Father Raymond Georges
The Biography
Friar Raymond Georges, son of Elia Georges and Zalfa Khoury, was born in Damascus in 1967. He joined the Terra Santa monastery in Aleppo in 1983, where he completed his high school education in preparation for entering the Franciscan priesthood. He studied philosophy at the Franciscan Fathers monastery in Cairo (Egypt) for three years starting in 1985, then spent a year in the monastic life at the Monastery of Saint Catherine in Alexandria. He completed his theological studies at the St. Anthony of Padua University in Rome in 1989 for four years. He was ordained a priest in the Latin Church in Latakia in 1993, then appointed assistant priest of the parish in the Latin Church in Aleppo for two years. He received a master’s degree in Oriental Canon Law from the Oriental Pontifical Institute in Rome in 1998. In 1998, he was appointed head of the Latin Monastery in Al-Salihiyya Damascus and priest of the parish until 2001. He obtained his doctorate in Oriental Canon Law from the Oriental Pontifical Institute in Rome in 2002.
In 2001-2002, he was responsible for the Church of Ram and assistant priest of the Latin Church in Aleppo, then priest of the same parish until 2004.
He was appointed parish priest of the Latin Church in southern Lebanon (Tyre and Deir Mimas) from 2004 to 2007, and during the same period he was the school director in Tyre and deputy head of St. Anthony of Padua Monastery and deputy teacher of the Clerical (preparatory stage for entering the Franciscan priesthood) in Harissa. Since 2007, he was appointed head of the Grand Monastery in Bab Touma neighbourhood and parish priest at the same time.
In 2013, he was appointed, by the presidency of the Custody of the Holy Land, as Deputy Provincial Minister of the Franciscan Order of Paul the Apostle for Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. In the same year, he was also appointed Auxiliary Bishop in Damascus and its suburbs by His Eminence Bishop George Abu Khazen, the Apostolic Vicar in Syria.
He was appointed, by the head of the order, Guardian of the Holy Land Custody in 2016 and head of the Monastery of Paul the Apostle.
He is a member of the Family Committee chaired by His Eminence Bishop Samir Nassar, the Maronite Archbishop of Damascus.
He served as a judge for five years in the Court of Appeal of the Roman Catholic Patriarchate in Damascus, and in the Court of Appeal of the Armenian Catholic Church in Aleppo (from 1998-2003).
This year, he was appointed as a judge in the Court of Appeal of the Syriac Catholic Church in Damascus.
In terms of publications
1- He published his doctoral thesis in 2002 in Italian titled “I matrimoni misti nelle situazioni particolari delle Chiese Patriarcali Cattoliche, in Siria-Libano-Giordania-Egitto”;
2- In 2008, he published a book in Arabic titled: “شرح الأصول المحاكمات على وجه عام والمحاكمات الحقوقية حسب الشرع الكنائس الكاثوليكية”;
3- In 2010, he translated his doctoral thesis with additional explanations and clarifications “الزواجات المختلطة حسب شرع الكنيسة الكاثوليكية، في سورية-لبنان-الاردن ومصر”;
4- In 2010, he published a book in Arabic titled “عيوب الرضى الزواجي حسب الشرع الكنيسة الكاثوليكية”.
5- He published legal scientific research in Collectanea, a Franciscan Oriental Studies journal in Cairo (issue 44 for 2011) titled “Il Clero coniugato nella disciplina antica delle Chiese orientali”;
6- In 2013, he published a book in Arabic about “الشركة الكنسية بين الكنيسة الكاثوليكية والكنائس الشرقية القديمة والجماعات الكنسية في ضوء المجمع الفاتيكاني الثاني”.
7- In 2015, he published a book about the laws of ecclesiastical penalties in the Catholic Church canon law.
8- In 2018, he published a book:
- Managing Catholic Church properties according to Catholic Church canon law;
- Revising the fundamentals of ecclesiastical trials in cases of marriage annulment;
9- In 2019, he published a book on “المحاكمة الجزائية في شرع الكنيسة الكاثوليكية”.
10- In 2020, he published two volumes (1400 pages) about “الحياة المكرّسة في الكنيسة الكاثوليكية” according to the Second Vatican Council. Analyzing Latin Church laws and laws of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
11- In 2022, he published two volumes (1700 pages) about “الزواج والعائلة. دراسة تحليلية لاهوتية وقانونية على ضوء الارشاد الرسولي لما بعد السينودس “فرح الحب”.
12- In 2023, he published a book about “الإساءة الجنسية على القاصرين و الاشخاص المستضعفين في الوثائق القانونية للكنيسة الكاثوليكية”.
13- In 2024, he published a book about “أيديولوجية “الجندر” و المثلية الجنسية حسب تعاليم الكنيسة الكاثوليكية”.
He has also published several legal articles in various scientific journals and on a website.
He has participated in several legal conferences in various Arab countries (Lebanon, Oman, Iran).
He was appointed a professor at the University La Sagesse in Beirut in the Department of Canon Law.