Joseph Raya
Joseph -Marie Raya ( born August 15, 1916 in Zahle in Lebanon; † 10 June 2005 in Barry 's Bay, Ontario, Canada) was from 1968 to 1974 Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Akka in Israel. He thus became the successor to the Patriarch of Antioch appointed Maximos V. Hakim. He was not only a theologian but also civil rights activist and author. As archbishop, he was known for his commitment to reconciliation between Christians and Jews and interfaith dialogue. He was a passionate advocate of the liturgy in local languages .
Emigration
Joseph -Marie Raya was born the seventh of eight children of the spouses Almez and Mikhail Raya. After his primary education at the Oriental College, he studied in Paris and in 1937 joined in the St. Anna seminary in Jerusalem. The seminary and the adjacent St. Anne's Church conducted by the White Fathers. He was ordained a priest in 1941 the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He then taught at the University of the Patriarch of Antioch in Cairo and was expelled in 1948 for his defense of women's rights in the country, he emigrated in 1949 to the United States.
In the United States and Canada,
After his emigration to the U.S., he worked as a curate in the Melkite Greek Catholic church of St. Anna in West Paterson, New Jersey. In 1952 he took over as pastor of St. George Parish in Birmingham, Alabama. During this time, connected him with Martin Luther King, Jr., a deep friendship. He marched with him in the demonstration marches and fought for the equality of all people, thus he fell into the clutches of the Ku Klux Klan and was hurt by abuse. Together with Archbishop Thomas Joseph Toolen of Mobile - Birmingham organized Raya civil rights meetings, helped with demonstrations and founded in Birmingham, the first Catholic mission station orientale for African Americans. Raya was the first priest in 1947, founded by Catherine Doherty laity and priests community " Madonna House Apostolate " in Combermere, Ontario, Canada.
Liturgy in the vernacular
Already as a young priest in Alabama, he entered in the respective national language for the implementation of the services. He translated the Gospels, the Missal and the Byzantine liturgy in the English language. He found in Bishop Fulton John Sheen of Rochester a big proponent, the celebrated media attention as a Catholic bishop on American television a Catholic mass in English. Archbishop Toolen banned in December 1959, the use of the English language in his diocese and also said Raya the application of the English language in the Byzantine rite. Pope John XXIII. decided in 1960 that in the Byzantine liturgy of the English language could be used. Also by the intervention of the Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh and as a result of decisions of the Council, this dispute could be settled. Patriarch Maximos IV appointed him Großarchimandrit of Jerusalem and appointed him to the Melkite delegation to the Second Vatican Council. The council decided the possible use of national languages in the liturgy later.
Bishop of Akka
On 9 September 1968 the appointment as Archbishop of Akka, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee was. The ordination took before the Patriarch of Antioch Archbishop Maximos V Hakim, as co-consecrators had Archbishop Paul Achkar of Latakia and bishop of the Ruthenian Church Stephan John Kocisko of Pittsburgh ( USA). Immediately after taking office, he walked 1969 in the forefront of a peaceful and non-violent demonstration. Thousands of Arab Israelis and Jews recalled the 1948 depopulated and destroyed villages Bar'am and Ikrit. As a Melkite bishop he demanded justice and peaceful negotiations between the citizens of Palestine and Israel. In 1972 he ordered, in protest and in memory of the two towns, on a Sunday to close all the churches in order to underline the sadness. With these actions, Raya won a large following and was thus simultaneously a political and religious stimulus figure. With his demands to build the two destroyed villages again and colonize he turned not only against the Synod of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, but also received opposition from Rome. With his last action, church lands to poor Muslim peasants to sell the back pressure was getting stronger. Finally, the massive pressure from his own church, the Holy See and the Israeli government led to his resignation. His successor was Archbishop Maximos Salloum.
He was again active, and was from 1987 to 1989 Apostolic Administrator of Banyas, the archeparchy was headed in the next office of Habib Bacha, Archbishop of Beirut and Jbeil. He was the Archbishop Boulos Nassif Mitkonsekrator Borkhoche SMSP of Bosra and Hauran in Syria, Cyrille Salim Bustros SMSP of Baalbek in Lebanon Antoine Hayek and 1989 BC from Banyas.
Following the resignation
He resigned on August 21, 1974, with simultaneous appointment as Titular Archbishop of Scythopolis from his office and was, until his death on 10 June 2005 retired Archbishop of Akka. Even the then Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was not able to stop him of his resignation. In his last pastoral letter, he reiterated his desire for peaceful coexistence between Arabs, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and continued to demand an inter-religious dialogue. He left the Middle East and moved to Canada in 1975. His new pastoral work he continued in Combermere at Madonna House. From 1987 to 1989 he worked in Beirut and Banyas, 1991, he returned to Canada. Raya died on 10 June 2005 at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in Barry 's Bay.
Works
Raya authored several books, including hymnals, theological works and monographs on church history. Most of his publications have been written in English.