Qartaba once again has a scoop

The quaint little village of Qartaba had yet another first-ever this weekend: the married priest Naoum was ordained as a Monseigneur. This made him the first ever married priest to reach this high level. Obviously, it was a big event and the whole town was present in church to witness it.

Or rather, around the church since there were many more people attending the service than there were seats available. No worry, the organization has put plenty of chairs outside the church and no one had to miss a word thanks to loudspeakers

The service was held by the archbishop of Jbeil and was followed by a small video presentation that captured the highlights of Monseigneur Naoum’s life. All his life, he has been the town’s priest so many people know him very well. Yet, there were some details new to most of us. The most remarkable factoid was that he was already speed-dating before it even existed.

Due to his family moving to South America, the young student Naoum had to get married so his future wife could take care of the household. No problem: he was introduced to ten potential wives in as many days and got married on the 11^th day! And, like a fairy-tale, they lived happily ever since. It only goes to show that love at first sight does exist and speed dating can work.

He is the third Monseigneur from Qartaba and the first ever priest who is married. Unique to the Catholic Church, the Maronite church allows married men to become priest. Typically, they are town priests and do not rise much in the church as the higher positions are reserved for the ‘career priests’ who are not married. It is therefore even more of a reason for all of Qartaba to be proud of the success of one of her sons.