Joseph Qadi was born in
Damascus,
Syria. Ordained a Melkite priest in 1888, Qadi was appointed Patriarchal Vicar of
Jerusalem in 1895, resigning in 1898. He was elected eparch of
Aleppo on October 27, 1903, and ordained eparch on November 29, 1903, by patriarch
Cyril VIII Jaha, being
Gaudenzio Bonfigli, O.F.M,
titular bishop of Cabasa, and
Joseph Dumani, BS, Eparch of Tripoli, his co-consecrators. On March 29, 1919, he was elected patriarch by the Melkite Synod of Bishops, with the
Holy See accepting his request for ecclesiastical communion on July 3 of the same year. At that point the patriarchate had been vacant for three years since the death of
Cyril VIII Jaha in 1916. During his brief reign the Melkite Church experienced a rapid expansion in the Near East as situations for the Greek Catholics improved during the period of the
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Demetrius also began radical reforms in the Melkite Church, including preparations for Melkite councils to address canonical matters. However, Demetrius did not live to participate in these councils, and died on October 25, 1925. He was succeeded upon his death by Patriarch
Cyril IX Moghabghab. ==Consecrator of Melkite Eparchs==