Aid to the Church in Need: Lebanon: Lay catechesis project revives confidence in a troubled land

Lebanon: Lay catechesis project revives confidence in a troubled land

Posted by Press release on 6/11/2009, 9:33 am
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ACN News, Friday, 6th November 2009 – LEBANON

Building hope among the living stones

Lay catechesis project revives confidence in a troubled land

By John Pontifex

A GROUNDBREAKING scheme to provide spiritual and pastoral support to Christian lay faithful in a mainly Muslim area of Lebanon is being hailed as a key initiative to stem the decline of the Church in the region.

When the Spiritual Centre in Kobayat, northern Lebanon, opens its doors in a year’s time, the main target group will be lay people seen as crucial for the revival of a Church under pressure from massive emigration of Christians, poverty and extremism.

Central to the project is the renovation of former monastery and school buildings dating back to the 19th century and the development of a conference centre, seminar rooms, two refectories, dormitories, living quarters as well as a chapel.

The scheme, which has already received $65,000 from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, is being seen as a bold programme of Christian renewal in an area close to the Syrian border and fraught with problems including political instability.

In an interview with ACN, which supports persecuted and other suffering Christians, project coordinator Fr Raymond Abdo, provincial of discalced Carmelites in Lebanon, said: “We consider the centre and its work with lay people as a priority for the development of our pastoral work.”

(Fr Raymond Abdo, provincial of discalced Carmelites in Lebanon)

He added: “With declining numbers of faithful and an increase in Islamic fundamentalism, the material situation of the Church in Lebanon has suffered but what we are now seeing is a rise in Christian awareness among the faithful – and to build on that we need to put more emphasis on lay formation.”

Mindful that ACN is committed to ongoing support of this kind, Fr Raymond went on to thank ACN friends and benefactors for their support for the scheme in Kobayat.

He said: “We are only able to work on the new centre in Kobayat because of ACN’s help. I want to say thank you to the benefactors for what you are doing to support the Church in Lebanon.”

The initiative in Kobayat is inspired by the success of a similar Carmelite project developed in Hazmiye, just outside the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Since 2004, hundreds of lay people – including many youngsters – receive catechesis and courses in Carmelite spirituality centring on the 16th century Spanish mystic and doctor of the Church St Teresa of Avila.

Both the Beirut and Kobayat centres are a response to a Church devastated by emigration.

Fr Raymond reported that the Christians in Lebanon had halved in number since 1970 and were now down to 35 percent of the total population.

He also explained: “Many Muslims do not accept us, Christians. As a minority now, we do not feel accepted in our own society. We are witnessing a wave of Islamic fundamentalism.”

But he added: “Even if we have many problems, our Church is full of hope for the future. We are now more conscious of our role which is to be witnesses of faith in Jesus Christ and his presence among us.”

Aid to the Church in Need sees support for the Church in Lebanon as crucial for the long-term development of Christianity across the Middle East.

Lebanon is a priority country for ACN aid and last year the Church there received nearly €290,000 (Ł260,000) in project support.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 130 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 46.5 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, 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

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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