mistrust and divisions two years after the port tragedy

Father Abboud speaks of a country and a people that feel “lost and bewildered.” The investigation is far from clarifying the truth and there is a climate of “secrecy”. Divisions have also been created among the relatives of the victims, fueled by politics. Health and education conditions are worrying. campaign to support Catholic schools.

Milan () – The Lebanese feel “lost, bewildered” because after two years “they still don’t know the truth”; there is a climate of “secrecy” about the causes and circumstances that caused the accident. Two days after the second anniversary of the explosion in the port of Beirut, the president of Caritas Lebanon, Father Michel Abboud, spoke to about the “divisions” even among the relatives of the victims. “The memory of what happened -he explains- supposes a lot of suffering, which is added to the very serious economic crisis that the country is going through, the worst in history, and to the general distrust in the ruling class. People are suffering but they also seem to have lost hope, the strength to react, and there is a general feeling of deep exhaustion”.

mourning and divisions

Lebanon commemorates next August 4, with a “Day of National Mourning”, the second anniversary of the explosion in the port of the capital of a deposit that contained hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored without security measures. More than 220 dead, 6,500 injured and entire neighborhoods razed to the ground. Politics, Hezbollah and confessional affiliations have created deep divisions even among the families of the victims of a tragedy that marks the recent history of the country with blood.

“This mistrust – explains the president of Caritas Lebanon – leads citizens not even to go out into the street, some protest but without particular enthusiasm, they lack strength and participation”. One more fact seems to confirm it: last year a large crowd attended the mass in memory of the victims celebrated by the Maronite patriarch, to the point that the ceremony had to be held in the public square. This year, however, the celebration will take place in a church. “The Lebanese – he continues – went from one crisis to another, we are losing a lot of people”, between those who die and those who emigrate. “Every week -he points out- we hear news of two or three people who have died because they cannot even access hospitals, they are deprived of the right to be treated. As Caritas we try to offer help, but of course we cannot cover everyone’s expenses and needs”.

Support for schools

One of the sectors most affected by the crisis, in addition to health, is education and Catholic schools, which are one of the fundamental pillars of society. 70% of education is covered by non-governmental institutions that do not receive any help from the state. The central core of this network are Catholic schools, which educate everyone without distinction: Christian, Muslim, Druze, boys or girls, both rich and poor, in the big cities and in the countryside, in Beirut and in other regions, They also use the French language to open up to the world, to culture, to the critical spirit to the new generations. To support its mission and guarantee a future for the country, in recent months has organized a campaign (click here for more information and forms of support) to which we are once again promoting these days in view of the resumption of the school year.

“The situation of the schools – warns the president of Caritas – is dark. Many professors have abandoned their professorships and are out of work because their salaries are low and they cannot afford fuel or transportation costs. A problem similar to that of many boys and girls who in the last year have abandoned their studies because they cannot pay for transportation”. Costs in institutions have risen “up to 30 times” due to the collapse of the local currency. “Before – confirms the priest – a dollar was worth 1,500 liras, while today it reaches 30 thousand, to which is added an escalation of costs in heating, salaries and didactic material”. To help Lebanon, he concludes, “large sums are not needed, but a small contribution from many people… the Lebanese people are used to wars and suffering, but today trust between people has been lost and it seems that only faith in God remains.

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