His Eminence and His Beatitude Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir (born May 15, 1920 in Rayfoun , Lebanon) is the leader of Lebanon's largest Christian sect, the Maronites. He was elected Patriarch of Antioch for the Maronites on April 27 1986, after the resignation of Patriarch Anthony Khoraiche . His official title is His Holiness the seventy-sixth Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole East Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir.
He was educated in Beirut, and at Mar Abda School in Harharaya where he completed his primary and complementary studies, and Ghazir where he completed his secondary studies at St. Maron seminary. He trained in philosophy and theology in 1950 at Saint Joseph's University in Beirut. He was ordained to the priesthood in the same year on May 7. From 1951 to 1955 he served as priest to the parish of Rayfoun. In 1956 he was appointed the secretary of the Maronite Patriarchate, based in Bkerké . In the same year he became the professor of translation in literature and philosophy at the Frčres Maronite School in Jounieh. In June of 1961 he was appointed the titular bishop of Tarsus and Patriarchal vicar. In July of 1961 he was elected a Bishop. He was elected to the primacy of the Maronite Church by the Council of Maronite Bishops , on April 27, 1986. Sfeir was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of November 26, 1994; as the Patriarch of a sui juris particular Church who has been made a cardinal, Sfeir is a Cardinal Bishop. Sfeir is fluent in many languages: Syriac, Aramaic, French, Italian, Latin, and English, as well as his native Arabic, of which he knows both the classical and Lebanese dialect forms.
Serving as the Vicar for two previous patriarchs prepared Sfeir for the role in both the ecclesiastical and civil spheres. He became a strong voice for reason and sanity in the latter years of the Lebanese Civil War, which raged from 1975 to 1990. He has often spoken out against social and political injustices, and for the poor and disenfranchised. His writings and sermons set out his vision of how Lebanon can achieve a free and prosperous future. Like his predecessor, Sfeir largely stayed out of politics during the first few years of his tenure as patriarch, generally deferring to the stance of the Lebanese President, but by 1989, he had become embroiled in national politics.
The cardinal has found himself both within the Syrian camp and outside it [1]. At the beginning of the 1990s he never supported Syria's role against the General Michel Aoun. In the spring of 1989, when Aoun launched a campaign to achieve control of militia-dominated areas, 23 Christian deputies of parliament met at the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkerké , under the auspices of Sfeir, and called for a cease-fire. This resulted in thousands of Christians demonstrating against Aoun. Under what some say was pressure from the Vatican, he backed the Taif Agreement to end the civil war, saying that it was "a fatal error to believe that we can live alone on an island in which we run our affairs as we like." A few days later, he declared that Aoun's nonacceptance of the Taif Agreement was illegal and unconstitutional. On November 5, as parliamentary deputies met at an abandoned air base in Syrian-controlled north Lebanon to elect a new president, Sfeir warned in a sermon that Aoun's stand "would lead to partitioning of the country."
Not all Christian Lebanese shared Sfeir's outlook, and several strikes and demonstrations in support of Aoun or against Syria broke out intermittently. The rebel Samir Geagea betrayed all the christians by cooporating with the syrians in attempt to overthrow the syrians from within. The Failure of Samir Geagea had led the christians to a defeat that make them sufer till today from his wrong decision in turning the table against his own people to be an ally with Syria. Because of his support for Samir Geagea, and his cooperations with the Syrians against the will of the majority of christians in Lebanon. At one point, around 100 angry Christian youths stormed Sfeir's residence in Bkerké and physically assaulted the patriarch, forcing him to replace a portrait of Pope John Paul II with one of Aoun, and to kiss Aoun's portrait, while rioters burned tires outside of six other churches. Although Aoun quickly condemned the rioters, Sfeir complained bitterly that Lebanese soldiers stationed outside the patriarchate had not protected him. The patriarch reluctantly moved from the Christian enclave to Syrian-controlled north Lebanon.
The patriarch's authority was challenged even within the Church itself, as several monastic orders issued proclamations supporting Aoun and denouncing the Taif Accord. In order to bolster the patriarch's authority, the Vatican got directly involved in reorganizing the Maronite Church. Speaking before a gathering of Lebanese bishops in November 1989, the papal nuncio in Lebanon, Pablo Puente , condemned "the interference of clerical persons and institutions in politics without being officially mandated to by the church hierarchy... an end must be put to political visits and declarations that have no clear Church mandate." The Vatican later sought to temper nationalist views in the clergy by appointing "visiting bishops" to supervise three especially militant monastic orders. In 1990 Sfeir called for the rival government in West Beirut to take over Aoun's "Christian enclave" in the east. "The legitimate government should spread its authority over the whole nation," he said in one interview. "It should not wait for an invitation from anyone to do so." Finally in October of 1990, Syrian-led Lebanese forces crushed Aoun's insurgency and the long civil war finally came to an end.
Under the Taif Accord, Damascus undertook to eventually withdraw its forces, which up until March of 2005 have not completely left. Sfeir was at times a vocal critic of Syrian prevarication against its implementation, up until around 2003, falling silent again just as anti-Syrian views were becoming more widespread. Being have lost suppport from the majority of the Christians who had fled the country. The Cardinal has also urged restraint in anti-Syrian rhetoric, and for Lebanon to focus on its economic development rather than political rifts. These political change has put him back to be the spoken person in the name of the Christians.
The marounite church is a subset of the Chatolic church and it have some Christian Greek Orthodox ritual in their services.
Sfeir has written several books, including "The sources of the Gospel-Bkerké", (1975); "Personalities that disappeared 1961-1974" - (two volumes); and "Sunday sermons: spiritual reflections and stand of national positions", (several volumes, 1988).
Sfeir is keen on accelerating liturgical reforms. This work bore fruit in 1992 with the publication of a new Maronite Missal, which represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy. Its Service of the Word has been described as far more enriched than previous Missals, and it features six Anaphoras [Eucharistic Prayers].
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