Yousif Habash

Yousif Behnam Habash (in Arabic يوسف بهنام حبش) (born 1 June 1951) is an Iraqi-born bishop of the Syriac Catholic Church. Since 2010, he has been the Eparch of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark.

Early life and education
Born 1 June 1951 in Bakhdida, Iraq, Yousif Behnam Habash entered St. John's Seminary in Mosul in 1965 at the age of 14. From 1970 to 1972 he performed military service in Iraq. Thereafter, when the Mosul seminary closed, he completed his seminary studies at Charfet, Lebanon, studying at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik.

Ordination and ministry
Habash was ordained a priest for the Archeparchy of Mosul on 31 August 1975 after which time he was assigned to a parish in his home town of Bakhdida and worked in youth ministry. He later served as vicar and then pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, in Basra.

In 1994, he was assigned to the Syriac Catholic Mission of North America, serving first in Newark, New Jersey and, from 2001 on, at the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in West Hollywood, California.

Eparch of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark
In April 2010, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the second eparch of the Syrian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark. He was consecrated a bishop on 11 July 2010 by his predecessor Ephrem Joseph Younan, who had been elected Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians.

Eparch Habash's territory includes the United States, and 16,000 Syriac Catholics.