The election of Joseph Aoun, a Maronite (Eastern-rite Catholic), as the 14th president of Lebanon and a fragile ceasefire have raised hopes that the war-ravaged and crisis-ridden country will finally reverse its steep descent into chaos. 

But people are hovering between cautious optimism and an acute awareness of the daunting challenges ahead, say officials of the Catholic charities working on the ground to heal a country that’s still in dire straits despite a ceasefire that has temporarily halted the worst of the fighting between Hezbollah (Lebanon’s Shiite political party with a military wing) and Israel.

Lebanon had been without a president for two years and the country was under a paralyzed caretaker government because the various presidential candidates had failed to secure a majority vote in a parliament deeply divided between pro- and anti-Hezbollah members. Lebanon’s constitution stipulates that the president must be a Maronite Catholic and the prime minister a Sunni Muslim.

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For two years, the immense power of Hezbollah had blocked the election of a president. But the recent breakthrough has brought a spark of hope on the horizon to Lebanon’s diverse population — a hope tempered by the difficulty of implementing reforms in a country that had been plagued for years by entrenched corruption.

Catholic charities such as Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and Caritas Lebanon, while heartened by the changes, are still facing an enormous task to rescue and rehabilitate people whose lives have been upended by acute poverty, the destruction of homes and the displacement that occurred when the conflict that began with the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 spilled into Lebanon. 

In October 2024 Hezbollah upped its role in the fray in support of Hamas, and increased the firing of rockets from Lebanon into Israel. To counter this offensive, Israel launched strong attacks on Hezbollah positions and infrastructure in Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah strongholds.

“The new government (with Aoun as President and Nawaf Salam as Prime Minister) was elected only recently, and it’s too early to say whether it will bring profound change,” Marielle Boutros, project coordinator of ACN Lebanon, told The Catholic Register. “But the appointment of Aoun, a consensus leader, and Salam, a former president of the International Court of Justice, is a promising start.”

Mazen Moussawer, head of communications at Caritas Lebanon, echoed these views. 

“We are hopeful that the new government which was installed on Feb. 9 will restore the dignity of the Lebanese people by enforcing the rule of law which has been ignored for 30 years,” he said.

Boutros said the war had taken an immense toll on the country’s impoverished masses. A ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and France that calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and Hezbollah to remove its weapons and fighters from the south has been extended to Feb. 18. However, Israel continues to launch strikes on Lebanon, asserting that Hezbollah has repeatedly violated the terms of the ceasefire.

“Both sides have not respected the ceasefire, but we hope they will at least after Feb. 18,” Moussawer said.

Boutros described the impact of the ongoing violence on the people of Lebanon.

“Even if you are not directly targeted, you are still living in a country at war,” she said. “The widespread destruction of homes in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to Beirut or the northern part of the country.”  

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She said this significantly weakened the Christian presence in the Israel-Lebanon border area, despite the fact that the Christians have no affiliation with Hezbollah.

She described the generosity of the Christian community in providing shelter to displaced families of all religions. 

“They (Christians) opened their doors to thousands of displaced people, free of charge, despite their own limited resources,” she said. “Remarkably, they extended this hospitality primarily to Shiite Muslim families,” adding this was a profound act of solidarity in view of the often-tense relations between religious groups.

Boutros emphasized that while Lebanese Christians are deeply attached to their homeland, the country is half destroyed and its economy is in shambles, forcing many to leave. 

The changing demographics of Lebanon are also a serious concern, she said. Lebanon had a population that was 53 per cent Christian in 1932, but that now stands at only 40 per cent, while 60 per cent are Muslims.

She spoke of the critical importance of the Christian presence in Lebanon. 

“The Christian presence is essential to Lebanon, and the Maronite Church was born in Lebanon/Syria. We must not forget that the Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity.”

Asked what was driving this exodus, she said: “The true danger to the Lebanese Christian community is not so much persecution, but the inability to live here,” she explained. “It’s the failure of the state and the lack of support that threatens the Christian presence here. Muslims can rely on financial and military support from Muslim countries.”

But with support from benefactors in Canada and other countries, ACN and other charities are focusing on the most critical needs, she said. 

“While there are essential projects like food distribution, medical dispensaries and other health-care initiatives, the pastoral component remains central in all these efforts. Sisters, priests and chaplains are present in every project to offer spiritual guidance, counselling and accompaniment.”

Boutros said ACN’s humanitarian aid is heavily focused on Catholic schools, where education continues despite the crisis, and where catechesis is mainly taught.

Caritas Lebanon, working in partnership with the Canadian bishops’ Development and Peace and other international charities, is working diligently to address urgent needs.

“Our health department is very busy, organizing medical days in remote villages where we offer free medical services from doctors, and free prescription medication to those in need,” said Moussawer. “We also offer trauma counselling and psychological services to people traumatized by the war.”

In addition, the social department of Caritas Lebanon distributes food parcels and hot meals as well as winter clothes and blankets, while the livelihood department gives courses to young people to help them sustain themselves. The education department provides an education for children with special needs.”

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Both Boutros and Moussawer pleaded for help from international donors.

 “Fr. Michel Abboud, president of Caritas Lebanon, has pledged to remain in solidarity with the poor,” said Moussawer. “There are 11 million Lebanese who live outside the country. If each one can donate a small amount on a regular basis, what a difference it would make to our work.”