Country Lebanon Sui iuris church Maronite | Parishes 126 | |
 | ||
Metropolitan Immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch Population
- Catholics (as of 2014)
147,800 (n/a%) Rite West Syro-Antiochene Rite | ||
Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tripoli (in Latin: Archieparchia Tripolitanus Maronitarum) is an Archeparchy of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in Lebanon. In 2014 there were 147,800 baptized. It is currently ruled by Archeparch Georges Bou-Jaoudé, CM.
Contents
Territory and statistics
The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction over the Maronite faithful in the north-west of Lebanon. Its archeparchial seat is the city of Tripoli in Lebanon, where the Saint Michael Cathedral is located.
The territory is divided in 126 parishes and in 2014, 147,800 Maronite Catholics lived there.
History
The eparchy dates back to the seventeenth century, but was canonically erected in the Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon in 1736. Initially it included all the coastal territory from Tripoli to Latakia.
In 1840 it acquired a dozen of villages from Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Jbeil, by order of the Propaganda Fide.
Joseph Assemani, Archbishop of Tripoli, attended the First Vatican Council in 1869-1870 called upon by Pope Piux IX. Assemani, of the famous family of Maronite clerics, was born in Hasseroun on 31 March 1821. Well versed in Italian and Latin, he was sent to Rome to the Pontifical Urban University to study theology and French. He was ordained a priest in Rome by Cardinal Fransoni, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He returned to Lebanon where he was appointed confessor to the Maronite Patriarch. He was a professor of Italian, Latin and philosophy before being named Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarchy in Tripoli. He was named Maronite Chorbishop of Tripoli in 1856. With the assistance of the French Consul, Mr. planche, he was able to obtain from Fuad Pasha a plot of land to establish a Maronite cemetery and hospital. He established in Tripoli the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception, repaired the Church of the Virgin Mary, and obtained an Ottoman firman to build a church in Tripoli, the first of its kind since the Crusades. According to his biography, he suffered numerous vexations while representing the Maronites in Tripoli. In 1860, his home was attacked and pillaged during the night. He was arrested twice and often attacked before being exiled by the Ottoman governor in 1867. In 1869 he joined the Maronite delegation attending the First Vatican Council in Rome, serving as the Maronite delegation's official interpreter due to his knowledge of Latin, French and Italian.
On April 16, 1954 the Eparchy gave a part of its territory to Syria in favor of the erection of the Apostolic Administration of Latakia.
On September 5, 1965 the Eparchy of Tripoli was elevated to the rank of Archeparchy by Pope Paul VI.