First married man ordained priest for U.S. Maronite Catholic Church | National Catholic Reporter

Perla Akiki receives Communion from her father, Fr. Wissam Akiki,
 after he was ordained to the priesthood 

Thinking of becoming Maronite.  But I don't think they're ready for twice-divorced and re-married men of dubious orthodoxy. - GWC
First married man ordained priest for U.S. Maronite Catholic Church | National Catholic Reporter

On Feb. 27, with permission granted by Pope Francis, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the U.S. Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon ordained the married deacon at St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis.

"It is a blessing and an honor to officiate over any ordination, and especially so at this historic ordination of the first married man to enter the priesthood in the United States of America for the Maronite Church," Zaidan said in a statement issued before the ordination.

"I join our Holy Father, our Maronite patriarch, my fellow bishops and priests throughout the world in our prayer for priestly vocations," he said.

Akiki studied for the priesthood at Holy Spirit University in Lebanon, Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington and the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. He is married to Manal Kassab and they have a daughter, Perla.

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The Maronite Church is among 22 Eastern Catholic churches that are in union with Rome. The spiritual heritage of the Maronite Church is traced to a fourth-century hermit, St. Maron.