Youakim Moubarac

Youakim Moubarac (July 20, 1924 – May 24, 1995) was a Lebanese French scholar. He was an Islamologist, an Arabist and a disciple of the Orientalist Louis Massignon and of philosopher Louis Gardet. A Maronite priest, Moubarac dedicated his life and major works to interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Islam, to Arab and Lebanese causes, to the unity of the Church and to the Maronite Church Antiochian heritage.

The Reverend Youakim Moubarac
Church	Maronite Church
Orders
Ordination	29 June 1947
Personal details
Born	(1924-07-20)July 20, 1924 Kfarsghab, Lebanon
Died	May 24, 1995(1995-05-24) (aged 70) Montpellier, France
Profession	Orientalist
Alma mater	Université Saint-Joseph, Institut Catholique de Paris

Biography

Youakim Moubarac was born in Kfarsghab, Lebanon to a Maronite clerical family. His father, Antoun, and grandfather, Youssef, were Maronite priests serving in the Kadisha Valley, a holy place in the Maronite tradition. His maternal grandfather Nemtallah Samia was also a priest.

Early life

After ecclesiastic studies in the Maronite Seminary of Ghazir and the Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon, Moubarac was sent in October 1945 to France by his superiors. Once his studies ended in the Seminary of Saint Sulpice, Paris, he was ordained a priest on June 29, 1947 in Lebanon. In 1948, he was authorized by the Maronite Patriarch to continue his studies at the Institut Catholique de Paris. In that same year, he was assigned to Saint Séverin in the Latin Quarter, where he stayed for 18 years.

Expanded description

In 1951, he presented his first Ph.D. thesis Abraham dans le Coran^[1] and joined as a researcher the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, the largest public research organization in France.

From 1950 till 1962, Fr. Moubarac served as the secretary of Louis Massignon. In 1959, he started his academic career, teaching Classical Arabic at the Institut Catholique de Paris. Till his death, he taught in several universities, including as the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne and others.

He participated between 1962 and 1965 in the Second Vatican Council within the Maronite delegation. After 1965, he dedicated himself to his work of promotion of the Interfaith dialogue, of defense of the Palestinian and especially Lebanese causes from 1975.

From 1985, Father Youakim worked on the rediscovering of the spiritual Syriac roots of the Maronite Church. Between 1987 and 1992, he settled in Lebanon and was in charge of preparing the Maronite synod.^[2]

During this period, and despite an intensive work on the Synod preparation and many spiritual and political missions, Moubarac started two important projects:

• In 1989, he started the restoration of the Monastery of Our Lady of Qannoubine, a historical Maronite Monastery in the Qadisha valley which was for centuries the See of the Maronite Patriarch (ca. 15th to 18th Century).
• In 1992, he founded with some friends, The Lebanese Cooperative for Development, a microcredit initiative, whose objectives were to encourage the displaced families during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) to settle back in their region of origin and to prevent emigration outside Lebanon.

In 1991, the decision of Pope John Paul II to convene a Synod in Rome for all Catholic Lebanese Churches cancelled his project.

In 1992, he settled back in Paris where he resumed his academic work.

Death and legacy

Youakim Moubarac died on May 24, 1995, in Montpellier, France. His burial took place at the graveyard of the Abbaye Notre-Dame-de-Jouarre, France. Fourteen years later, on August 25, 2009, his remains were transferred, according to his wish, to rest beside his relatives in Mar Youssef Church in Morh Kfarsghab. A solemn Requiem Mass in his hometown of Kfarsghab was offered by Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Patriarch of the Maronite Church, and attended by Tarek Mitri representing the President of the Lebanese Republic, Michel Suleiman.