Patriarch Rai

DETROIT — Bechara Boutros al-Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, will embark on a U.S. tour at the end of the month, where he will visit several churches throughout the country.

Rai will start his trip in Detroit at the Church of St. Maron on June 29. He will also lead services at churches in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles.

From July 5 to 10, Rai will attend and preside at the Maronite Clergy Conference and Annual Convention of the National Apostolate of Maronites in San Francisco.

Rai is the highest spiritual authority in the Maronite Catholic Church. He was elected on March 15, 2011 as the 77th Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. He succeeded Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals on November 24, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Rai holds a degree in philosophy and theology and a doctorate in canon and civil law from the University of Saint John Lateran in Rome. He taught Canon Law and theology at St. Joseph University in Beirut (USJ) and at Holy Spirit University in Kaslik (USEK) and at the Sagesse University.

In 2012, Rai visited the Arab American community in Southeast Michigan, where he was given a hero’s welcome by leaders and elected officials. 

“This is a great man, a pillar for all the Muslims and the Christians in Lebanon and all the Middle East,” The AANews publisher Osama Siblani said of Rai.