New archbishop for the Maronites in the Holy Land

On Saturday, June 16, 2012, the Maronite Patriarch Bishara al-Ra'I announced the election of new bishops for the Maronite Church in Lebanon and around the world. Among those elected was Father Moussa al-Hage, an Antonine monk, who was elected to be the Archbishop for the Maronite community in the Holy Land. He will succeed Archbishop Paul-Nabil Sayyah, who is now Patriarchal Vicar, resident in the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerke, in Lebanon.

Father Moussa al-Hage was born in 1953 in Ayntourah, near Beirut. He studied in Rome and completed a degree in Bible at the Franciscan Studium in Jerusalem.

We wish the new archbishop a hearty mazal tov.

We also wish mazal tov to Father George Shihane, who has been administrator of the Maronite diocese in the Holy Land. He was elected as bishop of the Maronites in Egypt and Sudan.

(In the picture: Father Moussa at left and father George at right)