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MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Minneapolis Maronite Pastor Named Archbishop of Damascus
Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, who has served St. Maron parish in Minneapolis for more than 35 years, has been selected to lead the historic Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Damascus in Syria.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (September 3, 2026) A longtime Minneapolis pastor is preparing to leave Minnesota for one of Christianity's oldest cities after being selected as the new Maronite Catholic archbishop of Damascus.
Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron Maronite Catholic Church in Minneapolis, has been elected archbishop of the Maronite Archeparchy of Damascus in Syria.
Pope Leo XIV gave his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Church of Antioch of the Maronites.
Maroun succeeds Archbishop Samir Nassar, who is retiring after leading the Damascus archeparchy since 2006.
The appointment connects Minnesota directly to a Christian community whose history reaches deeply into the religious and political story of the Middle East.
Maroun was born in Lebanon and moved with his family to the United States in 1983.
He entered the seminary of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles the following year and studied philosophy and theology.
He was ordained a priest in 1989.
Maroun has served the St. Maron community in Minneapolis for more than 35 years.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis described Maroun as beloved by parishioners, priests and members of the wider Catholic community and praised his leadership in Northeast Minneapolis.
The appointment also deepens an existing Minnesota-Damascus relationship.
Since 2017, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has maintained a formal partnership with the Maronite Archeparchy of Damascus.
That partnership developed as Catholic leaders in the United States sought ways to assist Christian communities affected by war and persecution in the Middle East.
Maroun will now move from participating in that relationship from Minneapolis to leading the Damascus side of it.
For St. Maron parish, the appointment represents both a significant honor and the departure of a pastor who has shaped the community for more than three decades.
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis says it hopes to celebrate with Maroun before he leaves Minnesota to begin his new ministry in Syria.
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