PATRIARCHAL VISIT 2023​

My dear brother and sisters in Christ.

Peace be with you.

As our Melkite clergy and faithful community join each day in offering fervent prayers for an enduring and just peace in the Holy Land—the Land that was blessed by the footsteps of Jesus, the Land that first heard the Good News of Salvation, we are also blessed in welcoming His Beatitude, Patriarch Youssef Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, who will embark on an apostolic journey to Australia and New Zealand.

This will be the first pastoral visit by His Beatitude to Oceania since his election to the Throne of St Peter at Antioch in 2017. His Beatitude’s pastoral visit will take place during the Jubilee Year of celebrations, marking the 300th anniversary of an ecumenical journey, which started with the restoration of full communion with the Church of Rome in 1724.

The Jubilee Year of celebrations will open on 11 November 2023.

To stay in touch with His Beatitude’s pastoral visits and the special occasions we will host to commemorate his apostolic journey, go to Events

These commemorations will be a blessed opportunity for us to come together in peace, love, and hope and to commend all our communities to the maternal concern of our Blessed Mary.

With my paternal blessing and with prayers assured,

Yours sincerely in Christ,

​Robert Rabbat
Bishop of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand, and All Oceania