Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara el Rai headed to Iraq on Monday at the invitation of Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch Mar Ignatius Joseph III Younan. He will celebrate a mass at Saydet Al-Najat church and discuss with local Iraqi officials the situation of Christians in Iraq and in the region. He is […]
In an attempt to boost the voting for Jeita Grotto as one of the new seven wonders, Sheikh Farid Haykal El Khazen asked the local authorities to collaborate further with our embassies outside Lebanon and with prominent business men to promote Jeita Grotto to a larger crowd and get more votes. Sheikh […]
By Carol Hymowitz
(Updates with Rometty’s background from fifth paragraph.)
Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — International Business Machines Corp. said Virginia “Ginni” Rometty will succeed Sam Palmisano as chief executive officer, becoming the first female CEO in the company’s 100-year history.
Rometty, IBM’s head of sales and marketing, will take the president and CEO posts effective Jan. 1, the Armonk, New York- based company said in a statement today. Palmisano, who’s been CEO since 2002, will remain chairman.
Rometty, 54, takes the reins after IBM celebrated its centennial and as steady profit growth pushed the shares this year to the highest level since the company went public in 1915. Her experience in sales, services and acquisitions fits with the strategic direction set by Palmisano, who said last year the company will add $20 billion to revenue between 2010 and 2015 by expanding in markets such as cloud computing and analytics.
“She is more than a superb operational executive,” Palmisano said in the statement. “With every leadership role, she has strengthened our ability to integrate IBM’s capabilities for our clients.”
The 30-year IBM veteran caught Palmisano’s attention in 2002 when she helped integrate the $3.9 billion acquisition of PwC Consulting, IBM’s largest deal ever at the time.
Rometty, then a general manager of the consulting unit, is credited with helping to retain PwC’s principal consultants, who didn’t always mesh with IBM’s cost-cutting culture. When Palmisano wanted to cut travel budgets, making consultants stay at Holiday Inns, she helped them fight — and win, said Ric Andersen, a former PwC consultant who joined IBM with the acquisition.
Sales Promotion
Palmisano promoted her to senior vice president of the group in 2005, and she boosted profit at the unit 42 percent in her first two years on the job. During her three decades at IBM, she became known as a polished executive who can close a sale, expanding relationships with companies from State Farm Insurance Co. to Prudential Financial Inc.
“She’s an engaging woman — great with customers,” said Fred Amoroso, who was her boss in the financial-services consulting division during the 1990s. “Customers just love Ginni.”
Amid the recession, Palmisano put her in charge of running the company’s almost $100 billion in sales. Last year, she added marketing and strategy to her responsibilities.
Patriarch Rai arrived in Rome on an official visit after his long trip to the United States of America. The Maronite Patriarch was welcomed by Lebanese Ambassador to the Vatican Georges Khoury. His visit to Italy is presumed to last one week. To read the homily of Patriarch Bechara Boutros el Rai […]
By Tom Gallagher, NEW YORK CITY — Patriarch Bechara Peter Rai, head of the Lebanon-based Maronite Catholic Church, held up Lebanon’s government as a model for emerging Arab democracies because Lebanon separates church and state, Rai said at an Oct. 20 news conference.
"In Lebanon, Christians and Muslims made a conviviality, a ‘National Pact,’" Rai said. "They incorporated it into the Introduction of the Constitution, where it is stated there is no legitimacy for any authority that contradicts the conviviality."
That "National Pact" was turned into a formula for securing equal participation in government and civil service for Muslims and Christians, he said.
"Thanks to this National Pact, Lebanon became a secular country that separates religion from the state and is governed on the basis of a consensual parliamentary democracy guaranteeing civil liberties and basic human rights, in particular freedom of opinion, speech, religion and conscience, where dialogue and consensus prevail," he said.
"Lebanon is more than a country. It is a message of cooperation to both East and West, and an example of dialogue between Christians and Muslims."
"Moreover, the church in Lebanon is considered a guarantee for the Christian presence for that part of the world," he added.
A PDF copy of his prepared remarks are here.
Rai was elected to lead the Maronite church, the largest Catholic patriarchal church with 13 million members, in March. He is on a tour of Maronite church communities in the United States and met with reporters Oct. 20 in the offices of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in New York City.
On the topic of the Arab Spring, Rai was hopeful but cautious and denounced violence, especially against Christians. Rai said that Christians were in that part of the world 600 years before the arrival of Islam.
"The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ sweeping the Middle East holds much promise, yet we must be vigilant," Rai said. "The church abhors the use of violence to meet any goal. Violence can never by justified.
With barely 3 weeks left until the voting ends, Lebanese President Michel Sleiman paid a visit to Jeita Grotto today in an attempt to encourage Lebanese to vote more and make out of this beautiful grotto one of the new 7 wonders of the world. Suleiman said: “God gave us this gift […]
Steve Jobs’ impact on your life cannot be underestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect — computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs’ greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.
Over the years, I’ve become a student of sorts of Jobs’ career and life. Here’s my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."
1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I’d get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That’s how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.
2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don’t lose sight of the big vision.
3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn’t have any practical use in his life — until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don’t live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.
4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?
5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?
Here is a short biography of another great from El Khazen’s family who became Maronite Patriarch between 1756 and 1766. We will present in Part1 his early life and how he was elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch before tackling his main achievements and the major incidents and events that occured during his 10-year rule.
Patriarch Toubia Kaiss El Khazen (1756-1766)
Sir Toubia El Khazen, son of Abi Kanaan Kaiss El Khazen, was serving as bishop of Palestinian city Nablus as of 1733.
He later was appointed as bishop of Tripoli and then Cyprus. During his stay in Cyprus, he was the sole representative of the Maronite Church and the Patriarchal seat in Qannoubine.
In 1757, following the death of Maronite Patriarch Semaan Awwad, Maronite bishops met in Aintoura Monastery to elect a new patriarch:
The list of Maronite Bishops attending the elections is as follows:
– Filipos el Gemayel Bishop of Lostra
– Estephan el Doueihy Bishop of Batroun
– Jebrail el Hasrouni Bishop of Akka
– Youhanna Estefan Bishop of Latakia
– Germanos Sakr Bishop of Tripoli
– Mikhail el Sayegh Bishop of Damascus
– Youwassaf al Debssi al Basketnaoui Bishop of Tyr
– Antoine Mahassib Bishop of Arka
– Youssef Hbeich Bishop of Sidon
– Youssef Estefan Bishop of Beirut
– Joachim Yammine al Hadnani Bishop of Ehden
– Arsanius Al Halabi Bishop of Baalbeck
As a result of their meeting, Bishop Toubia El Khazen was elected as the new Maronite Patriarch of Antioch on the 28th of February. Following his election, Toubia El Khazen appointed Bishop Arsanius Al Halabi as his representative and sent him to Rome to gain recognition and blessing from the Vatican and its head pope Benedictus XIV. The letter was dispatched on the 20th of March 1756.
Here is a summarized English translation of the letter end by Patriarch Tobia El Khazen to his beatitude the pope Benedictus XIV:
"O Holiest father!
I, your humble servant Tobia El Khazen, previous bishop of Cyprus and newly elected Patriarch of Antioch for the Maronite, bow to you respectfully and kiss your feet and cordially inform your holiness that Patriarch Semaan Awwad has passed away and we have conducted the habitual rituals and prayers for the rest of his soul. Due to his unfortunate death, my brothers and I met on the 28th of February in St Joseph school in Aintoura, and abiding by the laws and regulations of our Maronite church and the Catholic Church, elected yours truthfully as the new Maronite Patriarch, even if I find myself not worthy of such honor.
As it has been the tradition for hundreds of years, we found that it is our most sacred duty to inform your beatitude and holiness of the outcome of those elections and seek your blessing, as you are St.Peter’s successor who was told by Jesus to take care of his herd and bless his brothers in faith.
For this reason and more, I bow to you and solicit you to bless and recognize this election as such has been the tradition with my predecessors. Also, I ask your holiness to grant us the sacred shield and dispatch it with my messenger and brother Bishop Arsanius Al Halabi whom I’ve sent on my behalf given the difficulty of travelling and length of distance.
In this letter dispatched to your beatitude, I present myself as a loyal follower and servant of the Holy Catholic Church, and bow to serve the papal church and obey its fatherly advice, as well as God the savior and all the saints. I also promise to remain loyal to the church throughout my whole life, and abide by its divine decisions."
Dispatched on the 20th of March 1756
Your humble servant
Toubia Boutros El Khazen
Maronite Patriarch of Antioch
Here is another excerpt from a speech by the Pope Benedictus XIV upon his recognition of Patriarch Tobia Boutros El Khazen.
“As far as our brothers in faith the Maronites are concerned, they have so far shown loyalty and obedience and abided by our apostolic guidance, mainly after the dispute that erupted over the election of the late Maronite Patriarch Semaan Awwad. They have also requested the holy shield which was granted to their messenger after getting the cardinals’ approval. As such, and since the highly esteemed Patriarch Semaan has passed away, we believe his successor Brother Tobia El Khazen is worthy of such honor and recognition, as he fits all the necessary requirements and has fulfilled all needed conditions.”
This being said, Pope Benedictus XIV recognized the election of Maronite Patriarch Tobia Boutros El Khazen and granted him the roman pallium as a sign of appreciation and gratitude, along with the apostolic and fatherly blessing.
The Lebanese government agreed on Tuesday to raise the minimum wage in Lebanon by 200,000 to become 700,000. Added to that, all employees earning between 1,000,000 and 1,800,000 were granted a 300,000 LL automatic increase. This unbalance wage hike has stirred many reactions, mainly from the head of the economic authorities and former […]