Former Bishops

Archbishop Francis mansour Zayek
1962-1996

First Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

Archbishop Zayek was born in Manzanillo, Cuba, one of the eight children of Mansour Zayek and Mariam Khoury, on October 18, 1920. He was ordained a Maronite priest in the chapel of the Urban College in Rome on March 17, 1946. He then earned doctorates in both theology and canon law at the Lateran University. After completing his studies, Zayek was sent to Cairo, Egypt, where he was appointed by Boutros Deeb, the Maronite Archbishop of Cairo, as Rector of the Maronite Cathedral of the Holy Family there, and a judge in the Catholic tribunals of the city. He later returned to Rome where he served as a judge of the Roman Rota and as a consultant in canon law at the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm and at the Lateran University.

On May 30, 1962, Pope John XXIII appointed Zayek to head the Maronite Apostolic Exarchate for Maronites in Brazil, the first Maronite bishop to serve outside of the Middle East. He was ordained bishop in Dimane, Lebanon, on August 5, 1962, by Paul Peter Meouchi, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch.

On January 27, 1966, Pope Paul VI established a similar exarchate for the United States, and transferred Zayek to serve as its first exarch. He was installed in Detroit, the seat of the exarchate, on June 11, 1966.

Pope Paul elevated the exarchate to a full eparchy, or diocese, on November 29, 1971, and appointed Zayek as the first bishop of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Detroit. Zayek was installed as its first bishop on June 4, 1972. The seat of the eparchy was moved from Detroit to the Church of St. Maron in Brooklyn on 27 June 1977 and renamed the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn.

Pope John Paul II elevated Bishop Zayek to the personal rank of archbishop on December 10, 1982. He retired on November 11, 1996, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

He died on September 14, 2010, at the age of 89.

Bishop Stephen Hector Doueihi
1996-2004

Second Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn

Born in Zgharta, Lebanon, Bishop Doueihi was ordained priest on August 14, 1955 to the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Batroun. In 1972 Doueihi incardinated himself in the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn.

Pope John Paul II named him as the Bishop of Saint Maron of Brooklyn on November 11, 1996. He was ordained a bishop by Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, on January 11, 1997. The principal co-consecrators were Bishop Emeritus Francis Zayek of Brooklyn and Archeparch Joseph Mohsen Béchara of Antelias. Doueihi served as the eparch until his resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II on January 10, 2004. He died on December 17, 2014.