Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela explained

Jurisdiction:Apostolic Exarchate
Venezuela (Melkite Greek)
Latin:Exarchatus Apostolicus Caracensis Graecorum Melkitarum
Country:Venezuela
Province:Immediately exempt to the Holy See
Population As Of:2010
Catholics:25,000
Parishes:5
Denomination:Catholic Church
Sui Iuris Church:Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Rite:Byzantine Rite
Established:19 February 1990 (years ago)
Cathedral:Catedral San Jorge[1]
Patriarch:Youssef Absi
Bishop Title:Exarch
Bishop:Joseph Antoine Khawam, B.A.
Emeritus Bishops:Georges Kahhalé Zouhaïraty, B.A.
Website:www.catedralsanjorge.org.ve

Melkite Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela (in Latin: Exarchatus Apostolicus Caracensis Graecorum Melkitarum, meaning - of Caracas) is a Melkite Greek Catholic Church missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction or apostolic exarchate of the Catholic Church in Venezuela.

The apostolic exarchate is immediately exempt to the Holy See (notably the Congregation for the Oriental Churches) and not part of any (Melkite or Latin) ecclesiastical province, and encompasses the entirety of Venezuela.

The exarch's cathedral is the Cathedral of St. George, in the episcopal see and national capital city Caracas, which also has the see of the Latin metropolitan Archdiocese of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela.

Territory and statistics

The apostolic exarchate extends to all the faithful of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Venezuela.

The territory is divided into five parishes and had 25,000 Melkite Catholics in 2010.

History

Melkite Catholic immigration in Venezuela, especially from Aleppo in Syria, dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century and intensified in particular between the two world wars.

In 1957 for the first time, a priest of the Society of the Missionaries of St. Paul, Gabriel Dick, took pastoral care of the Melkite community in the country.

The Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela was erected on 19 February 1990 with the papal bull Quo longius[2] of Pope John Paul II.[3] [4]

Incumbent ordinaries

Conforming to the Eastern tradition, ordinaries are generally monks, so far all of the Basilian Aleppian Order (B.A.)

See also

Sources and external links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.pgc-lb.org/fre/melkite_greek_catholic_church/Apostolic-Exarchate-of-Venezuela pgc-lb.org
  2. https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19900219_caracensis_lt.html vatican.va
  3. Web site: Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela (Melkite Greek). Catholic Hierarchy. 2013-04-19.
  4. Web site: Greek-Melkite Apostolic Exarchate of Venezuela. Giga Catholic. 2013-04-19.