Maximos V Hakim - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from George Hakim) Head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1967 to 2000

Maximos V ماكسيموس الخامس حكيم
Patriarch of Antioch
Church	Melkite Greek Catholic Church
See	Antioch
Elected	22 November 1967
Installed	26 November 1967
Term ended	22 November 2000
Predecessor	Maximos IV Sayegh
Successor	Gregory III Laham
Other post(s)	Bishop of Damas
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Akka (1943–1964) Archbishop of Akka (1964–1967)
Orders
Ordination	20 July 1930 by Maximos IV Sayegh
Consecration	13 June 1943 by Cyril IX Moghabghab
Personal details
Born	George Selim Hakim (1908-05-18)18 May 1908 Tanta, Egypt
Died	29 June 2001(2001-06-29) (aged 93) Beirut, Lebanon
Denomination	Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Residence	Syria and Lebanon
Coat of arms

Maximos V Hakim (Arabic: ماكسيموس الخامس حكيم; May 18, 1908 – June 29, 2001) was elected Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in 1967 and served until 2000. He guided the church through turbulent changes in the Middle East and rapid expansion in the Western hemisphere.

Life

He was born George Selim Hakim at Tanta, Egypt, May 18, 1908, to parents who were originally from Aleppo. He was educated locally and at Le Collège de la Sainte Famille (High School of the Holy Family) Jesuit school in Cairo. After completing his studies at St. Anne of Jerusalem, he was ordained a priest in the Basilica of St. Anne by Maximos IV Sayegh, then Archbishop of Tyre, on July 20, 1930. As a young priest he taught for a year in the patriarchal school in Beirut before returning to Cairo in 1931.

Episcopate

He was appointed eparch on March 13, 1943 and consecrated Eparch of St. John of Acre, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee, in Cairo on June 13, 1943, by Patriarch Cyril IX Moghabghab, assisted by the Archbishops Dionysius Kfoury, Titular bishop of Tarsus dei Greco-Melkiti, and Pierre Medawar, Titular bishop of Pelusium dei Greco-Melkiti, patriarchal auxiliaries. On November 18, 1964 Hakim became Archeparch. He was elected Patriarch by the Holy Synod at Ain Traz on November 22, 1967 and his election was confirmed on November 26 of the same year.

As a priest, he distinguished himself by his running of the Patriarchal College in Cairo and by the launching and publication of the review Le Lien. Later, as an archbishop, he built schools, a junior seminary, an orphanage, a home for the elderly and several churches. He took particular care for the clergy and for the religious and secular orders and he brought in several groups of Europeans come to integrate themselves into the Church. As archbishop he spearheaded efforts to provide relief for Palestinians during the 1948 exodus.

Under his guidance as patriarch, a minor seminary was established at Damascus and later a major seminary for the formation of priests was opened at Raboueh in Lebanon. He later funded numerous scholarships for needy seminarians during the Lebanese Civil War. He also oversaw the growth of the Melkite church in North and South America as many of the faithful emigrated to the West.

Maximos condemned the violence that pitted Muslim against Christian in Lebanon, where Greek Catholics constitute 4% of the population. In 1982, he negotiated with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt to safeguard ancient Christian villages in the Chouf valley. He enjoyed warmer ties with the Syrian government than the Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, patriarch of the more powerful Maronite Catholic community. Even so, community politics would prove dangerous for him at times. In 1990, he was targeted by would-be assassins as he travelled to the predominantly Christian city of Zahle, located in the predominantly Shi'ite Beq'a valley.

Following an old tradition of the more-than-900-year-old Order of Knighthood, founded in Jerusalem to take care of lepers in the Hospital St. Lazare, he was the Spiritual Protector of the international ecumenical Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, as is his successor.

Patriarch Maximos resigned on November 22, 2000, due to failing health, and was succeeded by Patriarch Gregory III Laham. He died on June 29, 2001, in Beirut.

1948 Nakba controversy

In the aftermath of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Hakim negotiated with Yehoshua ("Josh") Palmon, then leader of the "Arab Section" in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, for the return of Galilee Christian Arabs (then refugees in Lebanon) in exchange for Hakim's future goodwill towards the Jewish State. In the end, several thousand (including several hundred from Eilabun) Galilee Christians were allowed to return in the summer of 1949.

In the 1950s, while he was archbishop of Galilee, the future patriarch was involved in the fate of the Palestinians of the two depopulated Christian villages of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit. He alerted the Vatican and other Church authorities about the expulsion of the villagers, and lobbied for their return.

A number of sources have quoted Maximos V as having said "the Arab League had issued orders exhorting the people to seek a temporary refuge in neighboring countries." For example, Israel's Abba Eban told the U.N. Special Political Committee in 1957 that Hakim had said:

The refugees had been confident that their absence from Palestine would not last long; that they would return within a few days within a week or two; their leaders had promised them that the Arab armies would crush the 'Zionist gangs' very quickly and that there would be no need for panic or fear of a long exile.

A 1949 pamphlet Arab Refugees: Facts and Figures prepared by the Research Department of the Jewish Agency, quotes a letter by Karl Baehr, Executive Secretary of the American Christian Palestine Committee to the New York Herald Tribune:

The role played by the British authorities in the Arab mass flight is also stressed by Monsignor George Hakim, Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church (a Uniate Church which is in fellowship with the Vatican and counts 20,864 adherents in Palestine). An Arab himself and a former supporter of the Mufti, Archbishop Hakim told Baeher... that an important element in precipitating the flight, particularly in the Haifa area (where Monsignor lives) was "the fact that the British informed the Arabs that they would not protect them. Since most of the Arab leaders had already fled, the people were thrown into a panic so they fled by sea to Lebanon. They fled in spite of the fact that the Jewish authorities guaranteed their safety and rights as citizens of Israel."

Erskine Childers investigated the claims made about Hakim, and in The Spectator of May 12, 1961, published a letter from Hakim addressing them:

There is nothing in this statement to justify the construction which many propagandists had put on it, namely, that it established the allegation widely disseminated by partisan sources that the Arab leaders had urged the Arab inhabitants of Palestine to flee.

As far as I can recollect, the aforesaid statement was intended to voice the strong feeling of resentment and revulsion felt by the refugees. They were convinced by what they had heard and read that the defeat of the Jewish armed forces, the re-establishment of peace and order throughout the country, and the institution of Arab rule, would be achieved within a short time. Instead of such achievements the Arab States had twice agreed to a truce, and the Arab armies were inactive. Hence the strong feeling of disappointment and frustration among the file and rank of refugees.

At no time did I state that the flight of the refugees was due to the orders, explicit or implicit, of their leaders, military or political, to leave the country and seek shelter in the adjacent Arab territories. On the contrary, no such orders were ever made by the military commanders, or by the Higher Arab Committee, or indeed, by the Arab League or Arab States. I have not the least doubt that any such allegations are sheer concoctions and falsifications.

... as soon as hostilities began between Israel and the Arab States, it became the settled policy of the Government to drive away the Arabs.

The causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus are still a subject of contentious debate among historians. However, findings since the 1980s by the 'New Historians' , most prominently Benny Morris, cast doubt on the predominance of foreign Arab instigated mass evacuation as portrayed in the official Israeli account.

Works

A prolific writer, Maximos is best remembered for his Arabic work Al Rabita and French works Message de Galiléerenc and Pages d'Évangile lues en Galilée.

Distinctions

Founder and first Grand Master of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem

References

^ Joffe, Lawrence (July 28, 2001). "Obituaries: Maximos V: Spiritual leader of a million Christians". The Guardian (London). p. 22.
catholic-hierarchy.org
Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, 2004 p. 480
^ Abba Eban (November 1958). "Arab Refugees: The Real Story". Address to the UN General Assembly's Special Political Committee. The Jewish Press. Archived from the original on 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
John B. Quigley (1990). Palestine and Israel: a challenge to justice. Duke University Press. pp. 88–. ISBN 978-0-8223-1023-5. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
No solution to the Arab-Palestinian Problem Samuel Katz, 1985
Jewish Agency for Palestine (1949). Arab Refugees: Facts and Figures. New York, N.Y.: Jewish Agency for Palestine. p. 12. Usually attributed to Joseph Schechtman though his name doesn't appear.
E. B. Childers (1971). "Transformation of Palestine". In I. Abu-Lughod (ed.). The Wordless Wish. Northwestern University Press. pp. 197–198.

External links

Biography of Maximos V Hakim by GCatholic.org
Biography of Maximos V Hakim by melkite.org
Statement to the Special Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly by Ambassador Eban, 18 November 1955 (Note: Maximos V Hakim is referred to as "George Hakim")
Statement to the Special Political Committee of the United Nations General Assembly by Israeli Ambassador Eban 17 November 1958, on the official Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. (Note: Maximos V Hakim is referred to as "George Hakini")

v t e Patriarchs of Alexandria
Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I
Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodoulos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)
Greek Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gaianus Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Nilus Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)
Latin Catholic (1276–1954)	Atanasio (Athanasius) Egidio da Ferrara (Giles) ?Humbert II, Dauphin of Vienne Juan (John) Guillaume de Chanac Arnaud Bernard du Pouget (Arnaldo Bernardi) uncanonical Jean de Cardaillac Pietro Amely di Brunac ? Johannes Walteri von Sinten uncanonical Simon of Cramaud Pietro Amely di Brunac Leonardo Dolfin Ugo Roberti Pietro Amaury di Lordat Lancelotus de Navarra Giovanni Contarini Pietro Vitalis di Mauléon Giovanni Vitelleschi Marco Condulmer Jean d'Harcourt Arnaldo Rogerii de Palas Pedro de Urrea Pedro González de Mendoza Diego Hurtado de Mendoza Alonso de Fonseca y Acevedo Bernardino Carafa Cesare Riario Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora Ottaviano Maria Sforza Julius Gonzaga Cristoforo Guidalotti Ciocchi del Monte Jacques Cortès Tommaso Alessandro Riario Enrico Caetani Giovanni Battista Albani Camillo Caetani Séraphin Olivier-Razali Alessandro di Sangro Honoratus Caetani Federico Borromeo Allesandro Crescenzi Aloysius Bevilacqua Petrus Draghi Bartoli Gregorio Giuseppe Gaetani de Aragonia Carlo Ambrosio Mezzabarba Filippo Carlo Spada Girolamo Crispi Giuseppe Antonio Davanzati Lodovico Agnello Anastasi Francisco Mattei Augustus Foscolo Paolo Angelo Ballerini Domenico Marinangeli Paolo de Huyn Luca Ermenegildo Pasetto
Melkite Catholic (1724–present)	Cyril VI Tanas Athanasius IV Jawhar Maximos II Hakim Theodosius V Dahan Athanasius IV Jawhar Cyril VII Siaj Agapius II Matar Ignatius IV Sarrouf Athanasius V Matar Macarius IV Tawil Ignatius V Qattan Maximos III Mazloum Clement Bahouth Gregory II Youssef-Sayur Peter IV Geraigiry Cyril VIII Geha Demetrius I Qadi Cyril IX Moghabghab Maximos IV Sayegh Maximos V Hakim Gregory III Laham Youssef I Absi
Coptic Catholic (1824–present)	Maximos Jouwed Kyrillos Makarios Stéphanos I Sidarouss Stéphanos II Ghattas Antonios I Naguib Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

Categories: