Bishop Paul-Marwan Tabet (2013 – present)
Bishop Paul-Marwan Tabet is the fourth Maronite Eparch of Canada. He was born in Bhamdoun, Lebanon, on July 20, 1961. After completing his secondary studies at the Apostles’ College in Jounieh (Kesrouan), he obtained two Bachelors degrees in Theology (1986) and in Philosophy (1987) from the Pontifical Faculty of Theology at the University of the Holy Spirit of Kaslik (U.S.E.K.) in Jounieh, where he became the representative of the Theology Student Body at the faculty council, and at the International Ecumenical Students of Theology Conference involving MENA region faculties of theology. He joined the Congregation of the Maronite Lebanese Missionaries (MLM) – also known as the Kreim Congregation – in 1982 and was ordained priest on July 20, 1986. As a young adult, Marwan was drawn to the core mission of MLM which is to walk the way toward perfection, to work for the spiritual welfare of others, to preach the Gospel, to warn, guide counsel and educate for the glory of God. Paul-Marwan Tabet will become the fourth Bishop of the congregation. Upon his ordination into priesthood he taught Catechism between 1985 and 1986 at the Apostles’ College, Jounieh where he had previously completed his elementary and secondary schooling.
Since his early priesthood years Bishop Tabet assumed roles in education, including his role as Assistant to the principal and Spiritual Director of the Boy Scouts at the Apostles’ College, as well as multiple administrative positions, which further fuelled his interest in and passion for education as a discipline. From 1988 to 1990 he served as Assistant Priest at Saint Anthony’s Maronite Parish in Lawrence, Massachusetts where he obtained a Masters degree in School Administration and Non-Profit Organizations from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Between 1991 and 1993, while he was a resident priest at the All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Dallas, Texas, Father Marwan Tabet founded the parish of Our Lady of Lebanon in Dallas where he pursued advanced studies in Political Philosophy.
In 1993 he was appointed Assistant Priest of the Maronite Mission within the MLM congregation in Johannesburg, South Africa where he served for a year, after which he travelled back to the United States and served as Priest at Saint George Maronite Parish Dallas, Texas in Charge until 1996. That same year, Father Tabet returned to serve at the MLM Maronite Mission in Johannesburg, this time as Superior of the Maronite Mission and Head of the Missionaries Team. Upon the completion of his mandate in Johannesburg 1999 he returned to Lebanon where he assumed the role of Assistant Principal and Director of the Secondary School at the Apostles’ College in Jounieh for three years. During his mandate in Johannesburg, Fr. Marwan Tabet obtained a Doctorate in Education with a concentration in School Administration in 1998 from the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria.
From 2002 to 2005, he served as National Spiritual Director of the Maronite Boy Scouts in Shayleh – a Christian movement near and dear to his heart – and was also consulted as expert on all educational matters for the Maronite Patriarchal Synod for a number of years. In 2002 he was named Regional Secretary of the International Catholic Education Office of the MENA region, headquartered in Beit-Mery – Ain-Najm, Lebanon a role which he still presently assumes. In 2007 he became a member of the Specialized Committee on Education at the Maronite Centre for Documentation and research (MCDR) within the Patriarchal Educational Centre, and of the General Council of the Lebanese Maronite Missionaries Congregation based in Jounieh, Lebanon.
From 2003 to 2011 Bishop Tabet served as Secretary General of the General Secretariat for Catholic Schools in Lebanon (GSCSL), based in Beit-Mery-Ain-Najm (Metn), and also assumed the role of Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Catholic Schools and was a member of the General Council of the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon (ACPBL). Fr. Tabet achieved major reforms in the Catholic Schools system in Lebanon and the MENA region including the restructuring of the organization and the improvement of the educational and pedagogical policies, processes, curricula, and the introduction of the latest state-of-the-art technology.
A year prior to his ordination as bishop, he took on the role of General Coordinator at the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon during His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI 2012 visit to the country. That same year, Most Reverend Cardinal Patriarch Beshara Rai appointed him as Coordinator of the Emigration Office and Development Office.
Bishop Tabet is a member of various ecclesiastic, social and cultural organizations, and has more than 30 publications various disciplines to his credit including and not limited to education, management, theology, philosophy and liturgy, and is also well versed in classical music composition as a pianist. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI ordained him bishop on January 10, 2013, and appointed him as Head of the Maronite Eparchy of Canada. Bishop Paul-Marwan Tabet was enthroned at St. Maron’s Cathedral in Montreal on February 24, 2013
Achievement
“It is time for improvement and change”
(M. Rev. Paul-Marwan Tabet – Montreal 2013)
Since his installation as Eparch of the Maronites in Canada, Bishop Tabet’s primary objectives were to drive change across the eparchial circumscription in order achieve a stronger and more united Maronite Canadian community. From there he endeavored to restructure the organization and renew the vision and mission of the Eparchy which he based on a thorough assessment that revealed the dynamic and needs of the Maronite community in Canada.
Thus far Bishop Paul-Marwan Tabet has achieved considerable improvements on several fronts, both internally within the eparchy and its parishes and missions and beyond.
On the administrative and organizational fronts: Bishop Tabet reorganized the parishes and missions across Canada, restructured their governance, and collaborated with the various parish and mission priests and laity to plan and initiate the renovation and modernization of parish facilities to accommodate the needs of the community.
With a strong administrative organizational foundation in place Bishop Tabet set seven priority areas of focus and led the development a diocesan strategy to fulfill his vision of renewal of the Maronite Church in Canada. These are: Vocations and spiritual life top the bishop’s priority list and are followed by youth, the family, senior pastoral care, identity preservation and promotion, communications and publications, Professionalization of the eparchial and parochial.
Some of his many achievements include and are not limited to the following:
He founded the new Maronite Institute of Theology and Christian Studies (MITCS) [to left: add hyperlink to MITCS website] that is officially accredited and registered in Canada, based on his strong conviction in the intrinsic relation between vocations, spiritual formation and education. It is the first and only registered Maronite theological and Christian studies institute in Canada and outside of Lebanon, and has partnered since its inception with Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences at the University of Laval in Quebec.
He consulted with Maronite heritage, communications and liturgical experts and rebranded the Eparchy with a more unified image covering all communication formats and forms, church architecture and architectonic elements, liturgical processes and texts.
He officially establish the Maronite Youth Canada (MYC), Maronite You Adults Canada (MYAC) and the Maronite Seniors Canada (MSC) entities that respectively focus on Maronite Youth’s, Adult Youth’s and Seniors’ pastoral needs and goals.
He incorporated of Our Lady of Lebanon Parish of Laval to the Eparchy of St. Maron – Canada (ESMC), which was officially announced on October 13th, 2013.
He established the new Maronite mission of “Our Lady of Annunciation” for the growing Maronite community in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, which was officially announced on March 25, 2014.
He rebranded the Eparchy and established a new coherent unified image that covers various aspects, which range from architecture, to liturgy, communications, publications, to conform to the new organizational directives.
Previous Bishops
Archbishop Elias Shaheen (Chahine) (1982-1990)
Born in ‘Ibrine (North Lebanon) on July 20,1914, he was ordained priest on March 25,1939, installed as Bishop on November 7, 1982, and died on December 5,199. He was appointed Maronite Bishop of Canada on August 27,1982 and remained in office until November 23,1990.
Bishop Chahine undertook the dismemberment of the Maronite in Canada and established the following churches and parishes:
- St. Charbel Parish – Fredericton
- St. Anthony the Great Parish – Leamington
- Our Lady of Lebanon Parish – Quebec
- St. Maron’s Cathedral Parish and school on “Rue de la Miséricorde” in Montreal
He also inaugurated the church of Our Lady in Halifax, as well as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon in Leamington.
Bishop Georges Abi-Saber (1990-1996)
Born in Wadi el Sitt (Shouf) on May 12,1923, he joined the Maronite Lebanese Order (MLO) and was ordained priest on July 16, 1952. After obtaining a PhD in dogmatic theology from Rome in 1957, he was appointed as Theology Professor University of the Holy – Kaslik in 1962. He was ordained bishop of the Eparchy of Lattakié in Syria on August 4, 1977, as well as titular bishop of Aradus, and ordained bishop on November 12,1977. On November 23, 1990 he was appointed bishop of the Maronite Eparchy of Canada and from which her resigned for health reasons on February 7th, 1996. His Holiness Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation and appointed Bishop Joseph Khoury as Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy. Bishop Abi-Saber established the parish of Saint Charbel in Oldcastle, Ontario.
Bishop Joseph Khoury (1996-2013)
Born in Behwayta on November 1, 1936. After studying theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he was ordained priest on December 19, 1964. He obtained a doctorate in Civil and Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University, and continued his post-doctoral studies at the Gregorian University where he specialized in moral theology and the history of atheism. Between 1969 and 1996 Bishop Khoury served in the Holy See, mainly with the Congregation of Oriental Churches, and was a defender of the bond with the Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Sacraments as well as with the Supreme Court of the Catholic Church, known as the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota from 1969 to 1972. He was also a member of the commission responsible for translating pontifical documents into Arabic, a member of the Pontifical Council for Religious Relations with Muslims, and taught a number of subjects including Arabic and Syriac languages, Roman and Oriental canon law, the history of Islamic philosophy and a atheism in contemporary Arab cultures at several institutions in Rome, including the Pontifical Urban University, the Benedictine College of Saint Anselmo and Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi. He was ordained bishop on September 4,1993.
In February of 1996, His Holiness Saint Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Administrator of Eparchy of Saint Maron – Canada. Bishop Khoury resigned on January 10, 2013 and was succeeded by Most Reverend Paul-Marwan Tabet, who is the present Eparch of the Maronites in Canada.
Bishop Khoury established the following institutions across Canada:
- St. Elias’ Parish on London (ON)
- St. Charbel parish in Mississauga (ON)
- St. Rafqa’s Parish in Longueuil (QC)
- St. Joseph’s Parish in Laval (QC)
- A new church at St. Peter’s Parish in Windsor (ON)
- Our Lady of Help Parish in Edmonton (AB)
- Our Lady of Peace Parish in Calgary (AB)
- The School adjunct to St. Charbel’s Parish in Ottawa (ON)
- He also acquired Saint Maron’s Cathedral for St. Maron’s Parish in Montreal (QC) in 2002
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