An Arabe-Israeli appointed new Bishop of Galilee

Catholic News Agency ^ | February 9, 2006

[NYer]

Beirut, Feb. 09, 2006 (CNA) - The Vatican and the Synod of the Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, who met Wednesday in Beirut, appointed Father Elias Shakur archbishop of the Galilee.

The appointment makes Shakur, the dynamic head of an educational empire with 4,000 students in the Galilee town of Ibillin, the most senior cleric of the Greek Catholic Church in the Holy Land, with a flock of about 55,000, the single largest Christian community in Israel.

"I plan to work for reconciliation and dialogue among the three religions of the Holy Land," Chacour told The Jerusalem Post. "I hope to be a moderating voice in the conflict that has spilled too much blood."

Elias Shakur was born November 29, 1939 in the village of Biram in Upper Galilee in Arab Palestine.

Shakur's jurisdiction will include all Greek Catholic communities from Hadera northward, including Zibda, a town near Jenin.

Archmandrite Matanios Hadad currently is filling the position of archbishop of Jerusalem, which is responsible for Greek Catholic communities to the south of Hadera.

The archbishop of the Galilee position has been vacant since 2002, when Father Boutrous Mualem stepped down at 75, the retirement age for Church clerics. Until now, local Greek Catholic church officials have been unable to decide on a replacement for Mualem.

In the interim, the Vatican appointed George Hadad as apostalic administer.

The Greek Catholic, or Melkite Church, which was created in the 17th century, is unionized with the worldwide Catholic Church. But unlike the Roman Catholic Church, headed in Israel by Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the Melkites retained Greek liturgy and their own synod of bishops, which lends them a certain degree of autonomy from the Vatican.

Daniel Rossing, director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, said that Shakur has worked for peace and coexistence among the various religious groups of the Galilee.

"Shakur is a dynamic individual who has built a tremendous educational complex and is in the process of establishing an Israeli Arab university.

"He has traveled and lectured extensively in the Christian world and is the author of several books on Christians in the Galilee."

[NYer]

Some background information on Fr. Chakour.

Father Elias Chacour

Father Elias Chacour, a Melkite Catholic priest, was born to a Palestinian Christian family in the village of Biram in Upper Galilee in 1939. Along with his whole village he experienced the tragedy of eviction by the Israeli authorities in 1947 and became a refugee in his own land. He became a citizen of Israel when the state was created in 1948. In 1965, Father Chacour was appointed as priest of the village church, the Church of St. Joseph, in Ibillin.. He has been there ever since. Ibillin is a small Arab village in the Galilee region of Israel where Christians and Muslims have lived together peacefully for many generations. Father Chacour realized early on that his work in Ibillin would require more than routine priestly duties. His vision was, and is, that through education children, youth, and young adults of several faith traditions will learn to live and work together in peace. The vision is a reality in the schools of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions.

Many international groups and educational institutions have honored Father Chacour for his work on behalf of peace. He has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize (1986, 1989, 1994). In 1994 he received the World Methodist Peace Prize. In May 2001 he received the Niwano Peace Prize awarded by a prestigious Buddhist group in Japan. Also in May 2001, Emory University and University of Indianapolis recognized the work of Father Chacour with honorary doctorates. Father Chacour is the author of two books Blood Brothers (1984) and We Belong to the Land (1990). Blood Brothers has been translated into more than twenty different languages. Where are Biram and Ibillin?

[Romulus]

The silence on this thread is deafening.

[Kolokotronis]

I think his appointment is very nice!

[ventana]

Prayers that his mission continue to bear fruit and that the Blessed Mother intercedes on his behalf, so that in this way we may all benefit. V's wife.

[NYer]

Hopefully, this will fix the silence. Like Kolokotronis, I find this appointment to be quite exciting. His personal story is most interesting.

[Esther Ruth]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0800793218/ref=nosim/104-4560429-3780712?n=283155

Here is a link to his books at amazon.

It looks like his name is also spelled this way.
Elias Chacour

[Nihil Obstat]

this link is to the institute he built in Galilee and also has some articles he has written.

http://www.meei.org/who/abuna.html

[Esther Ruth]

Be still my beating heart...the cover to one of his books.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking the keyword Israel.

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[Esther Ruth]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0268019630/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/104-4560429-3780712?%5Fencoding=UTF8
And the book reviews to his other book, We Belong to the Land, they sound just wonderful.....

[RKBA Democrat]

"The silence on this thread is deafening."

Not really. There aren't many eastern Catholics in absolute numbers and only a handful posting on FR. What's to say about this article? It looks like the church made a very good pick. Which would be no surprise; the Melkites are an awesome bunch.