The Falling Asleep

of Archbishop Joseph Tawil (Updated 6/99)

With sadness at the loss but with profound gratitude for a long and productive life of pastoral ministry, we announce the death of Archbishop Joseph E. Tawil, Bishop Emeritus of Newton for the Melkites in the United States.

Archbishop Joseph fell asleep in the Lord hoping for the Resurrection to eternal life on February 17, 1999 at 7:15 p.m.

He will be waked at the Cathedral Church of the Annunciation, 7 VFW Parkway, Roslindale, MA on Sunday, February 21st and Monday, February 22nd from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. both days. His Funeral Service will be on Tuesday, the 23rd of February at this same Cathedral at 11 a.m. It will be a full Funeral Service followed by a Mercy Meal. Burial will be in Cumberland, RI immediately following the Mercy Meal. There will be no Divine Liturgy (Mass). All Clergy are welcome to attend. Please dress in choir robes, (Eastern) rason and stole (Western) surplus and stole. Clergy will meet in Church Hall at 10:30 a.m.

May his memory be eternal.

"Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy." (Matthew 25:21)

Your Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law, Your Excellency Archbishop Francois Aboou-Mokh representing our venerable Patriarch Maximos V, Your Excellency Archbishop Daniel Cronin of Hartford, Your Excellency Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of the Military Services, Your Excellencies Bishops of the Eastern and Western Churches, Rt. Reverend, Very Reverend and Rev. Clergy of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches, Family of our dear Archbishop Joseph,

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, With mixed emotion I stand with you today to bid farewell to our dear Archbishop Joseph Elias Tawil lovingly known to many of us as Sayedna Joseph.

This is one of the rare occasions in which a community meets to celebrate life and to attest its unity in recognizing one of its heroes. We thank God for all the marvelous things accomplished by Archbishop Joseph during his 85 years on earth. He certainly filled his life in the best way enriching the flock entrusted to his care and thousands of souls who crossed his path.

Archbishop Joseph was born in Damascus, Syria on December 25, 1913. He studied for the priesthood under the White Fathers, and was ordained a priest on July 20, 1936. He taught at the Patriarchal College in Alexandria, Egypt for seven years. In 1943, he became the President of the College, a position he held for eleven years, until he was consecrated a bishop in 1960 and served as Patriarchal Vicar in Damascus.

I have met alumni of the Patriarchal College (Al Madrah Al Batrakiyah) in various places in the United States and Canada. I have admired always their respect and love for their former teacher or principal. They speak fondly of "Aboona Tawil" as respected, feared, yet cherished. He was a strict disciplinarian, yet with fairness and love. That same love for discipline guided the course of his actions as Eparch of Newton. This Melkite Eparchy of the fourth largest Catholic diocese in the world as a geographic area, and also as psychological texture. Punctuality and consistency guided his life.

I was fortunate to have him at my side in the past five years, as he never gave up trying to put more discipline in my life. It seems that he never resigned to the fact that he was the boss no more, even ten years after his resignation as Eparch. You can take the sergeant out of the army, but you can't take the army out of the sergeant. In fact, that was what kept him alive, holding up his dignified behavior and his self-respect, retaining the same bed, the same office, the same schedule and the same sense of importance.

He had about him a touch of nobility and … stubborness which I politely would call determination. One of the people who knew him closely used to say of him: "He is a prince." One of his frequent advises to me: "De minimis non curat praetor - A leader does not take care of small things." However he was not so cynical as to add the second part of that famous Murphy law: "Everything is a small thing." He held deep convictions. For him life was too serious to be taken lightly. He spoke with deep conviction, but with no anger. I spontaneously thought of him when I read the Synaxarion of January 27 - The transfer of the remains of St. John Chrysostom from the place of his exile to Constantinople:

"Although dead, you still occupy the throne of a bishop. Alive in God, you still say 'Peace to all' from heaven."

On October 30, 1969, Sayedna Joseph was appointed Apostolic Exarch for the United States by Pope Paul VI. He succeeded Bishop Justin Najmy, the first Melkite bishop in the United States. He was fluent in Arabic, his mother tongue, and in French, besides his good knowledge of Greek and Latin; but he had no knowledge of English, his adopted tongue from that moment on. He became a pilgrim like our Father Abraham from Damascus to Jerusalem to Caairo, back to Damascus and now to America.Saint Paul wrote to the Christian Community at Philippi, "our citizenship is in Heaven" (Phil. 3:20) We read also in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one to come." (Heb. 13:14) Sayedna Joseph was a splendid example of this reality.

For he truly surrendered his homeland, his language, his culture, yes even his life to serve Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Archbishop Joseph was a pioneer in many ways. He came to the Eparchy before it was even an eparchy. He worked to establish parishes and missions, to build rectories and centers. The Eparchy of Newton covers the entire United States - from Boston to Miami on the East Coast to North Hollywood and Sacramento on the West Coast. Archbishop Joseph traveled extensively all over the country to pay pastoral visits to all the parishes. He was truly a Shepherd who loved his flock and who tried to guide, teach, and encourage them as much as was humanly possible. He founded the diocesan publication, Sophia as his monthly or bimonthly link with his people. He established the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Board of Consultors and the presbyteral Council to give his clergy and his laity more of a voice in the direction and progress of the Eparchy. He established the Diaconate Training Program in 1971, the first in an Eastern Catholic Diocese and one of the earliest among all the dioceses. In 1975, he established Saint Gregory Seminary to educate the future priests for the Eparchy. During his 20 years as Eparch, he ordained 29 new priests and 23 deacons. He inaugurated an association for the youth of the Eparchy, the NAMY (National Association of Melkite Youth) and the NAMW (National Association of Melkite Women). Last year, the Women's Association reached the goal marked by Archbishop Joseph to count 1,000 members. Since that time, our Women have accepted the challenge to reach the number 2,000 members by the end of the year 2,000. When I took over after his term of 20 years and the short lived term of Bishop Ignatius Ghattas of blessed memory, five years ago, I assumed the challenge of continuing his great legacy. In many ways I had just enough to pursue, to promote and to encourage all the work that he had already begun. To paraphrase St. Paul: "He planted, I watered, but God caused the growth." (I Cor. 3:6)

Saayedna Joseph was a spiritual man deeply devoted to prayer. His reverence, devotion, and attentiveness when offering the Divine Liturgy spoke to the faithful powerfully about prayer and worship. To hear him preach was to hear a man of prayer, a man of deep spiritual insights, a holy man of God. He had a special relationship with the Contemplative Carmelite Sisters in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was in many ways a spiritual Father to these sisters. He was in touch also with the Melkite Carmel of the Theotokos of Harissa, Lebanon. I am sure that these contemplative sisters were touched by his pious and contemplative spirit.

He had a great devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. He loved the Akathist Hymn and the Paraclisis the two devotional services to the Mother of God. Every day, in the last year of his life, Father Athanase Hassey, our companion at the Eparchial residence, would recite the Vesper service with him and follow it with the Paraclisis service. He used to tell Fr. Hassey: "Vespers are not complete if not followed by the Paraclisis." The last time they did it was on Monday, two days before he died. On the following two days, he was too tired by the end of Vespers, so he gave a sign indicating that that was enough. He also prayed the rosary every day. As he mentioned it many times, he prayed the rosary at the death bed of Father Oreste Karame of blessed memory. What a consolation, when we reach the eternal shore, to see Our Lady waiting for us as we implore her: "Pray for us sinner, now and at the hour of our death." In my experience, since I came to the Eparchial residence, every single day, for the past five years - except for the two months in the summer when he was in the Middle East, Archbishop Joseph watched Religious Programs on television from six thirty to ten PM faithfully. The three hours and a half would end each night with the recitation of the rosary with Mother Angelica's EWTN. On February 17, 1999, he went to meet His creator at 7:15 PM, seated on that same chair on which he sat every night facing the Television screen. But, this time, anticipating his prayer to her, our Blessed Mother answered his fervent invocation, 'pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death'. I imagine her carrying him to meet her Divine Son, the constant object of his desire. I wish and pray to have such a peaceful death, as we pray three times a day: "That the end of our life may be Christian, painless, unashamed and peaceful, and for a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ, let us ask the Lord."

Sayedna Joseph was faithful to his daily Divine Liturgy all the days of his life since his seminary days. In the past five years, when he could not come down to the 8:30 AM morning Liturgy, he was connected with us through the intercom and concelebrated with devotion while lying on his bed or sitting at his desk. At the communion of the priests, one of us, a priest or a deacon or the bishop sometime, would take the chalice and the diskos and have him communicate as a priest of God. However, on Sundays, he would make a special effort, dress up perfectly in his choir robes, cassock and rason and epitrahilion (stole), and follow the Divine Liturgy seated on a chair in the middle of the church. He even would give regular blessings. On the morning of that same day when he died, unbeknown to him, he had "concelebrated" (sort of) as usual and received the Body and Blood as his viaticum, the food for the journey to the heavenly pastures.

Besides his love for the Eparchy and dedication to his flock, which was a constant blessing to all, Archbishop Joseph had a deep and genuine love of the Church Universal. He held a deeply seated loyalty to his Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, as well as to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church headed by the Holy Father Successor of Peter. As a young bishop, he actively attended the Second Vatican Council and made a significant impact on that historic event together with the other Melkite bishops around the famous Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh. He was also deeply loved and respected by all in the Synod of the Melkite Bishops in the Middle East as well as in the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. His words were always expressed with weight and listened to with attentiveness. I once heard a bishop describe him as the "wise man from the East." Until the time he was allowed to travel no longer, he was very faithful to the Bishops' Monthly Support Group at St. Anselm's Abbey. I often heard bishops express their appreciation of his deep insight and solid conviction. It was very well put by a prominent member of the hierarchy in one of the many letters of sympathy which we have received in the last few days: "His noble bearing and quiet demeanor gave outward testimony to the great inner strength and faith that was his." The many bishops including Cardinals that have contacted us since his death and the impressive number of bishops who have braved the freezing temperature to attend his funeral today are an outstanding testimony of the impression which Archbishop Joseph made upon his brother bishops.

Our beloved Archbishop took seriously our Lord's prayer to His Father, 'that they may be one'. Ecumenism was dear to his heart. His many friends among our Orthodox brothers and sisters, and the many times that members of the Orthodox Clergy and hierarchy called on him to share his wisdom and insight speak for themselves. He was also an active member of the New England Consultation of Church Leaders and he encouraged the Massachusetts Commission for Christian Unity. Archimandrite Edward Kakaty, Rector of this Cathedral took after me as his representative in this ecumenical assembly.

Sayedna Joseph was a very learned man, and appreciated by many as a scholar. He was deeply steeped in the Fathers of the Church and quite knowledgeable in Church History, Eastern Spirituality, Byzantine music and Liturgy. Our Deacon Candidates enrolled in the Deacon's Program looked forward to Archbishop Joseph's classes each year. The priests of the Eparchy had a very special place in the Archbishop's heart. He was very accessible to his priests. He always had time to speak with one of his priests on the telephone or in person. It was rare to see a priest stop by to see the Archbishop without being invited to join him for dinner or supper. Here, if I beg your indulgence and you allow me to brag about it, Oriental hospitality is a trait that we have inherited from our Father Abraham who gave hospitality to angels unaware. That was echoed by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels."

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us to love the poor and care for the sick. Archbishop Joseph took that teaching of the Lord to heart. He was involved with many charities in the Middle East. He also encouraged Lazarus House in New York and in Lawrence, both of which help the poor and the needy. He initiated the Shepherd Care Program to help the poor through our savings from food during the Lenten season.

Sayedna Joseph was a positive and joyful man. I don't believe I ever heard him complain about any sacrifice he had to make. Even in his last five years with me at the Residence, when his health was declining day by day, victim of the Parkinson disease, he never complained. I used to see on his face a peaceful expression of suffering as that of Jesus on the Cross. His surrender to the will of God was edifying, and a joy to behold. Even in the agony of the last two weeks, because he could not express himself vocally, we were not sure if he was suffering inside or it was mere discomfort. His will was of iron; but his heart was of flesh; and, finally, his heart gave in on a sudden arrest.

Finally, our beloved Archbishop Joseph served and organized and inspired all of us Melkites in the United States and innumerable other faithful seekers of the truth as taught to us by our Lord Jesus and His Holy Church. During twenty years, he strived to set our Eparchy on the firm foundation of tradition and dedication. When we honor his priestly life, we honor our own priesthood. He served as priest in Cairo and Alexandria, then as bishop in Damascus and finally in the USA. He was respected and loved wherever he went. One of his cherished dreams was to see peace, harmony and love reign among his flock. Antioch was from the beginning the field of polarization but the Christians in Antioch managed to live in harmony despite the tensions. When East and West, the New Rome and the Old Rome were fighting and excommunicating each other, Antioch tried to be the peacemaker. The best way to honor him is to follow his steps and to have "the Courage to Be Ourselves," as expressed by one of his earliest circulars.

"Be what you are, and not what you are not; For those such as they are the happiest lot."

Let us strive not only for what makes us different but also for what keeps us in unity with other churches in love. His legacy is to be ourselves and to be in peace within ourselves, with each other in the same church and in peace and love with all the people of God. "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called children of God."

I offer in my name, and in the name of the Eparchy, our heartfelt sympathy to the family of Archbishop Joseph who are present here from Rhode Island and from Michigan, as well as to his brother Abraham in Colombia, to his nephew Archimandrite Maximos Chalhoub and to his nephews and nieces and grandnephews and grandnieces in Syria, in colombia and in the United States. I also offer condolences to the special angel who cared for him selflessly all these years,

Renee Nassar (Imm John and Abou John) She has devotedly served him twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and 46 weeks a year. No vacation, no day off, not even a few hour break, during the past five years I have been with them. Her only recess was two months during the summer when Sayedna Joseph sought the hospitality of his nephew in his native city, Damascus. A word of thanks should be said also to our faithful chancellor Protodeacon Paul Lawler who has served as personal secretary to Sayedna during the past 12 years. I am sure that our dear Archbishop is smiling down on all of us from Heaven, and will be praying for us all and all the needs of the Eparchy.

May his memory be eternal.

Damascus, February 20, 1999

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and all those who inhabit it".

It is with deep sorrow that I deliver the eulogy of an honorable Prelate who shone like a star in the sky of our Melkite Church; who was a companion of struggle and a friend of mine for decades; who was appreciated by all those who knew him; whose praise was on all lips and whose respect and love were rooted in the hearts of all the faithful.

Joseph Tawil was born in an illustrious family of Damascus on the very day of Christmas 1913. Could there have been a better gift from God to the happy parents?

He went to the Elementary School in Damascus. As he still was a child, his parents taught him to love God, to pray, to do his religious duties, to be kind and sociable and to live in peace and harmony with the others. In 1924, as he was 11 years old, he joined the Minor Seminary of St.Anne in Jerusalem. There we met him for the first time, for we had preceded him two years before and were already in the Secondary Cycle of our studies as he arrived. He spent his adolescence at the Salahiah and majored in Philosophy and Theology in 1936, quite trained for sacerdotal and apostolic life. Following his ordination to Priesthood, he was assigned by his religious Superiors to Cairo where he served as a teacher at the Patriarchal High School of which we were the President. The Divine Providence had thus prepared the way for him to take over the Presidency of the High School, following our election as Bishop of Akko, Jaffa, Nazareth and the whole Galilee. It is well known that during our collaboration with our late Patriarch Cyril Mughabghab at the High School and at the Patriarchate, we and Joseph Tawil used to work in perfect harmony, along with two other future Bishops: the regretted Pierre-Kamel Medawar and Elias Zoghby, God bless him and grant him long life.

In 1954, our predecessor, the regretted Maximos IV, who was newly elected as Patriarch, appointed him Patriarchal Vicar in Alexandria, where Fr. Tawil faithfully and devotedly worked for the common good and the prosperity of the Diocese. He thus gained the esteem of the Patriarch who noticed his high qualities and remarkable talents and presented him as Episcopal Candidate. The Holy Synod elected him. Joseph Tawil was consecrated on January 1st, 1960, by the laying of hands of the Patriarch Maximos IV, Bishop Elias Zoghby and Bishop Pierre-Kamel Medawar. So Kyr Joseph Tawil (Titular Archbishop of Myra in Lycia) was the New Year Gift presented by the Patriarch and the Synod to the people of Damascus where he was assigned as General Patriarchal Vicar.

Joseph Tawil who had left Damascus as a child, returned to it as a Most Reverend Bishop, Prince of the Church, and Shepherd for the people of his city who were extremely proud of him.

Archbishop Tawil used all the talents bestowed upon him by God and excelled in governing the Diocese of Damascus. He faithfully served and loved his folk and his folk respected him and returned him love and fidelity. Ask his brothers the Bishops, ask his spiritual sons the Priests, ask the simple people. Each of them has in the heart a special remembrance of Archbishop Tawil. And all of them acknowledge his exceptional merits and the numerous sacrifices he willingly made for the Patriarchal Diocese of Damascus.

On November 22, 1967, the Divine Providence decreed that we should become Patriarch with no merits on our behalf. As we came to Damascus to take possession of our See, our brother in Christ, Joseph Tawil, was the first to welcome us and the first of our faithful Auxiliaries. We still remember with emotion how close our collaboration was! But the dream was too beautiful to last. It was to vanish away very soon like a mirage.

Here again the Divine Providence intervened, but in a rather severe way. "Go forth form the land of your kinsfolk and form your father's house, to a land that I will show you', the Lord had said to Abraham (Gen. 12: 1). He said the same to Archbishop Joseph Tawil. Following the sudden death of Bishop Justin Najmy in the USA in 1968, a new task was assigned by the Providence to Archbishop Tawil. The Holy Synod entrusted him with taking over the responsibility of succession. The Holy See in Rome approved the assignment. So Archbishop Joseph Tawil set off for the New World.

Since his arrival in the USA he never ceased to work in that immense Eparchy. He was the good shepherd for his sons the Priests who all witness to his paternal care. He was also a stout protector for the Mid-Eastern immigrants. Owing to his genuine holiness and to his authentic virtues, he became a refuge for all without exception. He made no discrimination between big and small, rich and poor, but won them all by his piety and by his love for his Melkite Eastern Church and her traditions. He acted in America as he used to act in St. Paul's City: always reminding the immigrants of the history of his Eastern Church and his homeland, as well as the other homelands in the Middle-East, including such large cities as Beirut, Alexandria and Jerusalem.

He was anxious to see the immigrants remain faithful to their countries of origin and even to be prepared to return home in response to the call of their conscience. In the overseas countries, Archbishop Tawil was the living Conscience of the ancestors' homelands in the hearts of the immigrants notwithstanding the storms and the obstacles.

Archbishop Tawil never failed to pay a yearly visit to Damascus, his birthplace, of which he was fond: "Real love is always the first love', says a famous Arabic verse. He was proud of his city and it was proud of him. We used to meet him every summer at the house of his brother, whose family has always taken an extremely loving care of the Archbishop, with a an unfailing spirit of fidelity, abnegation and self-denial.

The incredible achievements realized by Archbishop Tawil in 20 years in the USA are impossible to enumerate. Nevertheless we have to mention some of his performances in the immense area of the Eparchy which covers the whole United States. Since our Melkite Community is spread all over America, it was not an easy job for him to supervise all the projects which were being undertaken.

Here are some of them:

- He created 18 Parishes and/or Missions and founded the Saviour Monastery in Ohio for the rehabilitation of Youth Delinquents.

- He founded a Convent for Sisters in Danbury and put it under the protection of the Mother of God.

- Aware of the fact that, for the Byzantine ceremonies to be performed in their full magnificence they need Deacons, he restored the Permanent Diaconate in our Church.

- He founded Sophia Magazine which is still published.

- He devoted a particular attention to the Laity; he established a Parish Council in every Parish.

He played a decisive role in creating the Melkite Convention which meets for three days every year, with the participation of a great number of Priests, Monks and Civilians from all over the USA. The Convention deals with the parochial, spiritual and social affairs of the Community.

The honorable Prelate did not forget that he too was an adolescent. So he took particular care of the Youth Groups and founded the NAMY (National Association of Melkite Youth) to meet their needs, promote their talents and strengthen the ties of friendship among them.

- Our great Departed had a far-reaching insight. He had to provide for the future spiritual needs of the Eparchy. Since it was not possible to ask the Mother Church for priests, he created St. Gregory Seminary in Newton Center not far from his Residence, to promote sacerdotal vocations and prepare the young generation to stewardship. Aware that priests are the cornerstone and the backbone of the Church, he devoted his full attention to them and set up for them a Retirement Plan in recognition of their valuable services for the Church. He used to say that without priests there is no Eparchy. He sincerely loved his Priests. In return, they too had for him warm affection, high esteem and profound respect. Just ask them and you will see a warm drop of tears in the eyes of each of them.

- One aspect of his apostolic zeal can be seen in the Bishop's Pastoral Letters which he addressed to his folk on important occasions, such as Christmas, Great Lent, Pascha and the Vocations Day. He also encouraged the production of Video-Tapes to better make known the Eastern Churches. As a result of his zeal, every Parish has now its own Sunday Bulletin which aims much more at religious education than at mere information.

- The regretted Archbishop could not have neglected Women. They are the Mothers of our children and the Educators of generations. He founded for them the NAMW (National Association of Melkite Women) It would be impossible to set up an exhaustive list of all his liturgical, pastoral, social and ecumenical initiatives. In a word, he was the Good Shepherd in all aspects of his life. All we can say to him now is:

"Blessed is the way whereupon you walk today: for a place of rest is prepared for you."

Yes, now that "you have completed the course and kept the Faith" a place of rest is prepared for you.

In 1989, as he was in his 76th year, Archbishop Tawil decided to give an example of abnegation. Before the publication of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, which calls upon the Bishops to resign when they complete their 75^th year, Archbishop Tawil anticipated. While retiring in his Residence, at West Newton, he followed up the course of activity of the Eparchy, which he loved and devoted himself to its service. From there he continued to pray fervently for the success of its projects.

Unfortunately he was suddenly struck by Parkinson decease. Within months he felt exhausted and lost his freedom of movement. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41) In spite of his bodily weakness the Archbishop remained fully conscious. He was soon to lose also the faculty of speech. However, if speech is of silver, silence is of gold. Archbishop Tawil, who was very well known for his fluent eloquence became silent, but his silence was sometimes much more expressive than speaking.

Although we were aware that he had been struggling against disease for a couple of years, the news of his death came as a painful surprise for us. In full submission to the will of God, we repeat with our Mother the Church her saying in the funeral service: "This Servant of yours, who has lived upon earth as befits High Priests, in faith love and hope, glorify, 0 Saviour, in the Kingdom of heaven.

In our name and in the name of our Holy Synod, we convey our sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the members of his spiritual and temporal family; to all his relatives and acquaintances; to the priests, monks and faithful, asking the Lord to grant him peace and rest in the Eternal Mansion of the Father. Our Condolences go in particular to the Faithful of his American Eparchy which he served about 20 years; to all his friends and to the persons who were dear to him. As for us who have known him, loved him and now lost him, may the Lord grant us his abundant consolation.

To our Departed brother Joseph we wish a peaceful rest in the hope of the Resurrection and to you all long life to come.

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

of Alexandria and of Jerusalem.

 

Archbishop Joseph Tawil was born on December 25, 1913, in Damascus, Syria, the son of Elias and Malakie (Salmane) Tawil. He studied for the priesthood under the White Fathers in St. Anne's Seminary in Jerusalem. He was ordained as priest on July 20, 1936, and was assigned to the Patriarchal College in Cairo, Egypt. For seven years he was a teacher, then Dean of that institution. In 1943 he became President of the college, and remained in that position for eleven years, and then was appointed Patriarchal Vicar in Alexandria. He was consecrated a bishop in 1960, and was named Patriarchal Vicar in Damascus. While in this office he attended Vatican Council II.

On October 30, 1969, Archbishop Tawil was appointed Apostolic Exarch for the United States by Pope Paul VI, and was installed on the following March 15. He succeeded Bishop Justin Najmy, the first Melkite bishop in the United States. Bishop Najmy had died only two years after his installation, and thus the major task of welding an efficient diocese out of the existing parishes scattered over the country fell to Archbishop Tawil. He responded well to the challenge. One of his first actions was to write a Pastoral Letter "The Courage to be Ourselves" to strengthen his flock, many of whom were relatively newcomers in this country and surrounded by the far more numerous Latin Catholics. He founded the diocesan publication "Sophia", and established a diaconate-training program, the first in an Eastern Catholic diocese, and one of the earliest among all dioceses. He also established a Diocesan Pastoral Council. Later he inaugurated a Diocesan Communications Office, the National Association of Melkite Youth, and a full-time Office of Educational Services.

During his tenure as Eparch, Archbishop Tawil founded eight new parishes and five missions. He ordained 26 new priests and 23 deacons.

After reaching retirement age, Archbishop Tawil became Emeritus on Dec. 12, 1989. He continued living at the Bishop's residence in West Newton, MA, until his death on February 17, 1999.

Most Rev. John A. Elya

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