Lebanese Capuchin Beatified in Beirut June 22

Capuchin Father Jacob Haddad, Lebanese contemporary of Solanus Casey, was proclaimed Blessed in Beirut's Martyrs' Square June 22 before an ecumenical crowd of over 10,000 people. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Roman office for the Cause of Saints presided at the ceremony in the name of Pope Benedict XVI.

Now known locally as "Abuna Yaaqub," Khalil Haddad was born in Ghazir, Lebanon, in 1875, took the name of Jacob when he entered the Capuchins in 1894, and died in Beirut in 1954.

Besides the many religious and civil authorities including the Capuchin General Minister, the huge crowd encompassed the entire Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of the Cross founded by Blessed Jacob, all of the Lebanese Capuchins, and many other members of the General Viceprovince of the Near East.

Florio Tessari, Capuchin general postulator, told Vatican Radio of Jacob's untiring work of preaching in Lebanon, Palestine, Iran and Syria. He stressed that the friar's 24 volumes of manuscripts of discourses in Arabic testify to the commitment of his life to Evangelization. Yaaqub also founded schools, hospitals, and orphanages and became known as the St. Vincent DePaul of Lebanon.

For more about the beatification itself, see the Order's international website.
For a short biography of Blessed Yaaqub, see the Australian Capuchin site