Father Ziad Maatouk was born in 1982. He joined the Antonine Maronite Order (OAM) in 2002 and was ordained a priest in 2008. He majored in philosophy and theology at the Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy) in France.

In 2007, he was named Assistant Director at Antonine International School (AIS) in Ajaltoun. He then served as a pastor at St. Louis de France church in Toronto in 2012, where he not only served the parish, but most importantly the French Catholic Community, with the aim of protecting the French-language Catholic education, preserving this cultural unity formed by the Catholic religion, and helping people protect their religious heritage.

When Fr. Maatouk returned to Lebanon, he was appointed as Vice Rector for Administration (VRA) in 2018, and took on additional responsibilities as a Secretary General (SG) in 2020.

Holder of a PhD in Education from the University of Ottawa, his thesis defense took place in 2021, with a research topic focused on “the competences of leaders in managing French-language Catholic schools in Ontario and Wallonia-Brussels.” In 2014, he earned his Master’s degree in education from the University of Ottawa, and in 2011, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in psychology from York University in Toronto.

His contribution to the French Catholic Community in Canada was remarkable. In fact, his stay in Ottawa and Toronto helped him to create collaborative ties with a number of researchers whose main interest was directed towards the leadership and identity in Catholic schools. Being an active member of the unit dedicated to the aforementioned research areas, Fr. Maatouk was explicitly concerned with interconnected themes related to the promotion of Catholic schools’ mandate among schools’ leaders and the transformational leadership in a Catholic educational context.