Elias Chacour, EMU's Special Guest
Elias Chacour
Archbishop of Galilee
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation
Speaking at EMU & JMU
October 24 and 25, 2006
Elias Chacour, the Melkite Archbishop of Galilee, was born in the Arab village of Biram in Upper Galilee in 1939. Evicted with his family from their home by Israeli authorities when he was eight years old, he lived as a refugee until eventually granted Israeli citizenship.
Following his education, Chacour was ordained as a Melkite priest and assigned to the poor Arab village of Ibillin in Galilee. There he began his work of peace making and reconciliation. Early in his work he recognized education as a weapon against violence, and he began developing a school. Today, Ibillin’s Mar Elias Educational Institutions bring more than 3,000 Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faculty and students to live and study together.
"Peace needs no contemplators. It needs actors, people who are willing to get their hands dirty, to get up and do something." |
At once Arab by birth, Christian by faith, and citizen of the modern state of Israel, Archbishop Chacour is a living contrast to the popular Western stereotype of Arabs. He has become a global ambassador for reconciliation, traveling between the Middle East and other countries, spreading the message of peace. |
Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions, recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award (presented in the past to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the late Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat), the Japanese Niwano Buddhist Peace Prize Award, the Italian Dante Alighieri Human Rights Award, and the Mediterranean Peace Award. Archbishop Chacour has also received numerous honorary doctorates, including those from Emory University and the University of Indianapolis.
Chacour is the author of two best selling books:
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"Every time you take the side of one of the peoples here, you become just one more enemy to the other. You need to build a bridge from the middle to reach each side." |
Other Resources:
- The Tears of a Bishop — Servant at Their Feet
- A Man of Galiliee: The story of Abuna Elias Chacour and Mar Elias Educational Institutuions — To receive this DVD, please send a $15.00 contribution to: Pilgrims of Ibillin, P.O. Box 3213, Livermore, CA 94551. If you have questions you can email pilgrimscontact@comcast.net. Others have found it helpful to view this DVD to learn about Elias Chacour's story and vision, prior to seeing him in person.
YOU ARE INVITED to hear Archbishop Chacour:Tuesday, October 24
Wednesday, October 25
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Archbishop Chacour's visit is under the auspices of The Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) and Eastern Mennonite University.
CJP has hosted and provided peace education for over 75 students from this conflicted region through its masters' degree program, Summer Peacebuilding Institute, and STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) program.
CJP anticipates building a relationship with the recently founded Mar Elias Center (MEPC) at the Mar Elias University, which is already a model of peace in action. Mar Elias is a place where Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Druze students and faculty work and live together. MEPC hopes to create an alternative vision for a future where the challenge of difference is welcomed and diversity is nutured.
Supported by funds from the Lilly Endowment.
For more information about Archbishop Chacour's visit,
please contact Janet Stuzman at or call at (540) 432-4491.
Last updated: Thursday, 18-Jun-2009 12:25:00 EDT