As the Mideast conflict continues, Aleteia spoke to Maronite Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha, to understand the political context and how Christians are coping.
In late September, the Mideast conflict that had been centered on Israel and Gaza spilled over into Lebanon, as the Israeli government launched an attack against the militant group and political party, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran. Since then, southern and eastern Lebanon has seen several air and ground attacks, resulting in more than 2,000 deaths and about a million people displaced.
Christians account for around 33% of this suffering population, with the biggest community belonging to the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic Church.
Aleteia spoke to Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha, Patriarchal Vicar to the Holy See in Rome, and President of the Pontifical Maronite Institute in Rome, to get a better sense of the situation, and particularly how Christians are faring.
Bishop Alwarsha gave an overview of the political context while emphasizing the resilience of the Lebanese people in and outside of the country and how their faith anchors them through these difficult times.
How affected are Christian populations by the current conflict? Are there certain areas where Christians are more or less targeted ?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: Generally in central Lebanon, or Mount Lebanon in the north, they are less affected than in the south. There are more Christians in these areas.
Now with all the bombings and attacks however, Christians and Muslims who live in the north and the center of Lebanon are also affected in one way or another because they are suffering the economic and political consequences. For example, many Christians are now taking in migrants who are displaced and come from the south.
Those who are really living through “hell,” though, are in the south, and there are also some Maronite Christian villages there too. There are some who prefer to flee while others who prefer to stay and resist the attacks.
Those who flee are especially those connected to Hezbollah, who are mostly Shiite Muslims, since Israel has declared that its attack is not against Lebanon but against Hezbollah and those who support it. In the end, however, all of Lebanon experiences the consequences of the conflict.
Is Lebanon’s situation uniquely difficult right now, in comparison to the past?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: Lebanon has experienced many difficult periods. The 2019 demonstrations, the 2020 explosion in Beirut, the economic crisis, and now the war. Even when there was a war in 2006, though, it was not so hard and aggressive. Today there is more sophisticated technology so it is a different kind of war.
ANWAR AMRO | AFP
Some could say that the war actually started in 1975 [with the Lebanese Civil War, editor’s note] and continues today, as it has been 50 years of successive wars – but each phase was a different type of conflict. An economic war, a cold war, a military war etc.
And there's no telling when this will end; it's not something that will be resolved right away. There is also the fear of a regional war because every actor has a foreign connection. Behind every war there are also material interests.
How do Christians view Hezbollah, a Muslim Shiite political party and militant group?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: I can say what is observed; I am not expressing a personal view because that is not my job. We can say that there are two main considerations in Lebanon. There are some Lebanese citizens who see Hezbollah as a group that follows an agenda tied to and dependent on Iran, and that it is like a state within a state.
Whereas another part of the population is in favor of them, especially among the Shiite Muslims, and they say that Hezbollah is resisting and engaging in a war to defend and protect Lebanon.
Among Maronites and Christians there is also a part who agree with Hezbollah's policy. Maybe before, there were more in this camp; now there are fewer.
It is a very complicated situation. There is no truth if you watch TV; there are different opinions. But we can only have a portion of the truth in the end, because maybe there are so many facts that we don't have knowledge about.
Lebanon has recognized 18 different religious sects amongst its population. On a daily basis what are relations like between the different religious communities? Both right now and previous to the latest escalations in the conflict.
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: In general, relations are good among the population. People live a peaceful life together. There is certainly no shortage of problems, even within the same family, it can happen. Generally, however, people in Lebanon are used to living together even with different denominations. Problems emerge when politics comes in. There are leaders, or politicians, who can manipulate people to follow a certain political agenda. People of the East generally depend on leaders, they follow them.
The structure of the state according to the constitution for example, is distributed so that every religious group has its role and there is no preference for one religion over another, and that is fair. In this way Lebanon can live as John Paul II said, as “a mosaic.” In the sense that it's beautiful like that, when everyone is together.
Generally life is calm, but now there is the critical situation of the conflict with Israel, so there is a certain instability. The war has consequences on people. However, the problems do not come from the people; they come from abroad or from political strategies that can play a negative role.
What are relations like between the different Christian denominations, which include various Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches and some Protestants? How do the Maronites, which are the majority, interact with the other Christian religions?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: The relationship is very good. In Lebanon every year there is a meeting for all the Catholic bishops during the first week of November, and we take positions on different issues, ecclesial, political, or even national. Sometimes the patriarch also calls the Orthodox to have a meeting in Bkerke, and there are no problems among Christians.
The initiative often comes from the Maronites because they are the majority. According to the history of the Church, the patriarch has always had a role not only at the ecclesial level but also on the national level. Especially now, in the absence of the president of the republic, the patriarch plays an important role. He has both an ecclesial and national impact at the political level. He is a point of reference and that has always been the tradition of the Maronite Church.
There is a significant, and ever growing, number of Lebanese Christians living outside the country. How does the diaspora abroad respond and react to the difficult news they hear coming from their country? What gives them hope?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: There are two attitudes. There is concern, for example, I am always worried about my relatives and acquaintances in Lebanon. On the other hand, it is good that there are people outside Lebanon because they support those who have stayed. Every family in Lebanon has people outside who help them, especially financially. There are Lebanese in Australia, USA, Italy, France.
FRANCOIS GUILLOT | AFP
For example, the Maronite bishops in Australia and in America help the people in Lebanon a lot. When we do this annual Maronite synod we see how much humanitarian aid, food, and medicine is sent from the outside for the Lebanese in need. And the aid comes not only from Christians but also from Muslims. So this is the positive aspect of having the diaspora.
Then of course those outside of Lebanon also organize prayer times; there is spiritual support. There is also political support; there are Lebanese who are very strong in politics even outside the country, for example in the USA. They can have an influence on a political strategy and they are there to defend Lebanon at the UN or in different countries.
How, if in any way, are Lebanese Christians and Catholics a witness to people of other faiths?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: Yes, they are witnesses because, as Catholic Christians, we always speak in the language of peace, of dialogue, of negotiation. Even recently, the patriarch said we don't want war anymore. This is also always the discourse of Pope Francis. We do not have violence in our “theological-Christian dictionary.” There is no aggression, there is always talking and negotiating to come to a solution and avoid war as much as possible, as it only causes more problems.
Consider now after this war the consequences it will have on Lebanon, and also on Israel. The role of Christians in Lebanon and the role of Christians in the East and in the world is always to bring a language of forgiveness, of dialogue. We are invited to live in peace, as Jesus also said, “blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:9)
How do you think you can emphasize this message in a country like Lebanon that has experienced so many difficulties?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: In my opinion we have to work on the new generations, as Pope Francis said in the Document on Human Fraternity [signed in 2019 with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, editor’s note]. I see that document as a road map. Today we cannot change mentalities that are already ingrained. We can work on children, on young people, educating them to have a mentality of peace, of dialogue, of wanting to know the other.
Pope Francis insists on this mutual knowledge. When I know the other well, it helps me to respect him, to understand him. Muslims and Christians must also understand their religion well, they cannot in the name of their religion, of God, make war. Even among Muslims, there is a moderate faction. We must be moderate because we are all brothers, as Pope Francis also says in his encyclicalFratelli Tutti. We are all created by God.
ANWAR AMRO | AFP
We should not want to change each other's opinion or religion, that is not our task, that is not what interreligious dialogue is about. Interreligious dialogue is agreeing on common points and living together.
Recent popes call Lebanon “more than a country,” saying Lebanon is “a mission.” Can you explain why they would say this?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: Lebanon is a mission in the sense that it is a model, in this fact of living together in such a small country.
Another thing is that if Christians disappear from Lebanon it is a danger to the whole East. Christians have to stay. Even Pope Francis said this recently to a group that came for the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion. He gave a beautiful speech saying that Lebanon is a peace project and it has to stay that way.
Photo by Handout / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP
Despite all the wars and things that happen, the Lebanese people have the strength to resist, and we Christians have to be a mission, to be signs of hope. In our theology there is always an opening to heaven, to external things, to say that we need God's help and he does not leave us.
Lebanon has always had a history with many ups and downs, there have been times of prosperity, peace, and bad times. History also teaches us that this conflict is momentary and we must endure. In my opinion our task now is to resist as much as we can and help people survive.
There was a beatification recently of a Lebanese patriarch, Blessed Estephan El Douaihy, adding another name to the list of holy Maronite men and women. How do these saints and blessed encourage the local community and give them hope?
Bishop Rafiq Alwarsha: It is significant that we have all these different saints in such a small country. Recently there was the beatification of Patriarch El Douaihy who lived through so much persecution in his life, moved to different parts of Lebanon and went through huge problems, and still he endured. This is to say that in the end history repeats itself, there should be no fear because despite all the things that happen, in the end they can be overcome.
I speak not from a horizontal point of view, but a vertical point of view. If we have to speak in a horizontal way I see that there is fear, anguish and a very great anxiety because it is not easy to overcome what Lebanon is going through. But from a spiritual point of view, these saints – and the beatification – make us realize that we should not be afraid.
Jesus himself said you will be persecuted, you will face many wars but in the end I win, I have won everything, I have won the world. If Jesus Christ, who founded Christianity and the Church, said that, then why be afraid?
Then from the human point of view we have to do everything we can to help. And in the end we remain in God's hands. What more can we do?
