Bishop A. Elias Zaidan is the third Bishop to lead the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles. Born in Lebanon, he was a member of the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries and was ordained a priest by Patriarch Nasrallah Peter Sfeir at Our Lady of Lebanon Shrine on July 20, 1986.
Assigned to the United States in 1988, he continued his studies in Education and served as Assistant Rector at Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York. He was appointed as Pastor of Saint George Church in San Antonio, Texas in 1990. While there, he helped establish parishes in Dallas and Houston. In 1994, he was appointed Rector of Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon-St. Peter Cathedral in Los Angeles, California and remained there until he became bishop.
On July 10, 2013, Pope Francis, based on the recommendation of the Synod of Maronite Bishops, appointed Rev. A. Elias Zaidan as the third bishop of the Eparchy. He was ordained bishop by the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Peter Cardinal Rai at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon Shrine in Harissa, Lebanon on September 28, 2013. He was enthroned at St. Raymond Cathedral on October 23, 2013. His motto is: "Thy will be done." During his tenure as Bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, Bishop Elias Zaidan has been exerting himself to expand the presence of our Maronite community by establishing new missions in various cities and states, to strengthen the Eparchy through the “Vision for the Future, Mission for Today” Capital Campaign, and to involve the laity in missionary outreach to all the faithful.
In the USCCB, he served on the Committee of International Justice and Peace and the subcommittee of Catholic Home Missions. He also serves in the Bishop's Working Group on Youth and Young Adults and serves on the Administrative Committee for the USCCB. Bishop Zaidan was a delegate for the Maronite Church for the Synod of Bishops for the Youth at the Vatican in October 2018. He has also been elected as the next Chairperson of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace from November 2023-November 2026.