In an exclusive interview with ZENIT following his recent visits to the Vatican where he met Pope Francis and cardinals, Prince Gharios, the legitimate head of the house of Ghassan, the only Middle Eastern Christian dynasty still alive, spoke on what is needed to help save Middle Eastern Christianity, which--he believes--currently can be compared to a patient with cardiac arrest.
The royal also shared why he believes a prince needs to be close to the people, getting his hands dirty, and says until his last breath, he'll keep working worldwide to protect the Christians in the Middle East.
Born in Brazil, the prince moved to Los Angeles mostly for security reasons, saying the violence in the South American nation was unbearable. He established a residence in Jordan to help people from all over the region. His father’s mother's family was Greek Orthodox and his father’s father Maronite. When they got to southern Brazil, there was no Maronite church in their city, so they started to go to a Roman Catholic Church. Raised primarily in an Italian household, Prince Gharios is a proud Roman Catholic.
Prince Gharios has received many formal and informal recognitions from governments and authorities all over the world. In 2014, he received United States Special Congressional Recognition. He also was invested into the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the very few papal orders of knighthood, and has been recognized by His Holiness Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, several Middle Eastern Christian and Muslim religious leaders, as well as political leaders.
The House of Ghassan is the oldest Arab dynasty in Christendom and the one that ruled more territory and during the longest period of time. Current well-known Ghassanids in the Church include the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Patriarch Fouad Twal, and the Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Archbishop Maroun Lahham.
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