Population
- Catholics (as of 2010)
750,000 Sui iuris church Maronite Church Patron saint Charbel Makhlouf Metropolitan archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli | Parishes 4 Country Argentina Emeritus bishop Charbel Georges Merhi | |
Rite West Syro-Antiochene Rite Established 5 October 1990 (26 years ago) Cathedral Saint Maron in Buenos Aires Ecclesiastical province Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Buenos Aires | ||
Maronite Catholic Eparchy of San Charbel in Buenos Aires (Spanish: Eparquía de San Charbel en Buenos Aires; Latin: Eparchia Sancti Sarbelii Bonaërensis Maronitarum) is an eparchy (Eastern Catholic diocese) in the Maronite Catholic Church sui iuris (Antiochian Rite) covering Argentina (South America).
Contents
It has a cathedral episcopal see, the Catedral San Marón, located in the national capital Buenos Aires. In 2010 there were 750,000 members. It is currently governed ad interim by Apostolic administrator 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 terrirory 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 prevailent Arab Christian origin in 2010 and there were four parishes.
Episcopal Ordinaries
(all Maronite Rite)