Apostolic Vicariate of Bairut
Beryten(sis)
Apostolic vicariate · Latin Church · Beirut, Lebanon
Latin Church apostolic vicariate serving Latin-rite Catholics throughout Lebanon, with its see in Beirut. Bishop Cesar Essayan, O.F.M. Conv., born in Saida to an Armenian family, has been vicar apostolic since 2016 and serves as vice-president of the Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions (CELRA).
The see
- Rank
- Apostolic vicariate
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 4 June 1953
- Latin
- Beryten(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000388
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 18,000
- Priests
- 4
- Catholics per priest
- 4,500
- Extent
- 10,400 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 1.7
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Vicar Apostolic
- Cesar Essayan, O.F.M. Conv.
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St Louis stands in Beirut, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
History
In Lebanon, where Eastern Catholics far outnumber Latins, the Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Berytensis) is the Latin Church jurisdiction. As of 2022 it counted roughly 18,000 Catholics across ten parishes. Cesar Essayan, appointed in 2016, is its bishop. Its cathedral is St. Louis Cathedral in Beirut, the national capital, while the former Crusader Cathedral of Tyre lies in ruins.
How to reach it
- Chancery
- Villa Saint Joseph, Jeita, Liban
- Telephone
- [09]236.101
- [email protected]
This see keeps no website of its own, so its chancery is published here: withholding it would protect nothing and leave a reader with nowhere to go. Where a see publishes its own site, the register sends you there instead.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it, are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].