Elias Peter Hoayek
Maronite Patriarch of Antioch (1843–1931)
The Vatican record
- 5 July 2019 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2019)
- 22 May 2026 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2026)
Who they were
Elias Hoyek was born in Lebanon on 4 December 1843 and became a priest of the Maronite Church. Elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, he guided his Church through one of the hardest periods in Lebanon's history, including the famine of the First World War.
He is honoured as a founding father of modern Lebanon, having pleaded for the creation of Greater Lebanon in 1920. He also founded the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family. He died on 24 December 1931.
The miracles
Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese army — Lebanon — 1965
An army officer with chronic spondylolysis on both sides of the spine dreamed of the Patriarch and woke completely healed.
The man healed was not a Christian but a Druze. One more approved miracle is needed for canonisation.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze officer in the Lebanese army was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 22 May 2026, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 25 July 2026 by a delegate of Pope Leo XIV.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - decree of 22 May 2026
- Vatican News, May 2026 - Pope authorises beatification of Lebanese 'founding father'
- The Catholic Weekly - The shepherd who built a nation
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q2077074 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Elias Peter Hoayek (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.