ACN aims to raise 1 million Euro to help Church face crisis in Lebanon
11/10/2024: Author: Filipe d’Avillez
The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has announced an emergency campaign to raise at least 1 million euros to assist the Church in Lebanon as it strives to cope with the tremendous challenges caused by Israeli airstrikes and ground assault.
Planes carried out an air strike on the lebanese locality of Derdghaya, close to Tyre, which is part of the parishes of the Greek-Catholic eparchy of Tyre, targeted two church halls that were sheltering refugees. The church collapsed along with the two rooms. In a subsequent strike, the air force targeted the priest's house and the three-storey parish offices, completely destroying them. The two strikes caused the death of at least eight people.
Christians have been directly affected by the attacks in many regions of Lebanon, and the Church is struggling to help all those who have had to flee their homes for safer regions.
The attacks, which are aimed at eliminating the threat of Hezbollah strikes on northern Israel, have caused a wave of more than one million internally displaced people in various parts of the country, with the regions of Beirut, Mount Lebanon and northern Lebanon suffering the brunt of the difficulties caused by the influx of people fleeing the south.
In all these locations, the Church has sprung into action, opening its facilities, including church halls and retreat houses, to all those fleeing the most dangerous areas. These facilities are available to all, regardless of religious or ethnic affiliation, as the Church fulfils its Biblical mandate to help those in need.
Displaced people from the Sisters of Charity Saint Vincent de Paul.
ACN has already contacted the seven dioceses and five religious congregations most directly involved in relief efforts and is now trying to raise the money required to address their needs, which in most cases include food, sanitary products, mattresses and covers, medication, and other essentials.
Aid for displaced people from the Sisters of Charity Saint Vincent de Paul.
Many of the Christians in southern Lebanon are farmers, but the instability has prevented them from harvesting their olive and tobacco crops, leaving them with no income. Catholic schools, most of which have opened for online classes, are likely also to require assistance as parents in the regions most affected by the war will find themselves unable to work and will struggle to pay tuition.
Although the crisis is affecting the whole country, the worst areas are in the border regions between Israel and Lebanon. Christians form a significant part of the population in this area and are being directly affected even though they have played no role in terrorist strikes against Israel. Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes, which in most cases leads to family separation, as the mother and children seek shelter in Church facilities or houses of relatives in safer areas, and the father remains in the family house to prevent property theft, despite enormous risks.
“Lebanon has been going from crisis to crisis over the past decades, suffering from political instability, an influx of refugees from regional wars, an economic meltdown, the Beirut Port explosion which levelled large parts of the city, and now these attacks from Israel,” said Regina Lynch, the executive president of ACN.
“Despite all this, the Church has continued serve the people, providing material and spiritual support at every turn. ACN has stood by our project partners in Lebanon, and we will not abandon them now, as they face another hour of need. We are confident that our friends and benefactors will understand the urgency of supporting the Church in Lebanon to carry out God’s work,” she added.