Bishop Milad Jawish

Milad Jawish. One day of December 1973, I was born to Michel Jawich and Nawal Hajjar (known as Mona), after a sister and three brothers, in Mansoura, a small village located in the middle of the West Bekaa plain, in Lebanon. Originally from Jezzine, my mother comes from a family known for its ardent faith, from which came several priests and bishops, among whom, as an example, Bishop Basilios Hajjar, the famous Bishop of Saida and Deir Al-Kamar (deceased in 1916), and the late Bishop Sleiman Hajjar, whom divine Providence wanted me to be one of his successors at the head of the Melkite Greek Eparchy of Canada. After the Small Seminary and the completion of my schooling at the public school of Bikfaya, I entered the Novitiate on August 14, 1992. After the Novitiate and the Profession of my temporal vows, on August 21, 1993, I joined the major seminary in Jeita to begin my philosophical and theological studies at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. The good Lord had put on my path Father Elijah Haddad, the rector of the Seminary at that time (now Bishop of Saida and Deir Al-Kamar), who had embraced my inner revolution and had supported me with his pertinent advice. After finishing my studies in Kaslik and obtaining the Bachelor's degree in theology, in June 1998, I had decided to leave the Order to take some time to reflect and experience more of life in the world. After a year and a half in the world, I returned to religious life on October 3, 1999, and was named assistant to the rector of the minor seminary. I made my perpetual vows, just after my return, and was ordained a deacon in November 1999, then a priest on May 6, 2000 by the imposition of the hand of the late Bishop André Haddad, thus becoming the first priest in my Order at the opening of the XXIst century. In August 2000, my Order granted me the grace to go to Rome to continue my studies at the eminent Gregorian University. After Rome, I returned to Lebanon to be appointed, between 2002-2007, as Vice-Rector of the Major Seminary, located in Shaileh. The most pleasant thing is that I was appointed at the same time, between 2004-2007, as pastor of the Holy Cross parish in Jeita-Shaileh. After the General Chapter of July 2007, I was elected Secretary General of my Order, under the mandate of Father Superior Jean Faraj. On October 3, 2011, I left for Belgium to continue my doctoral studies at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve and to be, at the same time, pastor of St. John Chrysostom Parish in Brussels. And one day, God willed that the Fathers of the Holy Synod of our Melkite Church choose me as Bishop of the Greek Melkites of Canada and successor of Bishop Ibrahim M. Ibrahim, who was transferred to the Eparchy of Fourzol, Zahle and the Bekaa. And now, the divine Providence wanted me to succeed him at the head of the Melkite Eparchy of Canada.