Early life

Bahhuth was born in Beirut, Lebanon on October 6, 1956, as the youngest of seven children. While he was baptized and received his other sacraments in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, his family did not place particular emphasis on the practice of the faith, and he grew up "more in a Protestant environment than a Catholic one", due in part to his attending a Baptist-run school.^[2][3]

The Lebanese Civil War began when Bahhuth was 19 years old, and he describes how "My family lived in East Beirut, which was mostly Christian, and I went to school in West Beirut, which was mostly Muslim. It was dangerous crossing through the city, as you could be killed for being the wrong religion".^[2] The conflict also prompted Bahhuth to emigrate to the United States to continue his academic studies, which had been interrupted by the unrest.^[2]

He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla, and master's and doctoral degrees in the same field from the University of Mississippi.^[2] Being unable to find a job in chemical engineering, Bahhuth briefly taught engineering at the University of Wyoming before moving to Southern California in 1984 and worked in the retail and fast-food industries, operating two franchised Subway locations.^[4][5]

It was at this time that a friend of Bahhuth's suggested he go to church, which he had not done since he was a child. He began to attend Mass at St. John Vianney church in Hacienda Heights and eventually took a year off from his business and worked with a lay missionary group at Ascension Church in South Los Angeles where David G. O'Connell was pastor.^[6] He entered St. John's Seminary in 1991, transferred to the Latin Church in November of 1993, and was ordained on June 1, 1996, at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Canoga Park by Cardinal Roger Mahony.^{[4][7][3][8][9]}

Priesthood

Bahhuth's first assignment was as vicar at St. Gregory the Great Church in Whittier, California, and his first pastorate was at St. Finbar in Burbank. In 2015 he became the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and in 2017 was named a Chaplain of His Holiness and given the title Monsignor.^[10][2] In 2021, he was appointed pastor of Holy Family Church in South Pasadena.^[4] He also serves on the board of trustees of St. John's Seminary.^[2]

Episcopacy

On July 18, 2023, Pope Francis appointed Bahhuth as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the titular bishop of Vadesi.^[1][11] He will serve as Episcopal Vicar for the San Fernando Pastoral Region. ^[12] Archbishop José Gómez consecrated Bahhuth as a bishop on September 26, 2023, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.^[5]