A three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Elias Chacour retired after serving since 2006 as the Archbishop of the Melkite Catholic Church for Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and all Galilee. He is living again in Ibillin and enjoys having time to read, write, pray, and continue meeting pilgrim groups to share his story of “Building Peace on Desktops.” He was born to a Palestinian Christian family in the village of Biram in Upper Galilee in 1939. Along with his whole village he experienced the tragedy of eviction by the Israeli authorities in 1948 and became a refugee in his own land. He and all his family members became citizens of Israel when the state was created.
In 1965, Father Chacour was ordained and appointed as priest of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in Ibillin. He remained there until 2006 when he was elevated to become Archbishop and moved to Haifa. Ibillin is a small Arab village in the Galilee region, near Nazareth, where Christians and Muslims have lived together peacefully for hundreds of years.
Father Chacour realized early on that his work in Ibillin would require more than routine priestly duties. His vision was, and is, that through education, children, youth, and young adults of different faith traditions will learn to live and work together in peace. That vision is a reality in the schools of the Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI). As Father Chacour’s dreams became reality, schools were established in Ibillin over 30 years. The cluster of schools now serve 2,750 students from preschool through high school.
Many international groups and educational institutions have honored Archbishop Chacour for his work on behalf of peace. In addition to his nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize (1986, 1989, 1994), he received the World Methodist Peace Prize in 1994, and in May 2001 he was awarded the prestigious Niwano Peace Prize by a Buddhist group in Japan. Also in 2001, Emory University and The University of Indianapolis recognized the work of Father Chacour with honorary doctorates.
Archbishop Chacour is the author of Blood Brothers (1984, updated in 2002 and again in 2013), We Belong to the Land (1990) and Faith Beyond Despair: Building Hope in the Holy Land (2011). Blood Brothers has been translated into more than twenty different languages. A 2011 book, Blessed are the Peacemakers by Patricia Griggs, is written for middle-schoolers and tells Abuna’s story, in his voice.
A 23-minute video, “A Man of Galilee“ (2001), tells Abuna’s life-story and his purpose in establishing the Mar Elias schools. A 12-minute video, “Building Peace on Desktops,” shows how Mar Elias prepares students to see “the Other” as neighbor. Professionally made in 2011 by documentary film company Re:Act Media, this video tells how the Mar Elias schools continue to live out the vision of their founder, Archbishop Elias Chacour.
Milestones
1939 – Elias Chacour is born in Biram, in Upper Galillee.
1965 – Abuna Elias Chacour is ordained and appointed priest of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in Ibillin.
1960’s – Abuna Chacour and Rev. Bruce Rigdon (Presbyterian Church, USA) meet at a Middle East conference and a lifelong friendship is born.
1982 – The original Mar Elias high school is built.
1984 – “Blood Brothers” is published (updated in 2002 and 2013). It has been published in more than twenty different languages.
1986 – Abuna’s first nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (an honor repeated in 1989 and 1994)
1990 – “We Belong to the Land” is published.
1990’s – Abuna Chacour visits Rev. Rigdon’s congregation at Grosse Pointe Memorial Presbyterian Church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and serves as the ecumenical scholar in residence. The community at Grosse Pointe is invited to come and meet the “Living Stones,” to understand the possibilities of building peace in Israel and Palestine.
1994 – Abuna receives the World Methodist Peace Prize.
1995 – Grosse Pointe Memorial Church creates a new church group, and Pilgrims of Ibillin is born. Work groups of adults and youth alike travel to Ibillin to support the building of the MEEI schools.
1997 – Abuna and the MEEI team launch the Miriam Bawardi Elementary school.
2001 – Abuna is awarded the Niwano Peace Prize, and honorary doctorates from Emory University and The University of Indianapolis. In this same year, Pilgrims of Ibillin moved from an all-volunteer organization to the hiring of an executive director, Rev. Don Griggs.
2003-2004 – Pilgrims of Ibillin board member Bob Connolly guided Pilgrims of Ibillin in its first capital campaign, raising $450,000 to build a new elementary school on the campus, and the Church of the Sermon on the Mount, the largest Melkite church in Israel and Palestine.
2006 – Archbishop Chacour retires from service as the Archbishop of the Melkite Church for Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and Gallilee.
2007 – Rev. Dr. Bob Sawyer and Rev. Joan Deming are hired as executive director and development director for Pilgrims of Ibillin, and Pilgrims of Ibillin becomes a standalone 501 c3 non-profit organization. In the years to come, Bob and Joan would be responsible for crafting the Living Stones pilgrimages, inviting groups of students to the U.S. as ambassadors from Ibillin, and garnering continued support for the continued success of MEEI.
2008 – Pilgrims of Ibillin begins the process of engaging our Peace Partners, in particular Wi’am Conflict Transformation Center. These partners dramatically enhance the unique Living Stones Pilgrimage experiences, and further the mission of Pilgrims of Ibillin to invest in creative, interfaith peace-building educational opportunities in Israel and Palestine.
2008-2008 – The support of generous donors and grants from the FISH Foundation enables the building of a new high school building with additional classrooms, elevator accessibility, and improved science and computer labs.
2013 – Rev. Dr. Sawyer retired, and Rev. Joan Deming began her tenure as executive director. During this time, the board focused efforts on securing grant funding to allow continued access to the MEEI schools for all students through scholarships and support of building a new Learning Center for additional learning opportunities.
2017-present – After Rev. Deming’s retirement, Rev. Laurie Lyter Bright and administrator Angela Cummins became the new leadership for Pilgrims of Ibillin. With an enthusiastic board, we created a new documentary to tell the story of MEEI and our peace partners, welcomed groups of students to criss-cross the U.S. and share their own experiences, and celebrated Abuna Chacour’s 80th birthday with a “Milestones and Living Stones” speaking tour in the summer of 2019.
Over the years, thousands of individuals and faith communities have experienced the determination and optimism that is Archbishop Chacour, the students and teachers of Mar Elias, the people of Ibillin, and the “Living Stones” throughout Israel and Palestine. With your help, we look forward to the decades ahead as we continue to deepen relationships, grow in our support, and create peace on desktops!