Leonard Abel or Léonardo Abela (died 2 May 1605) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Bishop of Sidon (1582–1605).
[1][2][3] An outstanding linguist, conversant in Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac and Arabic, Pope Gregory XIII named him titular bishop of Sidon, and appointed him legate to the Eastern Churches.
From May to September 1565, During the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottomans, the attackers occupied part of the island (including the Palazzo Abela).
But it was Thomas (brother of the two successive patriarchs Nemet Allah and David) who showed up, invested, he said, with full powers, because the tension was high around these talks.
In three days of discussions in the monastery, then in the nearby village of Orbis, it was agreed that there was agreement on the substance, but the Jacobite bishop declared that it was quite impossible for them to recognize the Council of Chalcedon and especially the damnation of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria, one of the most important saints in their Church.
Leonardo Abel remained in Syria and sought to renew contact with the brothers Thomas and David who led the Jacobite Church, but he could only obtain an abundant exchange of correspondence, dilatory content.
He left Syria on August 1, 1586, to return to Rome where he arrived in February 1587, and wrote his report for Pope Sixtus V (addressed on April 19, 1587).