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Last updated:
04/15/2002
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Our Holy Father and Bishop Raphael (Hawaweeny) of Brooklyn
Born:
Beirut, Lebanon, ca. November 20, 1860, to Mikha`il and Maryam Hawaweeny;
raised in the Bab Tuma Quarter of Damascus, Syria
Educated:
 | Patriarchal School, Damascus, Syria |
| School of Orthodox Theology, Halki Island (1879-86)
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| Theological Academy, Kiev, Russia (1888-89) |
Ordained:
| Deacon, December 20, 1885, on Halki Island |
| Priest, June 16, 1889, in Kiev, Russia |
| Archimandrite, July 28, 1889, in Moscow, Russia
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| Bishop, February 29, 1904, in New York, by Abp. (St.) TIKHON and Bp.
INNOCENT (Pustynskii), becoming the first Orthodox Christian hierarch
consecrated in the New World |
Ministry:
| Rector, Metochion of the Patriarchate of Antioch, Moscow, Russia (1889-92)
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| Extraordinary Instructor in the Arabic Language, Theological Academy,
Kazan', Russia (1893-95) |
| Rector, St. Nicholas Church, Brooklyn, NY; simultaneously serving as
Leader of the Syrian Orthodox Spiritual Mission in North America, traveling
extensively in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, solidifying communities;
serving as Censor of the Russian-language Russian Orthodox American Messenger
(November 14, 1895-November 28, 1904) |
| Bishop of Brooklyn (1904-15), overseeing founding and development of
twenty-nine parishes; simultaneously serving as Second Vicar of the Diocese of
the Aleutian Islands and North America (1904-15); Administrator of the entire
Diocese (1909) |
| Benefactor of St. Tikhon's Monastery, South Canaan, PA, and St. Platon's
Theological Seminary, Tenafly, NJ |
| Vice-President, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union (1910-12)
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Writings:
| al-Kalimat [The Word] (Edited: 1905-15) |
| An Historical view of the errors of the Papal Church (Arabic)
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| A Brief history of the Christian Church (Arabic)
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| A Refutation of the Proclamation of Pope Leo XIII (Arabic)
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| The Funeral service for children (translated into Arabic)
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| A Guide to the services of the Consecration and Dedication of a church
(translated into Arabic) |
| The Kontakarion (translated into Arabic) |
| The Great Euchologion (translated into Arabic) |
| The Small Euchologion (translated into Arabic) |
Died:
| Brooklyn, NY, February 27, 1915 |
Now buried:
| Antiochian Village, Ligonier, PA; his incorrupt relics having been
translated from the Arab section of Mount Olivet Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY (which
he founded) in July of 1989. |
Summary:
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, and educated in Damascus Syria, Halki, Turkey, and
Kiev, Russia, Raphael Hawaweeny found himself virtually exiled in Kazan, Russia,
making himself of use on the faculty of the Anti-Muslim Missionary School, when
he was summoned to the New World by the Syrian Orthodox Benevolent Committee in
New York City. Immigrating in 1895 and serving under the aegis of the Russian
Orthodox Mission -- then the only established Orthodox hierarchy -- he was
technically pastor of St. Nicholas Church (later Cathedral) in Brooklyn, NY, but
was, in fact, the roving pastor of several dozen tiny, isolated communities
spread thinly across the continent. As a priest he crossed the continent
repeatedly in the course of nine years, and did so several more after being
consecrated Bishop of Brooklyn -- the first such Orthodox consecration in North
America -- in 1905. He established a journal, al-Kalimat, to spread "the Word"
to places he could not himself be, and worked diligently at translating Greek
liturgical books into Arabic. These he distributed at his own expense to
communities throughout the Middle East and to émigrés in the Americas, Africa,
and Australasia, greatly helped preserve Orthodox Christianity in those regions.
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