Church stretched thin, but continues to support community in Lebanon

ACN representative in Lebanon expresses mixture of exasperation and hope in midst of humanitarian crisis

The day before Israel began a new military campaign in Lebanon, many people there were expressing relief that the country had not been dragged into the Mideast conflict.

But then Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel, to retaliate for the US-Israel military operation in Iran. And Israel renewed its campaign against Hezbollah strongholds.

Now, said Marielle Boutros, Project Coordinator and Representative for Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt at Aid to the Church in Need, the country is plunged into a new crisis that seems even more intense than the war between the two in 2024.

Since the resumption of hostilities, there have been more than 500 Israeli strikes on Lebanon, leaving more than 400 people dead and 1,200 injured, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. Twenty-two percent of the casualties are children.

The casualties also include Fr. Pierre El-Rahi, a Maronite priest in the southern Christian village of Qlayaa, who was killed on Monday.

In Rome on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV noted that Fr. El Rahi’s funeral had taken place that morning.

“In Arabic, El Raii means ‘the shepherd,’” Pope Leo said. “Father Pierre was a true shepherd, who always stayed beside his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded in a bombing, he rushed to help them without hesitation. May the Lord grant that the blood he shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon.” The pope said that the villages of southern Lebanon are “once again experiencing the tragedy of war. I am close to all the Lebanese people at this time of grave trial.”

“We are overwhelmed”

More than 50 villages in the south, as well as areas south of the capital, Beirut, have been under evacuation warnings. There are some 800,000 internally displaced persons.

In response, 550 shelters have opened across the country, of which 300 are in public schools. But many IDPs are forced to sleep on the streets.

The new conflict has led to the closure of five hospitals and 40 healthcare centers. Boutros and colleagues at ACN met with the Lebanese Ministry of Public Affairs, who said that the government will cover 100% of medical treatment of persons without insurance if they get treated in government hospitals. Catholic hospitals are receiving overflow patients.

“We are overwhelmed, we are tired, we are really underwater with this war,” said Boutros. “After six years of barely surviving, we are done. Whenever we think things are getting better, there is a new thing that happens that brings us back to square one, even square zero with this war.”

She added that the Church’s capacity to respond to the crisis is stretched, especially after a long-running economic and political crisis in the country. And yet, Boutros testified, the Church is central to Christian – and indeed civic – life in the country.

“The Church in Lebanon is really a rock for Christians,” she said. “The fall of the Church and its institutions will lead to an exodus of all Christians. The fall of the Church will be the fall of all Christians in the Middle East. Christians in Syria really depend on the Church in Lebanon, for example. They say, ‘You stand firm, and we will be okay.’”

ACN and other agencies are providing emergency help – funds for food, medicine, water, and hygiene kits – but it’s not just about handing out goods to people.

“Especially in the Middle East, it is a community-building program. We want people to stay rooted here. If the Church is not close to the people, we are at risk of losing the faithful to emigration. It is the mission of the Church we are supporting. … It’s important to give food and fuel and everything to the people, but the support is the Church standing next to the faithful, with the Church opening its doors, to let everyone know that the Church is here to support, to accompany, to pray together, to live the mission of Christ together.”

Of particular importance is schools, she said: “The Catholic schools are a great pillar for the Church in Lebanon. In the current circumstances the schools are operating online or they have stopped teaching, but they need to keep paying their teachers. Otherwise, the teachers will leave, and that risks closing Catholic schools. The schools in Lebanon are where all catechesis is taught. Christian values are taught to both Christian and Muslim students. It’s an environment for coexistence and peacebuilding.”

She added that in certain areas, if a Catholic school closes, the vacuum could be filled by schools with a “radical” message. “And this will affect the mission of the Church,” she said.

Further, the presence of Catholic schools helps the Christian community stay rooted in a place. “They gather around the schools,” Boutros said. “If there is a Catholic school there, they will not leave.”

–John Burger