Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Tyre (in Latin: Archeparchia Tyrensis Maronitarum) is an Archeparchy of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. In 2014 there were 42,500 baptized. It is currently ruled by Archeparch Charbel Abdallah.
The archeparchy extends its jurisdiction over the Maronite faithful of Southern Lebanon. Its archeparchial seat is the city of Tyre. The territory of the archeparchy is divided into 22 parishes and in 2014 there were 42,500 Maronite Catholics.
The eparchy of Tyre, together with that of Sidon, dating back to the dawn of the Maronite Church (5th century). The Synod of Mount Lebanon in 1736 canonically established the Eparchy of Tyre and Sidon, which was the seat of their patriarch from 1819 to 1837. In 1838 Tyre became a separated Eparchy.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Maronite cathedral of "Notre Dame Des Mers" ("Our Lady of the Seas") was constructed near the modern harbour on the foundations of an ancient church.[2] It features a pink marble tabernacle whose foot is encrusted with a black marble anchor.[3]
"EX OSSIBUS S. CHRISTINAE"
Pierre Bostani became Archbishop of Tyre on October 5, 1866. Bostani was born in Debbié in November 1819 and ordained a Maronite priest on 12 October 1842. He was quickly called upon by the Archbishop of Tyre who named him as his private secretary. In 1845, Bostani was asked by the Maronite Patriarch to act as his private secretary and Vicar General of the Maronite Patriarchy. On 28 July 1856, Maronite Patriarch Massad named him Coadjutor Archbishop of Tyre and Bishop of Saint-John-Acre. Bostani travelled to Rome in June 1867 where he was named Assistant to the Pontifical Throne by Pope Pius IX on June 17, 1867. He personally headed the Maronite delegation that attended the First Vatican Council in Rome in 1869.
The archaeological site in the basement of the cathedral
In 1965 the eparchy of Tyre was elevated to the rank of Archeparchy.
In 2005, ancient remains - stone walls as well as terracotta, ivory objects, and paintings - were discovered during excavations underneath the cathedral. According to the Directorate General of Antiquities, it was a Roman-era food store which had been built on the site of a building from the Hellenistic period. It was apparently destroyed in the 6th century by an earthquake.[5]
