Santiago Taboada Castillo
Last Saturday, Maronite Patriarch Elia Hoayek, founder of the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, was beatified. During Sunday's Angelus in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV highlighted his leadership and service to the Maronite Church.
POPE LEO XIV
A man of dialogue and hope, he was a remarkable ecclesial, social and political leader. So much so, he was nicknamed “The Father of Greater Lebanon.” May the prayers and intercession of this new Blessed always accompany the Maronite faithful throughout the world and obtain the gift of peace for the people of Lebanon, a nation so dear to me.
The beatification took place at the patriarchal headquarters in Dimane, Lebanon. It was celebrated by the current Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, and attended by dignitaries including Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The newly beatified patriarch played a pivotal role in the creation of modern Lebanon. Post World War I, Hoayek went to the Paris Peace Conference to advocate for the establishment of Greater Lebanon. The following year, Greater Lebanon was established under French rule, but it separated three years later.
Hoayek established the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa. He also envisioned a Lebanon that welcomed all religions. And the miracle that was approved for his beatification involved a Druze, a person from the Abrahamic religion founded in the Middle East.
Lebanon and the U.S. recently signed an agreement to secure Israel's withdraw from Lebanese territory. This is part of an effort to disarm the paramilitary group, Hezbollah.
