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OUR CHURCH IN FRANCE
History:
During the 19th century, the immigrants that settled in Paris came from Egypt and the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire (Lebanon, Palestine, Syria) among which was a great proportion of Melkite-Greek Catholics. With their increasing number, the latter got in July 13th 1886 the administrative authorization to withhold a place of worship of their rite.
Two years later, answering a strong demand from the faithful, Patriarch Gregory Youssef, in accordance with Mgr Richard, Archbishop of Paris, designated the Basilien Chouerite Father Alexis Kateb to constitute the parish and to find a permanent place of worship. Meanwhile, the liturgical celebrations were held in the church of St Elizabeth, in the Marais, neighborhood of Paris.
In the late 1888, the Public Assistance of Paris allocated the church of St Julien-le-Pauvre to Father Kateb, which was the chapel of the Hotel-Dieu, closed since it moved to the Ile de la Cit?. Once it had been repaired it was solemnly inaugurated in the Byzantine rite on Sunday May 2, 1889. The inaugural sermon was preached by Mgr Charmetant, at that time Director of l'Oeuvre d'Orient, who particularly said: ?The Greek Catholics, whom life had chanced to throw among us, were lost in the great city and isolated from one another. Now with their ceremonies and traditional cult they are going to find support, consolations, a centre, a national place of welcome, where they will be able to pray in their own language and reach understanding to give each other mutual aid?.
Two years later, the famous cabinetmaker of Damascus, Mr. George Bittar, who died in odor of sanctity, made the iconostasis and parquetry of mosaics that we can still see nowadays in the church, and came to Paris to install it with his own hands.
St Julien le Pauvre is one of the most ancient churches of old Paris. Since the 6th century Gr?goire de Tours mentions a Basilica of St Julien the Martyr. Devastated in the 9th century by the Normans, it was replaced by a temporary chapel until 1165 when a new church was built in gothic style, at the same period as the Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris: this is the one we still see nowadays. Falling victim over the centuries to the vicissitude which practically ruined the church, it became the chapel of the Hotel-Dieu in 1660, closed at the time of the destruction of the Hotel-Dieu and was listed as a historic monument. In 1889, it was allocated to the Melkite-Greek Catholic community of Paris.
On Sunday October 21, 1990 a solemn liturgy was concelebrated in St Julien-le-Pauvre by His Beatitude, Patriarch Maximos V Hakim and His Eminence, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, Bishop of Paris. This event marked with joy and action of grace the centennial celebration of the Greek-Catholic parish of Paris, whose pastor, Exarch Joseph Nasrallah, was retiring after 40 years of faithful service as pastor.
List of Rectors and priests of the parish since 1888:
1888-1892 Archimandrite Alexis Kateb
1892-1899 Archimandrite Ignace Homsy
1899-1903 Archimandrite Joseph Cadi
1904-1933 Archimandrite Ars?ne Atti?
1934-1946 Archimandrite John Chiniara
1947-1948 Archimandrite Elie Skaff
1948-1950 Archimandrite Oreste K?ram?
1950-1990 Archimandrite and then Exarch Joseph Nasrallah
1990-2000 Archimandrite Paul Abdo
2001-2001 Archimandrite Fayez El-Freijat
2001- Exarch Nicolas Antiba
Address of the churchs:
Paris
Archimandrite Exarch Nicholas Antiba, Pastor
Eglise Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre,
1, rue Saint-Julien-Le-Pauvre 75005 Paris
Tel. +33 1 43290909
Address of the presbytery:
79, rue Galande, 75005 Paris
Tel. +33 1 43545216 ? Fax. +33 1 43544565 ?
Email.: sjlp@wanadoo.fr
Marseille
Mgr. Elie Joseph BATTIKHA
Eglise Saint-Nicolas-de-Myre
19 rue Edmond Rostand
13006 Marseille
France
Telephone: +33 491 53 51 74
Tel : +33 1 43 29 09 09
Fax: 00 33 491 04 63 50
Web Site: http://nicolasdemyre.tripod.com
E-Mail: snm1820@hotmail.com
or paroisse-st-nicolas-du-myre@wanadoo.fr
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For any information updates or amendments, please send an E-mail to GMA: gma@melkites.org
or alternatively by post to:
Global Melkite Association
Rev Fr Samir Haddad
40 Gillies St Fairfield VIC 3078
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