His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP

Born:

  • June 10, 1931, About Mizan, Lebanon

Biography of His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan PHILIP Saliba

Metropolitan PHILIP was born on June 10, 1931, in Abou Mizan, Lebanon, the fourth of five children to Elias and Saleema Saliba. After completing his primary education at the Shouier Elementary School, he entered the Balamand Orthodox Seminary, near Tripoli, Lebanon, at the age of fourteen. He subsequently attended and was graduated from the Orthodox Secondary School in Homs, Syria, and the Assiyeh Orthodox College in Damascus, Syria.

Ordained to the holy diaconate in 1949, he was assigned to serve as secretary to His Beatitude, Alexander III (Tahan), the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. In 1952, he was appointed lecturer in Arabic language and literature and student advisor at the Balamand Orthodox Seminary.

While a deacon, Metropolitan PHILIP was awarded a scholarship and invitation to undertake studies in Great Britain at the Kelham Theological School and the University of London. In 1956, he arrived in the United States and enrolled at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. Assigned to a position at St. George Church in Detroit, Michigan, he entered Wayne State University from which he was graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959.
Name Day:

  • November 14

Educated:

  • Balamand Orthodox Theological Seminary, Tripoli (Lebanon), 1945-47
  • Orthodox Secondary School, Homs (Syria), 1947-49
  • Assiyah College, Damascus (Syria), 1949-51
  • Kelham Theological School, Nottinghamshire (England), 1953
  • University of London, London (England), 1954
  • Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Boston/Brookline, MA, 1956
  • Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 1956-69 – (B.A. in History)
  • St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY, 1965-65; M.Div.

Ordained:

  • Deacon, August 6, 1949
  • Priest, March 1, 1959, by Metropolitan Antony Bashir
  • Archimandrite, June 1966, by Metropolitan Ilyas Kurban
  • Archbishop, August 14, 1966, at St. Elias Monastery Lebanon, by Patriarch Theodosios VI;enthroned in New York October 13th

Ministry:

  • Secretary to Patriarch Alexander III (1949-53)
  • Dean of Students and Lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature, Balamand Seminary, Tripoli, Lebanon (1952)
  • Deacon, St. George Church, Detroit, MI (1956-59)
  • Pastor, St. George Church, Cleveland, OH (1959-64)
  • Archbishop of New York and North America (1966-), overseeing some 159 parishes
  • Founds Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America (A.O.W.C.N.A.: 1973)
  • Founds Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch (1975)
  • Purchases Antiochian Village property, Ligonier, PA (1978)
  • Founds St. Stephen’s Course of Theological Studies (1980)
  • Accepts into Orthodoxy the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission (1987)
  • Founds Antiochian House of Studies (1992)