Monsignor El-Hachem was born on 8th September 1934 in Akoura, Lebanon.
His secondary school studies were done at the Séminaire Patriarcal in Ghazir, his higher studies were at the Séminaire des Carmes in Paris and at the Institut Catholique de Paris.
He is a Docteur en Théologie from the Institut Catholique de Paris and is eligible for a Doctorat en Droit Canonique from the same Institute. He has a Diplômes Supérieures in Journalism, in Higher International Studies and in Higher Social Studies.
Msgr. El-Hachem was the Director of the Arabic Section of the Press Office of the Second Vatican Council. He was a professor at the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Joseph in Beirut from 1965-1967 and was Aumônier National of the Young Christian Workers and Curate in the Mar Nohra Parish in Beirut.
From 1967-1970, he was the Director of the Arabic programmes for Vatican Radio. From 1970-1978, he was an Official of the Commission for Social Communications; Vice-Director for the Vatican Press Office and the Director of the Vatican Film Library. From 1978-1995, he worked at the International Section - International Catholic Organizations - of the Vatican Secretariat of State. He was also a member of the Holy See's delegation to the Cairo Conference in 1994 and was a professor of Islamic Law at the Lateran University from 1991-2004.
On 8th June 1995, he was elected Bishop of Baalbek - Deir El-Ahmar and was consecrated on 13th September of the same year.
He was a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Consultor of the Pontifical Councils "Cor Unum" and for "the Laity". He also served as President of the Episcopal Commission of the Assembly of Patriarchs and Catholic Bishops of Lebanon for Muslim-Christian Relations and for Lebanese emigrants throughout the world and delegated by the said Council to the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.
On 27th August 2005, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed Msgr. El-Hachem as Apostolic Nuncio to Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar and Apostolic Delegate to the Arabian Peninsula.
On 4th August 2007, he was apppointed Apostolic Nuncio to the United Arab Emirates in addition to his other posts.
Msgr. El-Hachem knows Arabic, French, Italian, English, Syriac, Latin, Greek and Aramaic.
