Gregory III Laham

Gregory III (Laham) (Arabic,غريغوريوس الثالث لحام)(b. December 15, 1933), Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, is the spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected patriarch on November 29, 2000, succeeding Maximos V Hakim, who resigned at age 92 due to failing health, dying seven months later. He took the name Gregory after Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, the last member of his order to be elected patriarch. Patriarch Gregory, who studied in Europe and is multilingual, is author of several books on eastern theology and spirituality.
==Life==
===Early years and education===
Patriarch Gregory was born Lutfy Laham in Darayya, Syria in 1933. He entered the Seminary of the Holy Savior of the Basilian Salvatorian Order near Saida, Lebanon in 1943. He took his simple religious vows in 1949 and his solemn religious vows in 1954. He received his religious and philosophical education at the Holy Savior Seminary, Joun, Lebanon. He continued his theological studies in Rome where he was ordained priest on February 15, 1959 in the Church of the Abbey of Grottaferrata in Italy.
===Priesthood===
thumb|left|250px|Gregory III with Archbishop Jules Joseph Zerey
The future patriarch received a doctoral degree in Oriental Theology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome following his ordination . He then served as superior of the Holy Savior Major Seminary from 1961 until 1964. In 1962 he founded the magazine Al-Wahdah - Unity in Faith, the first ecumenical magazine to be published in the Arabic language. He also founded several orphanages and trade schools in Lebanon.
He was appointed administrator of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Jerusalem in 1974, in the wake of the Israeli arrest of the Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem, Archbishop Hilarion Capucci of the Aleppin Salvatorian order. Laham founded the Student Fund in Jerusalem to help needy students and in 1978 the Family Assistance Fund to help needy families in the troubled areas of his diocese. In 1967 he founded at the Patriarchate the Oriental Library to promulgate the knowledge of Eastern traditions. He initiated a variety of social projects such as repairing churches, opening clinics and building public housing, including a guest house for pilgrims at the Patriarchal Center in Jerusalem.
Following an old tradition of the more than 900-years old Order of Knighthood, founded in Jerusalem to take care of lepers in the Hospital of St. Lazarus, he is the Spiritual Protector of the international ecumenical Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem as were his predecessors Maximos IV and Maximos V.
===Episcopate===
On August 30, 1981 he was named archbishop by Patriarch Maximos V Hakim and continued his work as Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem as successor to Archbishop Hilarion Capucci. On November 27, 1981 he was enthroned as the titular archbishop of Tarsus and consecrated bishop by patriarch Maximos V Hakim .
Appointed by Patriarch Maximos V as president of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, he edited the Anthologion, the prayer book or breviary of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and The Book of the Liturgies, an updated compendium of the Divine Liturgy. As secretary of the Ecumenical Commission of the Melkite Patriarchate, he led the dialogue between the Melkite Greek Catholic and the Antiochian Orthodox Churches.
Patriarch Maximos resigned in 2000 at age 92 due to failing health. The episcopal synod of the Melkite Church, met at the patriarchal residence in Raboueh on November 22, 2000 to select a new leader. On November 29 the synod elected Laham patriarch. He chose the name Gregory after the Patriarch Gregory II Youssef, the last member of the Basilian Salvatorian Order to serve as head of the Melkite Church.
==Books==
 
Patriarch Gregory III is author of several books, including: 
*Introduction to the Liturgical Services and their symbols in the Eastern Church
*The Voice of the Shepherd - Eastern Liturgical Spirituality
*Life of Archbishop Germanos Adam
*Translations of History of the Melkite Church (English and German)
*The Melkite Greek Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council
==Notes==
==See also==
*Patriarch of Antioch
*List of Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch
*Maximos V Hakim, prior Patriarch, former first Archbishop,tenth Bishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee
== External links ==
*official biography
 
de:Gregor III. Laham
Category:Arab Christians
Category:Living people
Category:Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch
Category:Syrian Eastern Catholics