On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, His Beatitude Patriarch John X and the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, during their meeting at the historic Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery in northern Lebanon, elected Archimandrite Jonah Suri, head of Bkeftine Monastery of Our Lady in the Archdiocese of Tripoli, Lebanon, as Metropolitan of Zahle, Baalbek and Dependencies, Lebanon. He succeeds His Eminence, Metropolitan Spyridon, who retired with honor this year after leading his archdiocese since 1966.
His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph, on behalf of the hierarchs, clergy and faithful of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, expresses his heartfelt prayers and best wishes to Metropolitan-elect Jonah, and asks our Lord to bless his episcopacy.