www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Victoria Kennedy's Maronite Roots

Ted Kennedy's wife, Victoria, is Lebanese with Maronite ancestry. This is from Wikipedia:

The second of six children, she was born Victoria Anne Reggie in Crowley, Louisiana to Louisiana judge and banker Edmund M. Reggie and Doris Ann Boustany Reggie, a Democratic national committeewoman.[2][3] She is of Lebanese descent, as all her grandparents were Maronites from Beirut, Lebanon, who immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Crowley.[4] Her grandparents became important players in the local Roman Catholic church and later their children became involved in business and politics.[4][5]

I had no idea that Mrs. Kennedy was anything but a Western European until I read the same Wikipedia article a couple of days ago.

It's interesting to me that some Lebanese look very stereotypically Middle Eastern, whereas others look, at least to me, like run-of-the-mill Irish or French. I suppose it's the genetic input from French Crusaders, etc.

Alexis

I read that too and think she's pretty. Apparently she was also very good for Kennedy (RIP; he needs prayers): he turned his personal life around because of her. Was Danny Thomas, also Lebanese, Maronite to begin with too? Based on Wikipedia it seems he was raised Roman Rite.

Danny Thomas was born to Lebanese Maronite parents. His family name was Yakhoub/Jacoub. His upbringing was principally in the Latin Church, through education in parochial schools, but he certainly considered himself an Arab-American and a Maronite.

I would have to do some digging to check, but I don't believe that there was a Maronite parish in Toledo when he was growing up there.

Many years,

Neil

Very few Maronites, or Middle Eastern Christians generally, have even a drop of Arabic blood. Most, including the Maronites, are descendants of the indigenous Syro-Phoenician and Greek populations of the seventh century. And the Copts, of course, are not Arabs, either, but descendants of the indigenous Egyptian and Greek populations from the time of the Muslim conquest. The only thing Arabic about any of these people is the language they speak, and therein lies a large portion of their troubles.

Stuart,

That may well be but it is neither here nor there as regards this topic and the fact remains that the majority of Maronites and a significant percentage of other Middle-East Christians choose to describe themselves as Arabs.

Many years,

Neil

Danny Thomas was indeed a Maronite, and sometimes did benefits for Maronite, Melkite, and Antiochian Orthodox churches.

Fr. Serge