2025 CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN
Please don't forget Aleteia in your end-of-the-year giving! Help us continue to provide free content.
At 37, Jeff returned from Australia especially to celebrate the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon, the country he fled after the explosion at the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. We meet a Lebanese man from the diaspora who is grappling with the question of returning home.
Tonight, Jeff is smiling and his voice is filled with emotion. Before him, Pope Leo XIV is being cheered by nearly 15,000 young Christians in Bkerké, the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate. A wind of hope is blowing over the heights of Beirut. And the 37-year-old is convinced that he is in the right place at the right time.
With a neat beard and a surfer-style cross around his neck, Jeff has just returned from Australia. It has been two years since this Maronite Christian, who works in mechanical engineering, chose exile. The reason?
"On the day of the explosion, I was working at the port of Beirut. Around 4 p.m., I left to go eat. When I came back, I found my friends in pieces," says the Lebanese man.
Two explosions in the port's silos had just devastated the Lebanese capital and scarred its heart forever. The disaster killed 220 people and injured more than 6,800. The investigation into the causes was never conclusive.
Traumatized, Jeff ended up leaving Lebanon three years after the tragedy.
“My life changed after the explosion. I am searching for hope and Jesus. I pray to him more,” he says, as night falls on Lebanon and Pope Francis prepares to make his triumphant entrance onto the vast, bustling esplanade.
When Jeff heard about the Pope's visit to his country, he didn't hesitate. He, who had not returned since his departure, decided to go back for three months, leaving his job in Sydney.
“I'll find another one after Christmas,” he says. “Being here, being with my family, fills me with peace.”
“This is my country, the land of the Cedars.”
The young man was moved by the Pope's first speech to the Lebanese authorities upon his arrival on Sunday. “Peacemakers dare to persevere,” said Leo XIV, before extending his message to the Lebanese diaspora.
“There are times when it is easier to flee, or simply more convenient to move elsewhere. It takes real courage and foresight to stay or return to one’s own country, and to consider even somewhat difficult situations worthy of love and dedication,” acknowledged the head of the Catholic Church.
“I know it's also my responsibility,” confesses Jeff, as Lebanon experiences a massive emigration of its youth, especially Christians. He believes that Lebanese Muslims who emigrate are more likely to return to the country: “I believe they have a stronger attachment to the land than we do.”
Is the Pope's appeal audible in a country mired in a serious economic crisis and where the fear of war with Israel is ever-present? "The Pope is taking the first step. And I believe that we shouldn't wait for the ideal moment to take a step ourselves,“ says Jeff.
His temporary return to Lebanon has strengthened his deep desire to live there. ”My hope is to be able to work and get married here. It's my country, the land of the Cedars, and I don't want to leave it to others."
