Assent of the Holy Father to the appointment of Rev. Youssef Matta as archbishop of Akka, Israel

The Holy Father has given his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Greek Melkites of Rev. Youssef Matta as archbishop of Akka, Israel.

Rev. Youssef Matta

Rev. Youssef Matta was born on 3 December 1968 in Nazareth. From 1991 to 1992 he studied computer science at the Technion University of Haifa. From 1992 to 1998 he carried out his training in the Latin diocesan seminary of Beit Jala. He was ordained a priest on 19 June 1999 for the archieparchy of Akka of the Greek Melkites. From 1990 to 2003 he was private secretary to Archbishop Pierre Mouallem; from 2004 to 2007 he studied at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he received a doctorate in Eastern canon law; from 2008 to 2009 he was private secretary to H.E. Msgr. Elias Chacour; from 2009 to 2011 he held the position of formator at the Greek Melkite Seminary of Saint Anne in Raboueh, Lebanon; from 2011 to 2013 he was parish priest of Saint George in Ibilin; and since 2013 he has served as coadjutor of the parish of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Greek Melkites, meeting last 5 to 9 November in Raboueh, Lebanon, elected him archbishop of Akka of the Greek Melkites.