Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar

Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar (in Latin: Eparchia Helipolitana-Rubrimonasteriensis Maronitarum) is an eparchy of the Maronite Church located in Deir El Ahmar, Lebanon. In 2012 there were 45,000 baptized. It is currently governed by Eparch Hanna Rahmé, OLM.
Territory and statistics.
The eparchy includes the cities of Baalbek, Hermel and Deir el Ahmar, its eparchial seat, where is located the Saint George Cathedral. The territory of the diocese covers 27 percent of the area of Lebanon and encounters the east and north of the Lebanese-Syrian border, to the west it extends to the high mountains and in the south it joins the Zahleh, established in 1990.
Its territory is divided into 34 parishes and in 2012 there were 45,000 Maronite Catholics.
History.
The presence of Christian churches in the city of Baalbek can be traced to the year 96, when is mentioned its first Christian bishop. Emperor Constantine the Great (around 288-337) had to build a large church there and the work of excavation of its remains began in 1933. The Maronite Eparchy of Baalbek is relatively recent. The first bishop known is Gabriel I Moubarak, mentioned around 1671. Like all Maronite seats, its canonical erection was confirmed in the Maronite Synod of Mount Lebanon in 1736. On August 4, 1977 it was united to the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Zahleh. On 9 June 1990 the two eparchies were separated and simultaneously the Eparchy of Baalbek assumed its present name. Its first elected eparch on August 5, 1990 was Philippe Boutros Chebaya.