Bishop François Elias Beyrouti

Bishop François Elias Beyrouti is Bishop of Newton [Our Lady of the Annunciation in Boston] (Melkite Greek), USA. He was born on July 3, 1971, to Elias and Maggy Beyrouti in Hadeth-Beirut, Lebanon. The family emigrated to Canada in 1976, settling in North Vancouver, British Columbia, where he attended primary and secondary Catholic schools, including Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. He entered the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, British Columbia, in 1989, where he completed a B.A. in 1993. He moved to Ottawa, Ontario, and in 1996 completed a Civil and Ecclesiastical Baccalaureate in Theology in Eastern Christian Studies at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University. In 1997, he completed a Master of Arts in Theology, Biblical Studies concentration, and in 1998 a Licentiate in Theology, Biblical Studies concentration, both at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Ontario. He also completed workshops in Conflict Resolution and Youth Ministry. On October 4, 1998, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Sleiman for the Eparchy of Saint-Sauveur de Montréal of the Greek-Melkites, and was appointed assistant pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Melkite Catholic Church in Ottawa, where he ministered until January 31, 2010. There he focused on building up pastoral programs, developing children, youth, and young adult ministries, leading marriage preparation programs, media work with newspapers, radio, and TV stations, and engaging political leaders on religious topics. He was also a member of the college of consultors and in charge of youth ministry. On the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth to the Throne, he was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal in a ceremony at the Parliament of Canada on November 1, 2002. In December 2011 he was incardinated into the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton. In November 2012, he was appointed pastor of Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California, and was elected a member of the presbyteral council. In 2013, he received a PhD from the University of Ottawa and a DTh from Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, for his thesis on Origen of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of John. During these studies, he attended and presented at academic conferences and published articles and book reviews in academic journals. He has taught the following courses: Christianity in the Middle East (2000), Hermeneutics and Exegesis in Eastern Christianity (2000, 2003, and 2015), The Synoptic Gospels (2008), The Eastern Catholic Churches at Vatican II (2014), and online courses on the Gospel of Saint Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, the Bible in the Divine Liturgy, the Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus, and Foundational Bible resources. Bishop François Beyrouti received episcopal consecration on October 12, 2022, and, on October 19, 2022, was installed as the diocesan bishop. In addition to English, he knows French, German, and Arabic.