A married Army engineer with four daughters was ordained as a priest of the Maronite Eparchy of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania on 22 August by Bishop Antoine‑Charbel Tarabay.
The ordination took place at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church in Melbourne.
In his homily, Bishop Tarabay reflected on the Gospel encounter between Christ and St Peter. He reminded the faithful that priesthood begins not in human perfection but in Christ’s love and mercy. He emphasised that the heart of priestly ministry is the simple yet demanding question Christ asks: “Do you love me?” and the mission that follows: “Feed my sheep.”
He highlighted Fr El Fakhry’s long journey shaped by his childhood in Lebanon, his deep love for the Maronite liturgical tradition, and more than 20 years of service in the Australian Army, including engineering, leadership, overseas deployments and chaplaincy.
Fr El Fakhry is currently finishing his specialised training as an in-service candidate with the Catholic Military Ordinariate.
Bishop Tarabay paid tribute to Fr El Fakhry’s wife, Eleanor, and their daughters, acknowledging the essential role of family in nurturing a vocation.
The Bishop invited the faithful to continue praying for vocations: “Let tonight be more than a celebration of one vocation. Let it become a prayer for the next.”
Fr El Fakhry spoke of a calling nurtured through family prayer, the influence of Lebanese monastic spirituality, and the profound experience of God’s providence during his daughter’s premature birth.
“My simple prayer is to be good at the basics,” he said, “to celebrate the divine liturgy correctly, and reverently; to provide parishioners with the opportunity for confessions and the other mysteries; and to answer questions and accompany the flock in line with the teachings of our holy mother church and humbly admit when I do not know the answer.”
Reflecting on the long path that led him to the altar, he added, “Unlike in my engineering career, where I had a very specific degree and job that I pursued at all costs, with this calling to the priesthood, I am completely open to whatever the Lord asks of me.”
His chosen priestly motto, drawn from Syriac tradition, expresses his desire to be “luminous in the fundamentals.”
