Father Michel Harb CML

Father Michel Harb CML was born in Beirut in May 1975, two weeks after the start of the war, and grew up in the Catholic family in this difficult situation. He learned prayer primarily from his mother and then in the church, where he served from an early age. During this troubled time, he learned that the only place one could find rest and peace was in church. By comforting those affected and helping them get through this difficult time, he discovered his vocation, as his desire to become a priest arose during this time.

At the age of 20 y-o he joined (since 1995) the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries in Lebanon and completed his studies in theology there. After studying theology and being ordained in July 2002, he moved to Austria. For the first three years he lived in the Schottenstift and looked after the Maronite community from there. He moved finally to Vienna, where he worked as a pastor in the cathedral parish of St. Stephen and in the Serviten parish in Rossau until 2012. Today he is the diocesan pastor of the parishes in the Near and Middle East. His Maronite congregation has found a home in the Ruprechtskirche and offers regular pastoral services in their native language to Arab Christians from the Orient living in Vienna.