Jean-Clément Jeanbart

Jean-Clément Jeanbart
Archeparch Emeritus of Aleppo
Jeanbart in 2016
ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic Church
ArchdioceseMelkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo
Installed2 August 1995
Term ended23 June 2021
PredecessorNéophytos Edelby
SuccessorGeorges Masri
Other postAdministrator of Antioch (2017)
Orders
Ordination15 April 1968
by Néophytos Edelby
Consecration16 September 1995
by Maximos V Hakim, François Abou Mokh and Habib Bacha
Personal details
Born(1943-03-03)3 March 1943
Aleppo, Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
Died9 May 2026(2026-05-09) (aged 83)
Paris, France

Jean-Clément Jeanbart (3 March 1943 – 9 May 2026) was a Syrian Melkite Catholic hierarch, who served as the Archeparch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo from 1995 until 2021 and Apostolic Visitor in Western Europe of the Greek Melkites.

Biography

Jeanbart was born in Aleppo, Syria on 3 March 1943. He was ordained to the priesthood on 15 April 1968 for his native Archeparchy of Aleppo. He was appointed to succeed the deceased Néophytos Edelby as Archbishop of Aleppo on 2 August 1995.[1] The Patriarch of Antioch Maximos V Hakim ordained him to the episcopacy on 16 September 1995, assisted by co-consecrators, Archbishops François Abou Mokh BS and Habib Bacha SMSP.[1] Jeanbart was appointed Apostolic Visitor in Western Europe of the Greek Melkites in 1999.[2][3] He served as a principal co-consecrator for the consecration of Archbishop Nikolaki Sawaf of Latakia on 4 March 2000.[1] After the outbreak of Syrian Civil War in Syria in August 2012, his residence was in Aleppo.

In October 2015, he pleaded with the British government to stop backing opposition forces in the Syrian Civil War. He stated that the war was "a contest between a modern secular state and jihadis who were destroying its culture and massacring religious minorities."[4]

When Patriarch Gregory III Laham resigned on 6 May 2017, Jeanbart became administrator of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church until the election of the new Patriarch Youssef Absi.[5]

In October 2019, Jeanbart said that the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria is "another source of violence we would rather have done without." Jeanbart said this is concerning because it will in fact lead to the creation of an extra-territorial pocket within another nation.[6]

He retired as Archbishop of Aleppo on 23 June 2021.[1]

Jeanbart died in Paris, France on 9 May 2026, at the age of 83.[7][8]

Relations with Islam in the Middle East

At the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Catholic) for the Middle East, Jeanbart said, "I suggest (given the emigration of Christians) to spread optimism among our faithful about their future in the country. Our countries are yet not without resources and values! Let us learn to be friends of our Muslim brothers; helping them to open to us!"[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart Catholic-Hierarchy.org
  2. ↑ Metropolitan Archdiocese of Aleppo, Syria (Greek-Melkite Rite) GCatholic.org
  3. ↑ Bischofsernennungen und -rücktritte im Jahr 1999 unter Hl. Johannes Paul II. Die Apostolische Nachfolge (German)
  4. ↑ Syrian archbishop pleads for UK to stop backing anti-Assad Islamist groups, 16 October 2015, The Independent
  5. ↑ Rinuncia del Patriarca di Antiochia dei Greco-Melkiti
  6. ↑ "Archbishop of Aleppo condemns Turkish military offensive in northeast Syria - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 10 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "قداس احتفالي: الأحد الخامس بعد القيامة" [Festive Mass – Fifth Sunday After the Resurrection – Presenter for the comfort of the same triangle Mercy Archbishop John Genbert]. Syrian Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo webresource (in Arabic). 10 May 2026. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Syrie : Décès de Mgr Jeanbart, archevêque melkite émérite d'Alep". InfoCatho (in French). 10 May 2026. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  9. ↑ Vatican Radio - Middle East Synod: In Iraq, signs of hope.
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