Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut, Maronite Catholic archeparchy in Beirut, Lebanon

The Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut is an archeparchial seat of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Holy See, covering the Beirut Governorate and central Mount Lebanon Governorate. Its seat is Beirut, where Saint George Cathedral stands, and its territory is divided into 127 parishes. As of 2012 it counted 232,000 baptized, and it is currently ruled by Archeparch Paul Abdel Sater.

A Maronite community existed in Beirut by the Crusades, as witnessed by William of Tyre, but its first known bishop, Youssef, is recorded only in 1577 in the annals of Patriarch Boutros Estephan El Douaihy. The see was canonically established at the 1736 Lebanese Council, in which Bishop Abdallah Qara'ali, founder of the OLM, played a leading role. Bishops resided at the Monastery of Saint John of Qataleh until Peter Karam; under Tobia Aoun and Yusuf Dibs the community grew from 3,000 to 15,000 faithful between 1850 and 1870.

The archeparchy's name comes from Beirut, its seat since bishops moved there permanently from the Monastery of Saint John of Qataleh, starting with Peter Karam Abu. Abdallah Qara'ali, archeparch from 1716 to 1742, founded the Order of Lebanese Maronite Monks and, as a jurist, took part in the 1736 Lebanese Council that canonically established the Maronite episcopal sees, Beirut among them.

The archeparchy covers the Beirut Governorate and central Mount Lebanon Governorate, with its seat at Saint George Cathedral in Beirut and 127 parishes in all. The bishops long resided not in the city but at the Monastery of Saint John of Qataleh, and only from Peter Karam Abu Karam did they live permanently in Beirut.

Bishops did not reside in Beirut itself but at the Monastery of Saint John of Qataleh; only from Peter Karam Abu Karam onward did they live permanently in the city, which helped the Maronite community grow from 3,000 to 15,000 faithful between 1850 and 1870.