Yousif Habash Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific-Prefix:His Grace, The Most Reverend
Yousif Behnam Habash
Eparch of Newark
Church:Syriac Catholic Church
Diocese:Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark
Appointed:12 April 2010
Enthroned:31 July 2010
Predecessor:Ephrem Joseph Yonan
Ordination:31 August 1975
Ordained By:Cyrille Emmanuel Benni
Consecration:11 July 2010
Consecrated By:Ephrem Joseph Yonan, Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, Denys Raboula Antoine Beylouni, Basile Georges Casmoussa and Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka
Birth Date:1 June 1951
Birth Place:Bakhdida, Iraq
Motto:Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever
Yousif Behnam Habash
Dipstyle:

Yousif Behnam Habash (in Arabic يوسف بهنام حبش) (born 1 June 1951) is an Iraqi-born bishop of the Syriac Catholic Church. Since 2010, he has been the Eparch of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark.

Biography

Early life and education

Born 1 June 1951 in Bakhdida, Iraq, Yousif Behnam Habash entered St. John's Seminary in Mosul in 1965 at the age of 14. From 1970 to 1972 he performed military service in Iraq. Thereafter, when the Mosul seminary closed, he completed his seminary studies at Charfet, Lebanon, studying at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik.[1]

Ordination and ministry

Habash was ordained a priest for the Archeparchy of Mosul on 31 August 1975[2] after which time he was assigned to a parish in his home town of Bakhdida and worked in youth ministry. He later served as vicar and then pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, in Basra.[1]

In 1994, he was assigned to the Syriac Catholic Mission of North America, serving first in Newark, New Jersey and, from 2001 on, at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in West Hollywood, California.[3]

Eparch of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark

In April 2010, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the second eparch of the Syrian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark.[4] He was consecrated a bishop on 11 July 2010 by his predecessor Ephrem Joseph Younan, who had been elected Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians.

Eparch Habash's territory includes the United States, and 16,000 Syriac Catholics.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Pope names L.A. priest bishop for Syrian Catholics. 16 April 2010. Catholic News Service (reprinted in The Tidings, Los Angeles, CA).
  2. Web site: Bishop Yousif Behnam Habash. catholic-hierarchy.org. 22 August 2010.
  3. Web site: Pope Names Los Angeles Pastor As Bishop of Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark For Syrian Catholics. USCCB Office of Media Relations. 12 April 2010. 22 February 2010.
  4. News: Iraqi-born L.A. priest to head U.S. Syrian Catholic Church. 22 August 2010. 13 April 2010. Los Angeles Times. Mitchell Landsberg.