BISHOP PETER KARAM

LEBANON

Apostolic Administrator of Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris (Maronite)

Bishop Peter Karam was the director of the Eparchial Office for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults for the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles from 2002 to 2019.

In this role he wrote the policies and procedures dealing with allegations of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clergy and church personnel.

Furthermore, he set up and organized the Eparchial Review Board, an advisory body to the Maronite Bishop of the Eparchy of Los Angeles.

He was also in charge of developing and implementing safeguarding programs, designed to educate the public about sexual abuse.

He was born in Lebanon in 1959. After graduating from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1988. From 1996 to 2001 he studied for a PhD in philosophy at the University of Munich, Germany.

His Eparchial assignments include: Vicar for Clergy, member of the Eparchial Presbyteral Council, Member of the Eparchial Personnel Board, Member of the Board of the Eparchial Legal Counsel, and Chairperson of the Eparchial Review Board, Member of the Eparchial College of Consultors, and Member of the Eparchial Board of Pastors. He also led the revision of the Eparchial Statutes.

In June 2019, he was elected Bishop by the Maronite Synod of Bishops.

In 2022, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Also in 2022, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Karam Apostolic Administrator of Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris (Maronite)