Middle East patriarchs urge Christian hope at Easter

Author: Doreen Abi Raad

Publication Date: 11/4/2023

Source: National Catholic Reporter

In their Easter messages, Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East encouraged the hope of the Resurrection to triumph over suffering in the region.

Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch of the Maronite Catholic church, lamented the economic, social and political crisis crippling Lebanon. The national currency has depreciated by more than 98% since 2019, plunging more than 80% of the population into poverty in the once middle-income country.

Lebanon's deeply divided parliament has continuously failed to agree on a new head of state since President Michel Aoun's six-year term ended late October. Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the post is held by a Maronite Catholic.

Without a president or a full-fledged government, the Lebanese authorities are stalling in adopting the reforms needed to stem the economic and financial collapse.

In his message from Bkerke, the patriarchate north of Beirut, Rai challenged the country's officials, saying, "Don't you feel ashamed?!"

The head of the Maronite Catholic church called for a "resurrection of the heart" so that those responsible would "pass from a state of sin to a state of grace."

Otherwise, he warned, the officials would "remain preoccupied with the destruction of the state, the destruction of its institutions," and the "undermining of the future of its promising generations," continuing emigration of Lebanese "to the four corners of the world."

Rai added: "Whether you, officials in the ministries, fulfill your duties that justify the reason for your presence in government, or not, the church will cling more and more to its conscientious duty to serve those whom the Lord Jesus called His 'little brothers' (Mt 25: 40), in order to secure their rights and protect their dignity."

The Maronite cardinal also cited "the presence of 2.3 million displaced Syrians" in Lebanon from Syria's war, noting that the refugees have exhausted the state's assets "and race with the Lebanese for a living," stressing that the international community "protects them at the expense of Lebanon for apparent and hidden political reasons."

Rai encouraged the faithful: "We are sons and daughters of the Resurrection," reminding them of "the Christian hope, (that) Christ has risen to make all things new."

In his Easter message from the patriarchate in Beirut, Syriac Catholic patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan likewise denounced Lebanon's officials for the country's collapse.

"These corrupt people persist in obstructing the work of the political, constitutional and administrative institutions, and destroy the hopes of the Lebanese youth to remain in their homeland and build their future in it," he said.

"We deplore the willful failure of officials in general, and parliamentarians in particular, who have turned a blind eye to what is dictated to them by sense, conscience and national dignity," the patriarch said, urging to "stop their wrangling and maneuvers," "immediately elect a president" and "form a national government that implements the necessary reforms," so that Lebanon "can return to the international map, and to its previous era of development and prosperity."

Link: https://www.ncronline.org/news/middle-east-patriarchs-urge-christian-hope-easter