Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beirut (Agenzia Fides) – Already some 350 families of Christians who fled Mosul and the villages in the Plain of Ninive have found shelter in Lebanon, “but the numbers continue to rise every day”. Fides learned from Fr Paul Karam, Head of Caritas Lebanon. “The majority – the Maronite priest continues – are housed in parish premises and homes in Beirut and Harissa. We at Caritas Lebanon provide healthcare, food and prime necessities. However we are saddened by the fact that almost all of them have no intention of returning to their country: their desire is to emigrate, to leave the Middle East for ever. Sad to say this is the situation. And also on this issue the international community is called to make sensible decisions, unless it wants to contribute with its policies, to the extinction of Christians in Iraq”.
The forced exodus of Iraqi Christians from Mosul and villages in Ninive province, caused by Islamic State jihadist militants’ offensive, has inspired in Lebanon ecumenical management of the emergency: “Bishops of different Christian churches - Fr. Karam tells Fides – had a meeting and decided to form an ad hoc commission of respective representatives charged with following the situation day by day and the new arrivals of Iraqi Christian refugees. The commission holds weekly meetings and once a month the Bishops also attend ”.
Caritas Lebanon sends economic resources for the refugees to Iraq. During the recent visit to Kurdistan Iraq by 5 Patriarchs of eastern Churches, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai made a gift of 500,000 dollars to Churches in Iraq and a donation of 50,000 to the Yazidi community, as a sign of solidarity from the entire people of Lebanon. “The fact remains, - Fr Karam admits- the situation which has arisen in Iraq demands the involvement of the international community if it is to reach a peaceful and political solution. It was due to political games, global and local, that the crisis precipitated. And this should not be forgotten”. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 5/9/2014).
