Title of address for Maronite bishop

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AutumnMarie

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Hello all,
Can someone tell me what the proper form of address for a Maronite bishop is, i.e. the equivalent to ‘Your Excellency’ for a latin bishop?

Thank you
 
AutumnMarie said:
Hello all,
Can someone tell me what the proper form of address for a Maronite bishop is, i.e. the equivalent to ‘Your Excellency’ for a latin bishop?

Thank you
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If you are addressing him in English in the United States, you may use “Your Excellency.”

Note the titles in the front page article from The Maronite Voice, a publication of the Maronite Eparchies in the USA.

stmaron.org/Maronite%20Voice%20for%20April%202011.pdf
 
For what it’s worth, the last two times I overheard a Latin bishop addressed as “Your Excellency,” both times the bishops chided the person, said please don’t call me that, just address me as “Bishop.”
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
For what it’s worth, the last two times I overheard a Latin bishop addressed as “Your Excellency,” both times the bishops chided the person, said please don’t call me that, just address me as “Bishop.”
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I have never experienced that with one of the Bishops of the East.
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
For what it’s worth, the last two times I overheard a Latin bishop addressed as “Your Excellency,” both times the bishops chided the person, said please don’t call me that, just address me as “Bishop.”
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While I can’t imagine my bishop publicly chiding anyone, I’m pretty sure that he prefers to be addressed as “Bishop (name)”.

I would expect that writing conventions would be different, however, and a bishop would be addressed more formally in a letter.
 
babochka said:
While I can’t imagine my bishop publicly chiding anyone, I’m pretty sure that he prefers to be addressed as “Bishop (name)”.

I would expect that writing conventions would be different, however, and a bishop would be addressed more formally in a letter.
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The article I quoted, in which the author referred to the Maronite Bishop of the East Coast of the United States as “His Excellency,” was in the official publication of the Maronite Eparchies of the US – and the author was actually the emeritus Bishop of another American Maronite eparchy.
 
For what it’s worth, when our parish was visited by Bishop Elias last spring, our priest referred to him as Sayedna Elias (Bishop Elias), that’s how I referred to him in two brief conversations with him.
I heard people say, any one of the three, “your excellency”, Bishop, and Sayedna.
Our parish is part of the Eparchy of Our Lady Of Lebanon.
 
In formal written address, a Maronite bishop is, in the US at least, most commonly addressed in English using the Latin form “Your Excellency” (or “His Excelency”") but it is not unusual to address him as “Your Grace” (“His Grace”).

The same applies in personal address, at least upon first formal meeting (and not necessarily only on first formal introduction). That said, the bishop is thereafter generally called “sayidna [name]” or simply “sayidna” (which an Arabic title idiomatically translating as “Your Lordship”) during conversation. The same form of address is common among Melkites, AOC, Chaldeans, and SCC. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it is also used among the Copts and ACoE as well.
 
To add my five cents:

how much more easy we Slavic have it: we address our bishops “Vladyka!”
If you want to be kind, you say “Dear Vladyka!” or “Dearest Vladyka”.
Some say a name after that, such as “Vladyka Serafim, welcome!”, or “Dear Vladyka Porfyrios, please join us!”.

May the peace of our Lord be with you, dear Catholic brothers and sisters.
–Vladyka Gavrilo
 
Tarpeian_Rock said:
For what it’s worth, the last two times I overheard a Latin bishop addressed as “Your Excellency,” both times the bishops chided the person, said please don’t call me that, just address me as “Bishop.”
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In my Canadian Archdiocese the Archbishop is always addressed as “Your Grace”. Vancouver is, however, a more traditional diocese than many in North America. We even use the altar rail at our cathedral - at all masses.
 
malphono said:
In formal written address, a Maronite bishop is, in the US at least, most commonly addressed in English using the Latin form “Your Excellency” (or “His Excelency”") but it is not unusual to address him as “Your Grace” (“His Grace”).

The same applies in personal address, at least upon first formal meeting (and not necessarily only on first formal introduction). That said, the bishop is thereafter generally called “sayidna [name]” or simply “sayidna” (which an Arabic title idiomatically translating as “Your Lordship”) during conversation. The same form of address is common among Melkites, AOC, Chaldeans, and SCC. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it is also used among the Copts and ACoE as well.
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We Malankara Syriac call our bishops “Your Grace”, sometimes “Your Excellency” but only in the US in English… Usually ‘Abun Mor’ (Our Father Lord [episcopal ordination name])… Only His Beatitude the Catholicos (in the case of the Syriac Orthodox in India, this is reserved to the Patriarch) is called “Moran Mor” (Our Lord/Master, Lord Baselios [episcopal ordination name]. Corepiscopos are Rt.Rev. and Rabban are Very Rev. sometimes vice versa
 
malphono said:
In formal written address, a Maronite bishop is, in the US at least, most commonly addressed in English using the Latin form “Your Excellency” (or “His Excelency”") but it is not unusual to address him as “Your Grace” (“His Grace”).

The same applies in personal address, at least upon first formal meeting (and not necessarily only on first formal introduction). That said, the bishop is thereafter generally called “sayidna [name]” or simply “sayidna” (which an Arabic title idiomatically translating as “Your Lordship”) during conversation. The same form of address is common among Melkites, AOC, Chaldeans, and SCC. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe it is also used among the Copts and ACoE as well.
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Maronites do not use Mor or Moron Mor?
 
What about a Maronite Chorbishop? Would the titles/style be the same as a Bishop?
 
Thomas48 said:
Maronites do not use Mor or Moron [sic] Mor?
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Sayyidna is the Arabic equivalent of Moran. I’ve seen the patriarch, and on very rare occasion, some bishops referred to as Mar X - a clear loan from the Syriac into Arabic. Frankly, the only time I’ve ever seen Mor/Moran Mor used for Maronite prelates is by myself. Monseigneur is also not uncommon.

In response to XXI 4, they’re simply addressed as Msgr. X.
Tarpeian_Rock said:
For what it’s worth, the last two times I overheard a Latin bishop addressed as “Your Excellency,” both times the bishops chided the person, said please don’t call me that, just address me as “Bishop.”
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It seems those bishops don’t understand the difference between title and address then.
 
MorEphrem said:
Frankly, the only time I’ve ever seen Mor/Moran Mor used for Maronite prelates is by myself.
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I use it, but only in the third person. Doing so in the second person would be a complete and utter waste of time and effort.
 
malphono said:
Yes, some do but sadly it’s only those very few of us who still subscribe to the Syro-Maronite position. 🤷
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MorEphrem said:
Sayyidna is the Arabic equivalent of Moran. I’ve seen the patriarch, and on very rare occasion, some bishops referred to as Mar X - a clear loan from the Syriac into Arabic. Frankly, the only time I’ve ever seen Mor/Moran Mor used for Maronite prelates is by myself. Monseigneur is also not uncommon.
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Thank you both for your replies! For Syro Malabar Catholics the title Mar is always used. Maran Mar is rare but still there are some individuals that use it to for refer to the Major Archbishop, i.e Maran Mar George Alencherry. In ancient folk songs and ballads, Jesus is referred to as Maran in many instances.

The terms in Malayalam for a bishop include Pithav (which is a more honorary/proper form of saying Father) this is in contrast to the word Achan that is used for priests (it is a lesser form of saying Father). The other Malayalam word for bishop is Methran, which is an Indianization of the word Metropolitan. Often regular bishops are referred to as Pithavu and Archbishops as Methran i.e, Mar Jacob Angadiath Pithav and Mar Matthew Moolakkattu Methran, however lay people will often mix both terms regardless of the bishops standing.
 
Thomas48 said:
The other Malayalam word for bishop is Methran, which is an Indianization of the word Metropolitan.
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Just wanted to clarify that Methran is not really an indianization of Metropolitan, it’s actually the Aramo-Syriac word for bishop (Mutran) - Arabs, Copts, Armenians, and others (even Greek Antiochians) use it as well, since it’s been incorporated into Arabic as well. The Malayalam equivalent, I suppose, would be “Thirumeni” - which, originally, is a word used to describe a Hindu high priest (literally from Tamil meaning “Divine” “Thiru”] “Body” “Meni”]), and is used commonly by Syriac Christians from Changanasserry and south - I’m not certain that word is used commonly north of Trissur.

About the use of “Thirumeni” - it’s the Malayalam equivalent for Syendna or Vladyka as respect to the High Priest, close in expression to ‘My Lord’, and is considered more affectionate than the formal Syriac Aboon Mor or Moran .

Its usage is relatively recent in Kerala, earlier when Kerala was divided into 3 kingdoms only the King of Travancore was addressed as Thirumeni. Out of respect for the King, Christians both Orthodox and Catholic did not address their Prelates as Thirumeni, referring to them as Pithav or Valiya Achen meaning Father or Senior Father. It was only when the kingdoms became irrelevant that the current usage started.
 
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