Our World
(from CNEWA WORLD November – December 2002)
Chorbishop Faris Named to Ecumenical Post
Posted: 23 Oct 2002
Chorbishop John D. Faris, Assistant Secretary General of Catholic Near East Welfare Association, was appointed to the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, an organization founded in 1965 dedicated to ecumenical dialogue. It is cosponsored by the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America.
Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati is the Catholic chairman; Metropolitan Maximos of Ainou, Presiding Bishop of Pittsburgh, leads the Orthodox delegation. The group meets twice a year and issues reports on national and international dialogues between Catholics and Orthodox. Recent topics dealt with “Baptism and Sacramental Economy,” in 1999 and “Sharing the Ministry of Reconciliation,” 2000.
Chorbishop Faris was ordained for the Maronite Diocese of St. Maron in 1976. He attended St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., and received a bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit in 1972. He earned another B.A, in sacred theology, from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1975 and a doctor’s degree in canon law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in 1980, also in Rome.
In 1996, Chorbishop Faris was appointed Assistant Secretary General of CNEWA, a papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support serving the churches and peoples of the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. He was a member of the committee that translated the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, published last year.
Paulist Father Ronald Roberson of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs said Chorbishop Faris’s background in canon law made him an excellent candidate for the post.
Among other positions, Chorbishop Faris served as President and member of the Board of Governors of the Canon Law Society of America, 1994-1995. He was with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Liaison Committee for Latin and Eastern Church Affairs, 1992 through 1996.
He was named Chaplain to His Holiness in 1988 and Chorbishop in 1991. He is a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and a Knight, iure sanguinis, of the Constantinian Order of St. George, and a noted author and lecturer.