Youssef El KHAZEN from Ajaltoun(1845–1854)

From Maronite History

Patriarch Yusif Raji Al-Khazen was elected at Dayr Mayfuq, on the 8th of August 1845. In 1845 the Turkish army ignoring the autonomy of Mount Lebanon, invaded the Mountain, to disarm the population. In Northern Lebanon the Maronites, particularly those of 'Aqura, Tannureen, Besharry and Ehden, opposed the Turks with the army of several thousand under the leadership of Hosn al-Khazen and Abu-Samra Ghanem. The Maronites had nothing to face the Turkish artillery, Patriarch al-Khazen intervened and persuaded the Turks to call a halt to the war and to agree to a settlement negotiated between the Patriarch and the Turkish government with indemnities paid by the latter. A new code of regulations called "code of Shakeeb Afandy" was drawn up for Lebanon. After his death he was buried at Deeman, the new Patriarchal Residence in the Qadeesha Valley, on 3rd November 1854, he was succeeded by Patriarch Bulos Mass'ad.