Repose in the Lord

of the Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Xavier Eid

Long-serving parish priest of St. Mary of Peace, Garden City, Cairo, the Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Xavier Eid fell asleep in the Lord at the age of ninety on 29 December 2009. One of the founding members of the Religious Brotherhood dedicated to Christian-Muslim dialogue and encounter, Father Xavier was well-known for having followed, with Father Christiaan van Nispen S.J. and Father Samir Khalil Samir S.J., in the steps of renowned scholar and Melkite priest Louis Massignon, Mary Kahil and Father Georges Anawati  O.P., who dedicated their lives to study and to prayer to God for and with the Muslim people.
His funeral service in Cairo on 31 December 2009 was presided over by His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III, together with Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem and Archbishop Georges Bakar, Patriarchal Vicar in Egypt. Among those attending the obsequies in the packed church were the relatives of the deceased who had come from Belgium, the Ambassador of Belgium in Egypt, the Consul of Lebanon, Bishops from the Maronite and Latin Churches, priests and male and female members of religious orders, together with many of the late pastor’s parishioners and Muslim friends.

V. C.