Rafic Nahra

Rafic Nahra (born 27 January 1959) is a Lebanese-French

Biography Born on 27 January 1959 in Ismailia, Egypt, to a Lebanese family, Rafic Nahra grew up in Lebanon and moved to France at the age of 20, where he obtained a doctorate in engineering in 1985 from the École des Ponts et Chaussées, a profession he held for two years in the Geodia Institute.

In 1987, he entered the seminary in the French capital and was sent to Rome to pursue ecclesiastical studies. He obtained in 1991 a bachelor's degree in theology from the Gregorian University and in 1994 a master's degree in Sacred Scripture from the Biblical Institute in Rome. In the framework of his studies, he was sent to Jerusalem from February to September 1993.

Ordained priest for the diocese of Paris, in 1992, by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, he was assigned to various pastoral and academic missions. From 1994 to 2001, he was a spiritual director at the "Maison Saint-Augustin" and taught Biblical exegesis at the École Cathédrale of Paris. From 2001 to 2004 he was vicar in the parish St François de Molitor, while teaching biblical exegesis.

On October 21, 2017, the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, appointed him as Patriarchal Vicar for the Saint James Vicariate for the Hebrew speaking Catholics in Israel and, from Pentecost 2018, as Patriarchal Vicar for the Migrants and Asylum seekers in Israel.

In addition, Father Rafic Nahra speaks five languages: Arabic, Hebrew, French, English and Italian.