Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance gets new bishop

WASHINGTON (USCCB) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Reverend Chorbishop Yousif Habash, 58, pastor of Sacred Heart Syrian Catholic Church in Los Angeles, as bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark for Syrian Catholics. He succeeds Bishop Joseph Younan, who was installed as Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church, in 2009, in Beirut.

The appointment was publicized in Washington, April 12, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Yousif Habash was born in Qaraqosh, Iraq, June 1, 1951. He entered St. John’s Seminary, in Mosul, Iraq, in 1965, and in 1970, entered military service. In 1972, he resumed seminary studies at Charfet, Lebanon, when the Mosul seminary closed. He continued his theological studies at Holy Spirit University, Kaslik, Lebanon, and was ordained a priest, August 31, 1975.

After ordination he served in a Qaraqosh parish and worked in youth ministry. He later served as vicar and then pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, in Basra, in Southern Iraq.

In 1994, he was assigned to the Syrian Catholic Mission of North America. In the United States he was assigned to Our Lady of Deliverance in New Jersey and the Syrian Mission in Chicago. In 2001, he became pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Los Angeles and in 2008, was elevated to the rank of Chorbishop.

The Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance, which includes the United States and Canada, has 18,200 Catholics in the United States.