Gregory III Laham - Misplaced Pages

Head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 2000 to 2017

His Beatitude Gregory III Laham B.S.
Melkite Greek Patriarch Emeritus of Antioch

Native name	غريغوريوس الثالث لحام
Church	Melkite Greek Catholic Church
See	Antioch
Elected	November 29, 2000
Installed	December 5, 2000
Term ended	May 6, 2017
Predecessor	Maximos V Hakim
Successor	Youssef I Absi
Other post(s)	Bishop of Damascus
Previous post(s)	Auxiliary Melkite Greek Archbishop of Jerusalem (1981–2000) Titular Archbishop of Tarsus dei Greco-Melkiti (1981–2000)
Orders
Ordination	February 15, 1959
Consecration	November 27, 1981 by Maximos V Hakim
Personal details
Born	Lutfy Laham (1933-12-15) December 15, 1933 (age 91) Darayya, Syria
Denomination	Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Residence	Syria Lebanon
Alma mater	Holy Savior Seminary
Motto	Directione in agape
Coat of arms

Gregory III Laham, B.S. (Arabic: غريغوريوس الثالث لحام; Latin: Gregorius III Lahamus; born Lutfy Laham, December 15, 1933, in Darayya, Syria), Emeritus Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, is the former spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected on November 29, 2000, succeeding Patriarch Maximos V Hakim. He retired on May 6, 2017.

He took the name Gregory in honor of Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, who was the last member of his religious order, the Basilian Salvatorian Order, to be elected Patriarch. Gregory III, who studied in Rome, Italy, and is multilingual, is also the author of several books on Eastern Catholic spirituality and theology.

In addition, he served as the Spiritual Protector of the United Obediences (formerly the Paris and Malta Obediences until 2008) of the Order of Saint Lazarus.

Early years and education

Gregory III Laham was born Lutfy Laham in Darayya, Syria, on December 15, 1933.

He entered the Seminary of the Holy Savior of the Basilian Salvatorian Order near Saida, Lebanon, in 1943. He took his simple religious vows in 1949 and his solemn religious vows in 1954. He received his religious and philosophical education at the Holy Savior Seminary, Joun, Lebanon. He continued his theological studies in Rome, Italy, where he was ordained priest on February 15, 1959 in the Church of the Abbey of Grottaferrata.

Church

Priesthood

Gregory III with Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey.

The future patriarch received a doctoral degree in Oriental Theology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome following his ordination . He then served as superior of the Holy Savior Major Seminary from 1961 until 1964. In 1962 he founded the magazine Al-Wahdah - Unity in Faith, the first ecumenical magazine to be published in the Arabic language. He also founded several orphanages and trade schools in Lebanon.

He was appointed administrator of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Jerusalem in 1975, in the wake of the Israeli arrest of the Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem, Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of the Aleppin Salvatorian order. Laham founded the Student Fund in Jerusalem to help needy students and in 1978 the Family Assistance Fund to help needy families in the troubled areas of his diocese. In 1967 he founded at the Patriarchate the Oriental Library to promulgate the knowledge of Eastern traditions. He initiated a variety of social projects such as repairing churches, opening clinics and building public housing, including a guest house for pilgrims at the Patriarchal Center in Jerusalem.

Episcopate

On September 9, 1981 he was named Archeparch by Patriarch Maximos V Hakim and continued his work as Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem as successor to Archeparch Hilarion Capucci. On November 27, 1981 he was enthroned as the titular archbishop of Tarsus and consecrated Archeparch by patriarch Maximos V Hakim. His co-consecrators were Saba Youakim, Archeparch of Petra and Philadelphia and François Abou Mokh, titular bishop of Palmyra dei Greco-Melchiti.

In 1992 Laham was named Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and in 1998 became Protosyncellus of the same city.

Appointed by Patriarch Maximos V as president of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, he edited the Anthologion, the prayer book or breviary of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and The Book of the Liturgies, an updated compendium of the Divine Liturgy. As secretary of the Ecumenical Commission of the Melkite Patriarchate, he led the dialogue between the Melkite Greek Catholic and the Antiochian Orthodox Churches.

Patriarchate

Patriarch Maximos resigned in 2000 at age 92 due to failing health. The episcopal synod of the Melkite Church, met at the patriarchal residence in Raboueh on November 22, 2000 to select a new leader. On November 29 the synod elected Laham patriarch. He chose the name Gregory after the Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, the last member of the Basilian Salvatorian Order to serve as head of the Melkite Church. On December 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II accepted Patriarch Laham's request for ecclesiastical communion.

On May 8, 2008, along with other Melkite bishops and archimandrites, Patriarch Laham was received at the Vatican by Pope Benedict XVI. He repeated this visit on March 15, 2012.

The patriarch is an advocate of the Christian communities of the Near and Middle East. speaking at a 2010 synod, he asserted that "among the most dangerous effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” is the phenomenon of Christian emigration, "which will make Arab society a society with only one color, a society purely Muslim." Viewing the Near East as Muslim and the West as Christian could mean that "any occasion would be propitious for a new clash of cultures, of civilizations and even of religions -- a destructive clash between the Muslim Arab East and the Christian West," he said. The patriarch called for Christian-Islam dialogue which describes to Muslims "what our fears are," including concern about a lack of separation between religion and government, lack of equality and about a legal system that is based on Islamic law.

In December 2010, Laham was quoted by The Lebanon Daily Star as claiming that attacks against Levantine Christians, were part of a "Zionist conspiracy against Islam." Lahham reportedly stated that "All this behavior has nothing to do with Islam... But it is actually a conspiracy planned by Zionism and some Christians with Zionist orientations and it aims at undermining and giving a bad image of Islam." He further added that media portrayal of the attack the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad was "a conspiracy against Arabs and the pre-dominantly Muslim Arab world that aims at depicting Arabs and Muslims in Arab countries as terrorist and fundamentalist murderers in order to deny them their rights and especially those of the Palestinians.”

In March 2011 Patriarch Gregory said “we Christians risk demographic extinction and face huge challenges,” calling on league members to “formulate ideas” on how to address the phenomenon. The Palestine-Israel conflict, Lahham said, was the “sole” reason for emigration.

In August 2013 Patriarch Gregory gave an appeal to Asia News "We must listen to the Pope's appeal for peace in Syria. If western countries want to create true democracy then they must build it on reconciliation, through dialogue between Christians and Muslims, not with weapons. This attack being planned by the United States is a criminal act, which will only reap more victims, in addition to the tens of thousands of these two years of war. This will destroy the Arab world's trust in the West"

In September 2015, he urged Syrian Christians not to leave the country, despite the ongoing Syrian Civil War, and implored European countries not to encourage their emigration from their homeland.

Patriarch Gregory III retired on 6 May 2017.

Gregory III Laham speaks Arabic, English, Spanish, French, German, Greek, Italian and Latin. He travels a lot in the world, to draw attention to the difficult situation in Syria to the Christians. He also calls for a dialogue between all parties in Syria to end the civil war.

Books and other works

Patriarch Gregory III is author of several books, including:

Introduction to the Liturgical Services and their Symbols in the Eastern Church.
The Voice of the Shepherd - Eastern Liturgical Spirituality.
Life of Archbishop Germanos Adam.
Translations of History of the Melkite Church (English and German).
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council.
Initiation into the spiritual journey of the Chrysostom liturgy'; 1999, ISBN 3-933001-36-6.
The Chrysostom liturgy: an introduction and explanation; 2002 ISBN 3-933001-43-9.
Al-Wahada Quarterly (1962–1981); (Unity of the faith, the first ecumenical magazine in Arabic).
Four volumes of liturgical prayers in Arabic.
Introduction to the spiritual life of the Byzantine rite; 1990, in Arabic.
Ne nous laissez pas disparaître : un cri au service de la paix; 2016, in French

Distinctions

Orders

Grand Master of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem
Protector of the Ordo Militiae Christi Templi Hierosolymitani since 1990 (as are all Melkite Catholic Patriarchs since 2000)
"Spiritual Protector" of the Malta obedience of the Order of Saint Lazarus
Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Grand Cross of the Order of the Umayyads of Syria

Awards

Muhammad-Nafi-Tschelebi Prize (2012)

Notes

Gregorio III Laham: da patriarca greco-melkita a pellegrino di pace e amore
^ "Patriarch Grégoire III (Loutfi) Laham, B.S." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
w2.vatican.va
"zenit.org". Archived from the original on 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
catholicnewsagency.com
^ Synod members alarmed by declining Christian populations Archived 2011-01-06 at the Wayback Machine by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Online, 13-October 2010
Sidon Archdiocese reopens following refurbishment by Mohammed Zaatari, The Daily Star, Monday, December 6, 2010.
Catholic patriarch warns Christians face 'extinction'
Gregory III: Democracy is built with peace. U.S. attack is a criminal act
"And then there were none: Fed up and fearful, Christians are leaving the Middle East". The Economist. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
Rinuncia del Patriarca di Antiochia dei Greco-Melkiti
Michael Meier: There is no reason for us to hate Christians. Interview in Der Bund, Bern, May 7, 2015, page 5
Domradio.de, accessed on 22nd May 2012.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded byHilarion Capucci	Auxiliary Melkite Greek Archbishop of Jerusalem 1975–2000	Succeeded byGeorges Bakar
Preceded byAthanasios Toutoungi	Titular Archbishop of Tarsus 1981–2000	Succeeded byYoussef Absi
Preceded byMaximos V Hakim	Melkite Greek Patriarch of Antioch 2000–2017	Succeeded byYoussef I Absi

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

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