in Catechesis.

On his return from Paris, he was appointed director of the Center for Catechetical dell'Arcieparchia Changanacherry. She also directed the " Pastoral Orientation Centre, Cochin , inter-ritual, which depends of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC).

E 'teaching " Pastoral Counseling "and Systematic Theology at the Faculty of" Paurastya Vidyapitham, Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies "in Vadavathoor, Kottayam, and at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Alwaye. E 'was Vicar General of Changanacherry dell'arcieparchia 11 November 1996 he was appointed first Bishop of Thuckalay and was ordained Feb. 2, 1997.

On May 24, 2011 he was elected Major Archbishop. The Holy Father Benedict XVI has confirmed the election Synodal Apostolic May 25, 2011.

[00813-01.01]

Read more...

CONFIRMATION OF MAJOR ARCHBISHOP Election-Halych KYIV (UKRAINE)

The Holy Father has granted the confirmation may be required in accordance with canon 153, CCEO by Bishop Sviatoslav Schevchuk, March 23, 2011 which was canonically elected Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyč the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, meeting in Lviv (Ukraine).

SB Sviatoslav Schevchuk

Sviatoslav Schevchuk His Beatitude was born May 5, 1970 at Styj in the Lviv region.

He holds a degree in Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome (1999).He was ordained a priest June 26, 1994.

He has held various positions including: Prefect of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit "of Lviv (1999-2000), Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Theology of the Academy of Theology in Lviv (2001), Vice-Rector of the Seminary of the Spirit Santo "in Lviv (2000-2007) and later rector of the same seminary (2007).

On 7 April 2009 he was ordained.On 14 January 2009, the Holy Father appointed him Titular Bishop of Castra of Galba and Auxiliary of the Eparchy of Santa Maria del Patrocinio in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

On 10 March 2010 was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the vacant seat of the Eparchy of Santa Maria del Patrocinio in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

[00432-01.01]

Read more...