ZAHLÉ and FURZOL of the Melkites, DIOCESE of. — In Lebanon; the see was formerly at F., but in 1774 it was transferred to Z. The Catholic diocese has existed since the beginning of the Melkite Catholic patriarchate in 1724.
There are 25,534 Catholics, 34 parishes, 8 secular priests and 22 religious priests, 20 Catholic schools with 2,300 pupils. It is worth mentioning the Oriental College, which exists in Z. and is run by the Basilian Salvatorian Fathers, founded in 1808, which has 430 students and 23 professors.
The territory of Z. comprises a large part of the Bekaa (high plain between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges) almost as far as Baalbek. In this territory there are only a few thousand non-Catholic Christians, but many Muslims.
Guglielmo de Vries