Date: 2006-08-25
Lebanon's Bishops Urge Christians to Stay
Make International Appeal
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=93782
BEIRUT, Lebanon, AUG. 25, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The Maronite bishops of
Lebanon are making an international appeal to help stop the exodus of
Christians from their country, reports AsiaNews.
Auxiliary Bishop Guy-Paul Noujaim of Antioch said that the recent
Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and the rising tide of Islamic
fundamentalism are pushing Christians out of Lebanon.
"These days a great number of Christians are joining the exodus. They
feel abandoned," he said.
Bishop Noujiam has setup a crisis unit in his diocese to cope with the
ongoing situation.
"On the eve of schools reopening, half of the population will be
unable to send its children to private schools. And here in Lebanon
public schools are unreliable," he said.
The prelate added that the fate of the elderly and the sick, "who
can't find health care facilities for their needs," is an urgent
problem that must be dealt with.
An appeal
Archbishop Paul Matar of Beirut also spoke to AsiaNews, pleading that
"international organizations act quickly to help our people, weak in
the face of this crisis, before the onset of winter."
The archbishop said that a mass flight of Christians is a real danger:
"They want to leave the country not out of fear, but out of
uncertainty for its future."
"It is necessary to start rebuilding this country, laid waste by
fierce bombardments for weeks. Only this can help its citizens,
Christians and Muslims, stay in Lebanon," he said.
Monsignor Georges Bakouni, Greek-Melkite metropolitan of Tyre, never
left his diocese during the war between Israel and Hezbollah despite
Israeli air strikes, which destroyed at least 15 churches.
He is asking Christians who were forced to flee in the last few weeks
to "come home and show that Lebanon will not die," asserting that
"[w]e shall never abandon Lebanon into the hands of Israel or the
Muslims. We were here long before them and want to coexist with
everyone."
Lebanon, which is considered the only place of refuge for Christians
in the Middle East, and the one bridge between the "Muslim" East and
"Christian" West, is now faced with the real possibility of losing its
Christian population.
In the last official census dating back to 1932, the mostly Maronite
Christians constituted 63% of the population. Muslims were around 35%
and the other 2% belonged to smaller denominations. Today estimates
put Christians at 32% of the population.
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
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