As politics once again leaves a power vacuum, the Lebanese people find themselves in the grip of an unprecedented economic crisis. The Maronite Bishop of Batroun targets politicians and corruption. Catholic schools, however, have increased enrollment: “When the time for change comes, we want to be ready,” he told .
Milan () – More than 80% of the Lebanese population lives below the poverty line. “People turn to the Church for help, but we are not the state,” says the Maronite Bishop of Batroun, Mounir Khairallah. The state is still absent in Lebanon: on October 30, after six years in power, Michel Aoun left the presidential office and a huge political vacuum, because interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati failed to form a new government. “As a Church we try to be the voice of truth for the people, we try to say what nobody says, but right now the first concern of the people is to face the economic collapse”, comments Msgr. Khairallah.
In less than three years the lira has lost more than 90% of its value and the Lebanese cannot withdraw their savings from the banks. Electric power, when there is any, comes and goes. As of the end of last month, more than 1,400 people had contracted cholera and there were 17 confirmed deaths. The country of cedars is collapsing, following the course of a tragic involution triggered by the explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020, but of which there were already signs. In October 2019, young people took to the streets demanding an end to the confessional political system, which assigns government posts based on religious affiliation.
The Maronite bishop points out against politicians and corruption: “We can trace the current situation back to 1975, when the civil war broke out. This formally ended in 1990, but the fighting militias continued to serve their own interests when they entered politics. Nobody has sworn allegiance to the State to rebuild it after the conflict”.
The elections that took place in May of this year did not bring the breath of fresh air that was expected: “Only 20 new deputies were elected out of a total of 128. The rest are already well-known figures, children or grandchildren of families that have always governed the country”.
For the people, the only solution is to turn to the Church. “We are not living a dignified life,” the prelate told , “we are surviving thanks to remittances from the diaspora and donations from foreign organizations.”
However Christian schools, which are private and therefore more expensive, have increased the number of enrollees this year. How is it possible? “On the one hand, the institutions are trying to support families by charging half of the tuition in Lebanese pounds and the other half in dollars in cash,” explains the Maronite eparch. “On the other hand, the real crisis is in public schools, due to the pressure caused by the presence of Syrian refugees, who have become close to 40% of the population.”
“Refugees, being such, have free access to school and the health system,” explains the bishop. But the system no longer holds: “Public schools don’t have paper or pens, they can’t make photocopies.” That is why families, including Muslim ones who appreciate the universal human values imparted to students, prefer to make one more sacrifice and invest in a future for their children. A hope shared by the Maronite Church.
The generation under 30, the one that grew up after the Taif agreements that ended the civil war, is tired of religious sectarianism and asks to return to the homeland of their parents, when Christians and Muslims did not wage war against each other and they supported each other. In other words, people keep asking for change: “We know it can’t be done overnight, but we want to be ready when the time comes. Many young people go abroad as soon as they can, but many others decide to stay and start from scratch here instead of doing it in another country”.
The reconstruction of a new Lebanon is the mission of the Maronite Church. Not only through the education and formation of a new ruling class, but also through inter-religious dialogue: “It is necessary to purify the memory of the conflict and establish a dialogue based on sincerity and respect”, says Msgr. Khairallah . “Only in this way will Lebanon once again be the country-message of which John Paul II spoke.” A message of peace, of pluralism and now perhaps also of rebirth.
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