إحتفلت أبرشية نيوتن للروم الملكيين الكاثوليك في الولايات المتحدة بتوليت المطران نيقولا جايمس سمرا مطراناً على الأبرشية خلفاً للمطران كيرليس سليم بسترس الذي تم إنتخابه لأبرشية بيروت وجبيل وتوابعهما وذلك بعد أن انتخبه سينودس الروم الملكيين الكاثوليك في الخامس والعشرين من حزيران 2010 وبعد أن وافق البابا بينيديكتوس على مجريات الإنتخابات.
المطران نيقولا جايمس سمرا من أصل حلبي و من مواليد نيوجرسي، الولايات الأميركية المتحدة. حائز على ديبلوم في الفلسفة من معهد القديس انسلم وديبلوم في اللاهوت من إكليريكية القديس باسيليوس في الولايات الأميركية المتحدة
سـيم كاهن عام 1970 ثم انتخب أسقفاً فخرياً لجرش ومسانداً لمطران أبرشية نيوتن عام 1989، كما تفرغ للإهتمام بالنشاطات المسكونية منذ العام 2005.
Nicholas Samra (born August 15, 1944) is the eparch of the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton in the United States, elected in 2011. He is also Apostolic Administrator of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City since 2015. Bishop Samra has written extensively on the subject of ecumenism and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Episcopate
On April 21, 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed Samra Auxiliary Bishop of the Eparchy of Newton and Titular Bishop of Gerasa. Archbishop Joseph Tawil consecrated and installed him on July 6 of that year.
Samra served as Auxiliary Bishop and Protosyncellus until he retired on January 11, 2005 to devote himself to scholarly work.
In June 2011, the Synod of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church nominated him as Eparch of Newton to succeed Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, and Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the position on June 15, 2011.
On Friday, January 16, 2015, he was appointed by Pope Francis to serve also as Apostolic Administrator of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Nuestra Señora del Paraíso in Mexico City, following the death of the former eparch, pending the appointment of a permanent successor.
Scholarly Work
In October 2014, Samra presented “Eastern Catholicism in the Middle East Fifty Years after Orientalium ecclesiarum” at the conference “The Vatican II Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches, Orientalium ecclesiarum – Fifty Years Later” organized by the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies held at the University of Toronto.
An active speaker and author, Samra has written extensively on the subject of ecumenism, Christian leadership and stewardship. He has also published a multi-volume history of the Melkite Church and a book on the legacy of Archbishop Joseph Tawil.
Bishop Samra is the past president of the Eastern Catholic Association of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.