Fr Fadi with his congregation
CoR is currently in the process of admitting the Lebanese Maronite congregation as new members and they have asked for assistance in finding a new church due to their growing numbers in London. They currently use a Catholic church, Our Lady of Sorrows in Paddington, and rent a larger Anglican church for feastdays. The Maronites are part of the Catholic Church and they have three monks in the UK living in Swiss Cottage, serving 1500 families.
The Superior, Fr Fadi Kmeid says: “The church we’re using is very small so we’re looking for a bigger place in which to worship, ideally something like a monastery where we could live as well.”
He adds: “We are the only Church in the Middle East which was always in communion with Rome. We use the Syriac language – the closest dialect to the language used by Christ. Ideally we are looking for a house with five or six rooms. Our congregation is happy to travel for an hour to be with us, but we think the best location would be ideally in Ealing/Perivale/Greenford or NW London. “
The Maronites have great faith in a Lebanese saint, St Charbel. He is known among Lebanese for his miraculous healings in answer to prayers said at his tomb. Fr Fadi says devotion to him is very strong: “He is a very active saint. He does a lot of miracles!”
Christmas Mass for the Lebanese community in Glasgow
The UK Maronite community is divided into two groups – the Cypriot Maronites and the Lebanese Maronites, who started to come to the UK after wars in the mid 1970s, with the biggest numbers of Maronite Christians arriving between 1988 and 1994.
There are around 7000 Maronites in the London area but Fr Fadi also ministers to Maronite communities in Bournemouth and Glasgow, with about 50 families in each place. Just before Christmas he travelled to Scotland and back, all in one day, to celebrate Mass for the community there.
He is pleased to report he has a very active London congregation, with a youth group, a Fraternity of the Immaculate Conception, altar servers, a choir and a family group which meets every fortnight.
Fr Fadi can be contacted on : father@maronitechurch.org.uk Tel : 07908224983