St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church

St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church is parish of the Melkite Diocese of Newton, Massachusetts, located at 425 16th Avenue South. It is one of only forty-five Melkite churches in the United States and is the only one in Alabama. Melkites are headed by the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and follow the Byzantine tradition of worship, but are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

The parish was established in 1921 by immigrants from Syrian and Palestine. The current building was erected in 1957 during the pastorate of Joseph Raya and designed by the firm of Van Keuren and Davis. The church holds an annual Middle Eastern Food Festival each fall.

Pastors

• Joseph Raya, 1952 - 1968
• Frank J. Milienewicz, 1988 - 2017
• Justin Rose, 2017 - present

External links

• St George Melkite Greek Catholic Church website

References

• Garrison, Greg (December 16, 2019) "Polish priest who led Middle Eastern church dies" The Birmingham News
• Beall, JD, Matheus Bagatin Lopes, Brendan Loftus, Riley Fraser, and Livi White (December 17, 2019) "St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church: Portraying Eastern Christian Beliefs: The Power of St. George’s Iconography" Magic City Religion
• Howard, Will (May 21, 2021) "St. George Melkite Church’s Liturgies: A Birmingham Community’s Spiritual Journey" Magic City Religion