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Written by Fr. Armando Elkhoury
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Hits: 1887
Introduction
I am excited and privileged to be at the forty-seventh Maronite Convention. “The Identity of the Maronite Church” and “Welcoming Non-Maronites into our Faith and Heritage” are two very important topics that are dear to my heart. Instead of treating them separately I would like to address them in the context of the growth of the Maronite Church in the United States – if I may say, “Looking at the whole forest rather than individual trees.”
The Maronite Church in the United States has definitely grown in the last three decades. There is a high probability that this growth is largely due to the influx of immigrants who left their homelands seeking a better life in this country. Thank God for immigrants! Their contribution has been tremendous to our nation and Church, yet the Church’s growth cannot only depend on the waves of immigrants coming from the Middle East. After all, we, as a Church, are called to abide by Christ’s Divine Commission “to make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). The growth of the Maronite Church in this country might have been limited in part because our congregations have been integrating mostly – if not almost exclusively - (Middle Eastern) immigrants. However, there are many other reasons why the growth of the Church was limited. My objectives are not to enumerate or examine them all, but rather to propose five necessary components that will Lead to the growth of the Maronite Church in the United States.
Growth of the Maronite Church
The growth of the Maronite Church outside the Patriarchal Territory is an old topic. It was addressed at the First Maronite Congress held in Mexico in 1979. In his conclusion to the article entitled, “In What Manner Shall We Revive Our Religious and Patriotic Heritage Overseas,” Bishop Abdo Khalife, then bishop of the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, posed the following question:
“Have we not arrived too late, even in countries like Australia that are countries of recent emigration? Was our religious and patriotic heritage dead, inasmuch as it must be brought to life? Superior Orders request us, the Bishops of the emigration, to leave them free, at least those of our sons [and daughters] who are born in the emigration countries, to be baptized, to marry, and to be buried among Latins. What would then remain for us, our Maronite Church, if the emigration were halted for one or another reason? If we do not put ourselves on guard right away, we shall attend upon, as I said before, the slow and certain death of our religious and patriotic heritage.”1
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