Bechara Boutros al-Rahi

Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi has been the head of the Maronite Church since March 2011. Born in northern Lebanon, al-Rahi attended a prestigious Jesuit school near Beirut before becoming a priest and eventually studying at Rome's Lateran University. Before assuming the Patriarchy, he served as bishop of Byblos. As Patriarch, he controversially suggested that Bashar al-Assad should remain Syria's president; al-Assad has protected Syria's Christian minority to a large extent, which an Islamist government could discontinue.

Based in Lebanon, the Maronite Church is in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Named for a fourth-century ascetic monk named Maron, the Maronite Church was founded by St. John Maron in the seventh century to distinguish their beliefs from the Orthodox Emperors of the Byzantine realm. While the Maronite Church accepts the Roman Pope's authority, they distinguish themselves from the Western church in matters such as the order of mass.

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