The Vatican announced on 28th December the approval by Pope Benedict XVI of the appointment of four Maronite bishops, submitted by the Synod of Maronite Bishops in September of this year.

The pontifical approval included the appointment of Father Georges Bou-Jaoudé, Superior of the Religious Order of Mejdlaya, as Archbishop of Tripoli.

To read the text of the full announcement click on the Full Story tab.
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The BBC website has featured six young Lebanese Christians as part of its series of looking at Christians in the Middle East.

Their comments can be read from this link.

Many of the leading families of Zgharta Zawie have their own charitable organisations which support both their own members and the wider community. One such organisation, the Macari Youth Organisation has recently delivered Christmas gifts to children at the Mar Maroun Hall, Akabe, Zgharta.

Members of the Macari family have created their own website, www.makaryfamily.com The spelling of the name is another example of how family names are spelt differently throughout the world.

Another member of a family, Stefano El Douaihy, has created a website for the El Douaihy family, which is found at, www.douaihy.org

We are not aware of any other Zgharta Zawie family having their own family (the stress is on "family") website and we welcome learning of any others. The web is the ideal place where families can research and build their own family history and family tree.

Zgharta's Robert Frangieh was among the contributing artists to the Social & Economic Action For Lebanon (SEAL) fund raising auction held on 13th November 2005 in New York. The auction raised $35,000 from the sale of thirty three pieces of artwork. The organisation has confirmed to zgharta.com that Robert Frangieh's donated work received multiple bids and sold for some $800.

The proceeds from the art auction will sponsor future SEAL projects such as micro-lending both in Southern and Northern Lebanon, computer training in the Batroun area, tree nurseries in the Hermel/Akkar region and class sponsorship at public libraries.

The profile of Robert Frangieh for the auction said that he was born in 1949 and that it "was not until he was in his mid-forties, that Robert started taking art classes taught by one of his closest friends Mona Bassili Sehnaoui, an artist and an art lecturer. After four years of drawing and painting Gouache and Oils, he started to discover "the real joy of being able to use a language to express one's creativity". Robert lives six months of the year in a small village, 2000 meters above sea level, where he says he feels he has "one to one dialogue with the mountains towering over me". "

To read more about SEAL click on the Full Story tab.
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In the past we have mention Michael Jarjura, the Mayor of the City of Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. Most recently we reported that he presented Karim El Koussa, the Zgharta author, with an official citation on behalf of the City in recognition of his American published novel. The Mayor is the son of Zgharta born, Joseph P Jarjura. Some may further recall that the Zgharta Ehden Municipal Council received last year from the Mayor a letter expressing the wish to "twin" the two towns.

The Mayor is said to have made political history on Tuesday, 8th November, when he was re-elected to the office of Mayor of Waterbury. The Mayor ran as what is known as a "write-in candidate" after losing the Democratic primary nomination to Karen M. Mulcahy two months earlier. She was Waterbury's former tax collector, who it is reported, was fired by the Mayor last year. Local press report that election officials are saying that it may be the first time in Connecticut that an incumbent whose name did not appear on the ballot was victorious in a local contest. A "write in candidate " is where the voter has to write the candidate's name on the voting paper instead of using the voting machine's levers to select from a printed list of candidates.

In past articles we have mention “Municipal Unions”, sometimes referred to as Municipal Federations. As an introduction to a much larger article on the subject of Local Government in Lebanon, which is in preparation, we explain what are such Unions and also the basic set up of local government in Lebanon and the role of Municipal Councils and Presidents.

To read the complete article, click on the Full Story tab.
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In recent weeks we have featured reports concerning events to do with Patriarch Estephane Doueihi and his hoped for canonisation. The procedural stages leading up to canonisation begin with a local investigation of the candidate leading to a proclamation that he is a "Servant of God, thereafter the stages are where the candidate is declared Venerable, then Blessed and thereafter Saint. The late Pontiff, Pope John-Paul II, set down this procedure in 1983. We have sought to find what stage the process has reached.

Our understanding of the current position is that local investigation, which started in 1988, has been completed. We further understand the next stage, where a candidate is considered to be declared Venerable, will take place next January in Rome.

To read more about the process of canonisation, click on the Full Story tab.
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We reported earlier, 9th October, that the Lebanese magazine, Lebanon Opportunities, published in their September 2005 edition, an article on Ehden's property market. We have been able to obtain a copy of the article from the magazine which we can be read from this PDF link.

For those who cannot open a PDF document we have summarise the article and which can be read by clicking on the Full Story tab.
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Activities of the Zgharta Zawie community have in recent weeks been reported on television and in newspapers.

The Lebanese television station, LBCI, featured on 10th October 2005, the joint visit of the Presidents of the Municipal Unions of Zgharta and Besharre together with Bishop Samir Mazloum, Patriarchal Vicar General of Zgharta, to the Qadisha Valley, known also as the Holy Valley. The focus of the visit was the mausoleum of Patriarch Doueihi at Saint Marina's Grotto, Kannoubine, which forms part of the Qadisha Valley. The photograph shows the mausoleum. It appears the visit is part of the mounting movement in Lebanon for the canonization of the Patriarch .The Patriarch was born in Ehden in 1630 and died in 1704 at Kannoubine.

To read more about the Patriarch and other news click on the Full Story tab.
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Many in the world do not know that the founder of the world famous jewellers, Mouawad, and his son, who expanded its business, comes from Zgharta Zawie. The son, Fayez,is known in Zgharta Zawie for his many charitable donations in particular being the benefactor who funded the building of the present-day Saydat Al Hosn.

Fayez Mouawad was born in Aarbeh Kozhaya, a village some 5 kilometres from Ehden.
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We received a email from a recent summer visitor to Ijbii (Ejbeh) which is some 1300 metres above sea level west of Ehden.The email addresses an issue which affects many so we decided to share it with you.

The sender is an expert in the field of geology and hydrology. He has told us that his intention in sending his email was to initiate a dialogue on the important issue of fresh water and sewage.

To read the email in full click on the Full Story tab.
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In the September 2005 issue of the Lebanese magazine," Lebanon Opportunities" there is a feature on Ehden's property market called, "Ehden: A time to buy".

The article is only available on subscription, but its publicity says "Construction in the town famous as a summer retreat picked up in the early 90's and in the last four to five years has been booming with real estate customers in ready supply". We will endeavour to find out more about what the article says.

Our local goats and their produce were the subject of a presentation at the International Cheese Exhibition at the City of Bra, Piedmont, Italy held on 16th and 19th September 2005. The exhibition is held every two years and is a showcase for the world's cheeses. It had some 130,000 visitors from all over the world, including farmers, producers, traders and scientists.

To read about our famous goats click on the Full Story tab.
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Archbishop Paul Dahdah, Archbishop of Beirut has hit the international headlines today. In a article carried by CWNews.com today, the Archbishop's interview on Vatican Radio was reported. During the hard hitting interview he spoke of the situation in Lebanon and outside influences.

The Archbishop was born in Zgharta in 1941, ordained a priest of the Order of Discalced Carmelites in 1966, becoming Latin Archbishop of Baghdad, Iraq in 1983 and Vicar Apostolic of Beirut in 1999.

Click on the PDF link to read about the article

The René Mouawad Foundation will be holding its annual dinner tonight at the Ehden Country Club, Ehden.

The Foundation is celebrating this year its 15th Anniversary having been created on 22nd November 1990. The date is poignant in that it was one year to the day that President Mouawad was assassinated. The President of the Foundation is his widow, Minister Mrs Nayla René Mouawad, Member of Parliament for Zgharta Zawie.

To learn more about the Foundation's work visit its website at: http://www.rmf.org.lb

 

The photograph opposite is of happier times.

We send our best wishes to our French friends and readers on Bastille day.

Bastille Day commemorates the 14th July 1789 when the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a state prison, which stood for many as a symbol of absolute despotism of the Ancient Regime. It became a national holiday in France, where people now celebrate the day with a mixture of parades and fireworks.

Our thoughts and prayers are today with our friends and readers who may work or live in London. Many phone calls from all parts of the Zgharta Zawie world wide community have been made by family and friends to their love ones in London and we trust and hope that all were found safe and well.

We wish all our American friends a happy Fourth of July weekend.

The specific day, celebrates, 4th July 1776, when the Continental Congress, comprising of delegates sent by the legislatures of the thirteen colonies located along the eastern coast, signed the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. This was the first time in an official document the colonies were referred to as the United States of America. It was only by the Treaty of Paris of 1783 that Great Britain formally recognised the independence of the United States of America.

Independence Day or as most American call it, the "Fourth of July", is a day of picnics and patriotic parades, and a night of concerts and fireworks. It is a national holiday and often its celebrations are spread over the adjoining weekend, as in this year.

On Thursday, 26th May, the Feast of Corpus Christi, there will be a procession around Zgharta as part of the Year of the Eucharist (October 2004 through October 2005), proclaimed by Pope John Paul II. In his Apostolic Letter, Mane nobiscum Domine (“Stay with us Lord”) in 2004 , Pope John Paul II urged Roman Catholics to participate in a procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi , saying " This year let us also celebrate with particular devotion the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, with its traditional procession. Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings.”

The procession will start from Notre Dame Church at 5pm and will then proceed along the old Zgharta streets, through the old St Josephs's Plaza,onto St John the Baptist Church ,along old Makhada Road and ending at St Maron's Church when there will be communion prayers. The Parish of Ehden - Zgharta have asked that the streets are cleared and house entrances are decorated in celebration.

The environmental debate over Ehden continues between what seems to be two intractable groups.

Some of those who oppose the development of lands, belonging to the Monastery of Mar Sarkis, have formed themselves into a pressure group called, "The Committee for the Protection of Public Land, Environment and Heritage of the Ancient Village of Ehden". It was established in September 2006 by Jihad Araigy, Semaan Iskandar, Boutros Wehbe Douaihy, Salman Makary, Boutros Mouawad and Tony Saade.

We reported on the propose developments on 18th October 2006, in our article called "Two new Ehden developments". The developments are near the Mar Sarkis Monastery to be called "Kroum" and at the bottom of the Saydet Al Hosn Mountain, to be called "Les Parcs d'Ehden". As was reported at the time the head of the Monastery, Father Nader Nader, robustly rejected the opposition to the Monastery's decision.

On Monday, 12th February 2007, the Committee took their cause to Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, at Bkerki. The Committee's delegation, comprising of Boutros Wehbe Douaihy, Salman Makary and Boutros Mouawad, handed to the Patriarch an Memorandum, setting out the Committee's arguments against the developments, as part of its campaign to preserve the land and water source of Ehden. The delegation also gave a copy of the Memorandum to the Embassy of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See (Vatican Embassy) at Harissa. The significance of the latter is understood to be that the Holy See has direct authority over the monks of the Antonine Order at the Mar Sarkis Monastery. The Monastery was given to the Order in 1739.

The Memorandum included the history of the Monastery since its beginning, the feared ecological deterioration, the economic cost- benefit, comparative analysis of such projects and the negative impact on sustainable development, which the Committee said the developments would cause. The Memorandum in Arabic can be downloaded in the following formats from these links : PDF and WORD

The contact details for the Committee are Boutros Mouawad: Tel: 961 3 61 37 95, email: boutrosmouawad@hotmail.com and Tony Saade: Tel: 961 3 64 27 43, email: tonyesaade@hotmail.com

We offer the right of reply to those who support the developments
 

It is Martyrs Day on Thursday,6th May in Lebanon,which is also a national public holiday.

The day commemorates the 6th May 1916 when twenty-one Syrians and Lebanese in Damascus and Beirut,respectively were hung for opposing Turkish occupation.

The photo is of the Martyrs Square Statue, Beirut

Today, Friday 29th April, is an official public holiday in Lebanon as the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Good Friday on this day. On Sunday, 1st May, it is also an official public holiday as it is both the Church's celebratation of Easter Sunday as well as the secular celebration of Labour day.

We send our greetings and best wishes to our Eastern Orthodox members and friends.

This month has a been a busy one for the René Mouawad Foundation as they have held two events geared for young people, one in Mejdleya and the other in Beirut. The events, a debate and workshop, covered such issues as the role of the media in a democracy and youth civic awareness.

To read the complete report click on the Full Story tab.

The photo shows participants at the Beirut workshop.
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OGERO, the Lebanese phone provider, announced on 20 April that it has launched a nationwide campaign to deal with two issues at once. Poor service and illegal phone connections. Some would say that one caused the other.

They announcements says that they will be upgrading the technology used in the old style junction boxes with a view of introducing advanced telephone services, such as ISDL for internet connection in the future. At the same time the new boxes will have the effect of stopping illegal telephone connections, which the old boxes enabled people to use.

To read the complete article click the Full Story tab.
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On 19th April 2005 Bassam Antoine Yammine was appointed Minister of Energy & Industry in the new Lebanese Government.

Minister Yammine was born in Zgharta,1968, to Antoine Kabalan and Adel Fouad (née Kaadou) Yammine. He was educated at the College De La Salle, Zgharta and then went onto to achieve a Masters Degree in Business Administration at the University of Chicago .This was followed by a further Masters Degree in Computer Science at the Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.

After his Masters he became a shareholder and director of Lebanon Invest, which subsequently merged with Banque Audi, Sal, one of Lebanon's leading banks. He acted as Special Counsellor (1998-2004) to Minister of Health, Sleiman Frangieh.

He is married to Gheeda Ossman and they have two daughters, Lamya and Maya.