An illustration showing Father Béchara Abou Mrad. (Credit: Image taken from the Facebook page / Père Bchara Abou Mrad-الأب بشارة أبو مراد)
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday issued a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to Lebanese Greek-Catholic priest Bechara Abou Mrad, paving the way for his beatification. The announcement was welcomed by the religious order to which the priest, who lived from 1853 to 1930, belonged, as well as by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
No date has yet been set by the Vatican for the beatification ceremony.
The Holy See said it had received Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in audience and authorized the promulgation of several decrees, including the one recognizing “the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Bechara Abou-Mourad, priest of the Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour of the Melkites, born on May 19, 1853, in Zahle, Lebanon, and died on Feb. 22, 1930, in Saida,” in southern Lebanon.
Following beatification, a second miracle attributed to Blessed Bechara Abou Mrad must be recognized for him to be canonized as a saint. The Lebanese priest had been declared “Venerable” in 2009 under Pope Benedict XVI, meaning the Holy See formally acknowledged his “heroic virtues” — that is, spiritual and moral qualities considered beyond what is ordinarily expected in Christian life. He is buried at Saint Saviour Convent in Joun, also in southern Lebanon.
The Basilian Order of the Most Holy Saviour also welcomed the decree, describing the beatification as a “significant step for the Catholic Church in Lebanon.”
President Joseph Aoun congratulated the Greek-Catholic community and the Basilian Order for what he called a new “bright milestone in the history of the Eastern Church and Lebanon.” He said the recognition “embodies the values on which our country is founded, faith, a message of love and a culture of coexistence, and reflects the role of Lebanese religious orders in spreading knowledge.”
