Bishop François Beyrouti
Bishop François was born July 3, 1971, to Elias and Maggy Beyrouti in Hadeth-Beirut, Lebanon. The family emigrated to Canada in 1976, settling in North Vancouver, British Columbia. He attended primary and secondary Catholic schools in North Vancouver. He then entered the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, British Columbia in 1989 where he completed a B.A. in 1993.
He then moved to Ottawa, Ontario, and in 1996 completed a Civil and Ecclesiastical Baccalaureate in Theology in Eastern Christian Studies at the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University. In 1997, he completed a Master of Arts in Theology, Biblical Studies concentration, and in 1998, a Licentiate in Theology, Biblical Studies concentration, both at Saint Paul University (Ottawa, Ontario). He has also completed workshops in Conflict Resolution and Youth Ministry.
On October 4, 1998, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Sleiman appointed as assistant pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Melkite Catholic Church in Ottawa where he ministered until January 31, 2010. There he focused on building up pastoral programs, developing strong children, youth, and young adult ministries, leading marriage preparation programs, media work with newspapers, radio, and TV stations, and engaged political leaders on religious topics.
On the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth to the Throne, he was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal in a ceremony at the Parliament of Canada on November 1, 2002.
In 2013, he received a PhD (The University of Ottawa) and DTh (Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario) for his thesis on Origen of Alexandria’s Commentary on the Gospel of John. During these studies, he attended and presented at Academic conferences and published articles and book reviews in academic journals.
He was later incardinated into the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton, USA and, in November 2012, appointed as pastor of Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California. He has taught the following courses: “Christianity in the Middle East” (2000), “Hermeneutics and Exegesis in Eastern Christianity” (2000, 2003, & 2015), “The Synoptic Gospels” (2008), “The Eastern Catholic Churches at Vatican II” (2014), and online courses on the Gospel of Saint Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, the Bible in the Divine Liturgy, the Old Testament Prophecies of Jesus, and Foundational Bible resources.
Father Hezekias, Pastor
Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo graduated from Christendom College in 2004 and completed a master’s degree in systematic theology with an Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma at Christendom College’s Graduate School of Theology.
In 2009, Fr. Hezekias founded the Institute of Catholic Culture and has since served as its Executive Director. Ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 2016, he has served as the Pastor of St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Sacramento, CA since 2017.
Fr. Hezekias has lectured throughout the U.S., is a regular guest on the Son Rise Morning Show, and has appeared on EWTN’s Sunday Night Live and Marcus Grodi’s Coming Home Network. He and his wife Linda have seven children.
Eparch of Newton
Born in Paterson, N.J., the Most Rev. Nicholas James Samra (August 15, 1944- ) was ordained a priest of the Eparchy of Newton on May 10, 1970. He served in several parishes and eparchial posts before his consecration and installation as auxiliary bishop on July 6th, 1989 by Archbishop Joseph Tawil. He was elected our fifth eparchial bishop in June 2011.
Father Hezekias
Pastor
Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo graduated from Christendom College in 2004 and completed a master‘s degree in systematic theology with an Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma at Christendom‘s Graduate School.
In 2009, Fr. Hezekias (formerly Deacon Sabatino) founded the Institute of Catholic Culture, and has since served as its Executive Director. Ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 2016, he also serves as the Director of the Office of Catechesis and Evangelization for the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton.
He is a recipient of the Guadalupe Radio Network‘s “Fishers of Men” award and the Brent Society‘s Bishop Thomas J. Welsh Award for Distinguished Service. Fr. Hezekias has lectured throughout the U.S., appeared on a number of Catholic radio shows, and has twice appeared on EWTN‘s Sunday Night Live program.
He and his wife Linda have six children.
Fr. Hezekias can be reached at fatherhezekias@gmail.com and 916 920-2900 ext. 1
Reader
Reader Fred Struck and his wife Mary have been parishioners of St. George for 32 years. Fred serves as Reader for the parish. His knowledge of the services is exhaustive; his dedication unfaltering.
Fred can be reached at festruck@hotmail.com