Aid to the Church in Need: Lebanon: Completion of the parish hall in Rmeilet-Ardeh

Lebanon: Completion of the parish hall in Rmeilet-Ardeh

Posted by Project of the Week on 12/9/2009, 4:22 pm
Board Administrator

LEBANON

Completion of the parish hall of the church of St. Rita in Rmeilet-Ardeh

Lebanon is already mentioned in the Bible. Indeed, King Solomon sang the praises of its renowned cedars (cf 1 Kings 5:13). Jesus himself trod the soil of modern Lebanon, and here too Christian communities arose very early on. But like many other countries of the Bible, Lebanon is also a country that has suffered greatly. Again and again in the course of its history it was the theatre of warfare and conflicts. But it is above all its recent history that has been soaked in blood. The civil war between 1975 and 1990 cost 150,000 lives, while an additional 350,000 were wounded and several hundred thousand people fled abroad. And the subsequent peace did not last long, for just 16 years later there was another war, and since then a series of bloody conflicts have flared up. People are living in fear that history may yet repeat itself.

The coastal city of Tripoli can already look back on almost 3,000 years of turbulent history. Just last year it was the scene of heavy fighting between the Lebanese army and the Islamist extremist group "Fatah al Islam". Houses, shops and cars were destroyed. Many people fled the merciless exchanges of machine guns and grenades, and some died.

Many Christians have already left the country. Just a few years ago Lebanon was still the only majority Christian country in the Middle East. Today only around 45% of the population are Christians, and their numbers are dwindling steadily. And yet the painful experiences the people have gone through have also brought some good, and equally the renewed strength of Islam has tended to make many Christians live their faith more consciously than before. The young people especially now sense that without God there is no hope. And this has at the same time led to a blossoming of vocations. Yet something must be done to prevent still more Christians from leaving the country.

The township of Rmeilet-Ardeh, within the archdiocese of Tripoli, has a population of some 1300 Christians today. They have stayed on in their country, although they have witnessed violence and destruction. They are now building a parish hall in their village, so that they can live their parish life more intensively and so that people will have a place where they can come together both to celebrate and to mourn. Every kind of celebration and gathering will take place here, from marriages, baptisms, funerals to catechism classes, youth meetings, courses and social programmes. But they do not have the money to complete the building work. And so Maronite Archbishop Georges Bou-Jaoudé of Tripoli has turned with confidence to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) for help. In his letter he writes of the great faith, hope and love of these Christian families who do not wish to abandon their homeland. We cannot disappoint him, or his people. ACN has promised a grant of $26,000.

To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

Maronite Archbishop Georges Bou-Jaoudé of Tripoli

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org