Franciscan solidarity with the Christians in southern Lebanon

Every Sunday, fra Toufic Bou Mehri gets into his car and travels the 30 kilometres that separate Tyre from Deir Mimas. The Christian village is two kilometres from the Israeli town of Metula. Despite the daily fire of the Israeli artillery and air force in the border zone, the superior of the Franciscan convent of Tyre strongly wants to celebrate Mass for the 11 families of the Latin rite that are left.

Since 7 October 2023, the Lebanese “God’s party” has stated that it forms a “front of solidarity” with Hamas, deviating at least a part of Israel’s military capacity from the Gaza Strip. In exchange, the Jewish state is striking the bases of the Shiite militia in the south of Lebanon.

This [for the time being still] low intensity war has caused, on the Israeli side, the death of eight civilians and 19 soldiers and the evacuation of some 60,000 people. On the Lebanese side of the border, at least 100 civilians and 337 Hezbollah fighters have been killed, while more than 90,000 people have left the border area.

“In Deir Mimas, the people do not have anywhere else to go, due to a lack of money,” fra Toufic explained, During his trips, he noticed that the nearby village of Kfarkela had been “almost completely razed to the ground.” A rocket hit the cemetery of Deir Mimas, opening up several tombs, “It took me about ten days to be able to check the state of the land, because of the Israeli drones that flew over the area all day long, looking for Hezbollah fighters,” said the Franciscan.

Deir Mimas looks over the Litani River, which flows further down in the valley where the militia hide. “The supporters of Hezbollah are paid,” explained fra Toufic. “The others have lost interest in politics due to the instability and the recurring crises.” They only want to live and to eat. Since 2019, the economic situation in Lebanon has been very difficult, because everything is blocked and closed. While life is “normal” in the rest of the country, in the south people are dying of fright and there is more and more poverty.”

For several months now, fra Toufic has been delivering fresh vegetables in some villages in the south, all on his own. “It is dangerous, I do not want to risk another life beyond mine,” the friar smiled, “Financing this aid has been possible thanks to an appeal by the Latin bishop of Lebanon (the apostolic vicar of Beirut, Mons. César Essayan – editor’s note) and the support from the Pro Terra Sancta association, an NGO that comes under the Franciscans of the Custody. In addition to food, the friars also pay some rents.

Established in Tyre since 18690, the Custody of the Holy land assures a present with the Catholic population of the Latin rite. The convent’s schools closed in 2005. The Franciscans have only the responsibility for pastoral activity and some social activities, such as supporting schoolwork.

Appointed superior of the community, which only has one other friar – in 2022, fra Toufic launched into renovation work. The bells of the church of St Anthony of Padua have begun to ring again, after having been dumb for thirty years due to the rust that compromised the metal framework they were suspended from.

The bell-tower has regained a roof worthy of this name after the damage caused by a storm a few years ago. Half of the $30,000 necessary to cover the renovation was financed by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil). The inauguration of the renovated bell-tower took place on 13 June last, on the feast-day of St Anthony of Padua.

Thanks to the generosity of a benefactor from the Principality of Monaco, fra Toufic also transformed the former school into a welcome centre, transforming the classrooms into bedrooms. “Some nuns have already booked for a spiritual retreat. We will also be able to welcome groups of catechists, the superior said enthusiastically.

In the Land of Cedars, the Franciscans are also present in Beirut, Harissa and Tripoli, with a small Latin community.

No national census has ever been carried out in Lebanon since 1932, but the Christians [Catholics to a great extent] are believed to represent only about one-third of the overall population today, which is more than 5 million. The official statistics of the Holy See indicate that at the end of 2006, there were 1,413,652 Maronite Catholics.

By Cécile Lemoine | custodia.org