- Source: Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Charbel in Buenos Aires
- Gereja Maronit
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Charbel in Buenos Aires
- Charbel Makhlouf
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Latakia
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Sydney
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Byblos
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Saint Maron of Montreal
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles
- Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh
The Eparchy of San Charbel in Buenos Aires (Spanish: Eparquía de San Charbel en Buenos Aires; Latin: Eparchia Sancti Sarbelii Bonaërensis Maronitarum) is a Maronite Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Argentina. It is a suffragan eparchy in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, a Latin Church archdiocese.
It has a cathedral, the Catedral San Marón, located episcopal see of Buenos Aires. In 2010 there were 750,000 members. It is governed by Habib Chamieh, Mariamite Maronite Order.
History
From July 5, 1901 began to come to Argentina the first Lebanese Maronite missionaries who founded the first mission in the Lebanese diaspora in South America.
The Eparchy of San Charbel was established by Pope John Paul II on 5 October 1990, on territory previously without proper ordinary of the particular church. It is named after its patron saint, Charbel Makhluf.
Territory and statistics
The jurisdiction of the eparchy extends to all Maronite Catholic faithful living in Argentina. Its eparchial seat is the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, where is located the Saint Maron Cathedral.
It is not exempt, nor a hierarchical part of the Maronite patriarchal ecclesiastical structure, but a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the Roman Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese of Buenos Aires in Argentina, like its Ukrainian Catholic counterpart, the Eparchy Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires.
The Christians of this diocese are mostly emigrants and are originally from Lebanon. Their naming is originated from Saint Maron the founder of the Maronite Church. The Eparchy of Saint Charbel of Buenos Aires counted some 750,000 Lebanese Maronite Catholics of prevalent Arab Christian origin in 2010 and there were four parishes.
Episcopal ordinaries
Eparchs of San Charbel of Buenos Aires
Charbel Georges Merhi, Congregation of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries (M.L.M.) (5 October 1990 – 17 April 2013)
Habib Chamieh, Mariamite Maronite Order (O.M.M., Aleppians) (22 November 2019 – present)
Apostolic Administrator from 17 April 2013 to 22 November 2019
See also
Christianity in Lebanon
References
Additional sources
Ecclesiastical Guide of Argentina (AICA), Catholic Argentina Agency.
Sources and external links
GigaCatholic
Catholic Hierarchy