BATRUN of the MARONITES. — Patriarchal diocese of Antioch of the Maronites. B. is the Arabic translation of Botri. It is the ancient diocese of Gebajl (Biblos) and Botri. Its bishops resided outside of it, in the Kisrawân; but the Synod of Luàize (1818) and the decree of confirmation, issued by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide on April 4, 1819, established their residence in the monastery of St. John Maron in Kfahrah. On May 6, 1837, by order of the Holy See, the patriarch left the diocese of Tyre and Sidon and assumed that of Botri and Gebajl, within whose boundaries the patriarchal see of Qannûbîn is situated.
BIBL.: S. Congr. Orientale, Statistica della gerarchia e dei fedeli di rito orientale, Città del Vaticano 1932, p. 60; Annuario pontificio, 1948.