Fr. Cyrille Jalabert was elected Prior of the Convent of St. Stephen last Friday, October 15. This election was accepted by the Master of the Order and the new prior this weekend.
A Dominican friar from the Province of Toulouse, aged 54, he holds a canonical licence in theology, as well as a master’s degree in Assyriology and a doctorate in history (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne). He is a specialist in the medieval history of the Near East, and is fluent in Arabic, having spent three years in Jerusalem and three years in Damascus before joining the Order of Preachers. He arrived at St. Stephen’s in April and began collaborating with the School’s archaeology department and with the patriarchal seminary of Beit Jala.
He is also now prior of the Dominican community of St Stephen’s Convent for a period of three years.