Maronite Catholic Bishops

"an unprepared society for demographic change can evaluate these trends as an economic threat. Already we hear terms of division as generational theft" or unpleasant comparisons among productive workers and retirees. Our community needs to ensure that costs and benefits of an aging population are shared equitably. Where policies encourage longer work years, on the other hand one has to make sure that vulnerable groups are protected from poverty."

"A biblical renaissance answered the needs of the present world. One brings up issues on life to the Bible to which only God, but his word, can answer in a satisfactory way. An inculturation of the Bible is about to be born a bit everywhere in the Catholic world, which will be at the basis of the new evangelisation."

"The real situation varies according to the eras and the personalities of the leaders. Evil had been done, even if the Christians and Muslims continued to work to save threatened tolerance and democracy."

"We cannot make peace between a victor and a vanquished. In order for peace to be lasting, it must be based on justice and the rights of all the protagonists must be recognised and granted."

"Your mission is to spread hope everywhere, we are baptized as children of hope. Do not be depressed, you are our future and we do not want you to say that you are depressed. In order to build a nation, we need our young people to be firmly anchored in moral values. As young Christians, you are called to live the Christian values of faith, hope and love: to build a society with goodness, I urge you to live these values."

"We are created by God. So, we have to thank the Lord for the gift of life and take care of the house that the Lord gave us, which is the earth."

"I find that our faithful are divided into groups according to their attachment to their roots: Many of the people have emigrated to the USA in the late 19th Century through the early 20th Century. We have lost many of those people due to the lack of pastors. A large group has emigrated due to the instability in the last forty-five years: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the civil war in Lebanon, the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, there is a group who severs all ties with the Middle East."

"A good friend and a beloved shepherd of the Maronite Catholic community."

"The need for salvation is expressed in what we call: "The search for meaning". The visible signs of Salvation are not easily verifiable. Salvation is confided to faith."

"All Christians are persecuted — not only Catholics — especially in the Middle East. They are the same to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and for us now it is an opportunity to be united as Christians in our lands. The most important thing for us is forgiveness. This is our spirituality: to forgive. To be a Christian, especially now: For us, it means forgiveness and reconciliation."

"Lebanon is today a shadow of itself, divided between conflicting geopolitical alliances, pushed towards the abyss by an incompetent and corrupt political class."

"People turn to the Church for help, but we are not the state. As the Church we try to be the voice of truth for the people, we try to say what no one is saying."

"For our organisation this is a time to render homage to the Holy Father who was a champion of respect for human rights and with his example taught us what it means to follow the Lord with our feet well planted at the heart of the Church’s social mission. Throughout his life John Paul II responded with compassion to the problems of the world and inspired us with his dedication to the people we service - the poor, the hungry, the displaced and all those who cry out for justice and an end to suffering. Caritas Internationalis is committed to follow Pope John Paul in our works for justice and peace."

"There can be no justice and no peace without changing the hearts of the people. And what other than God’s mercy can change the heart of the people? No, we have to pray. Moreover, people who pray with sincerity cannot feel hate. This is again a contribution towards peace."

"The people of Lebanon are very attached to their faith and they are pleased to see that the Church, both in Lebanon and internationally, shows this solidarity to them."

"Our hope and our greatest desire can only be peace: this is why we pray intensely."

"In contemplation; it can happen that we cross, in a fleeting moment, a reflection of God's gaze on people. This is a moment of grace, a moment of joy, because this gaze is creator, savior and full of love."

"The conflict in Syria has worked its way into a situation from which there appears to be no way out. Neither party seems capable of prevailing over the other. The passing of time only increases the massacres, the destruction of infrastructures, of the entire Syrian society, and all the suffering of a martyred people. Syrian Christians are also paying a high price for this war. What is needed is a peaceful solution to the conflict, to be reached as quickly as possible."

"In the Maronite Church, the lay persons have always participated in the life of the church through the means of Marian brotherhoods. At the same time, the laity was always entrusted with the management of the material goods and properties of the church; others, ordained as deacon assistants helped with the relations with civil authorities. New movements were born, inspired by these foundations in the West. Some were inculturated in the Eastern Churches, and others not yet."

"Since Christians have been massively emigrating from the Near East, willingly or unwillingly, their problem is not simply the practice of certain rights, but the rejoicing in the right to live in their homeland."

"Confessionalism in the Islamic societies where many Christians live and bear witness in the Middle East deeply affects their spirit and their behavior. From this stems confinement, withdrawal from others and hostility. These Christians are not "indigenous citizens". To the contrary, they belong fundamentally and organically to the social fabric and national identity of their respective countries. This is why they are called upon to live their faith and to bear witness to it."

"The Lebanese martyrs have to be celebrated even if the Turks do not want to. The Maronite Church supports the need to restore a national feast for the martyrs, and that can help preserve the unity of the Lebanese people."

"Our country is already immersed in that terrible conflict. And this, for Lebanon, can be devastating."

"I believe that the formation of future African priests to the one belonging to Our Lord Jesus, Teacher and Model, represents the only alternative to form these priests into instruments of peace and reconciliation. Thus, their mission should not be considered as the place for a competition of personal, family or tribal interests, rather, to the contrary, a place for the encounter between brothers beloved by the Lord and called upon to build together, in Charity, His Kingdom of Peace and Justice."

"It is absolutely clear to everyone that the reasons for such a disastrous war as we have endured for seven years now have nothing to do with the demand for democracy or freedom. They have much more to do with a dirty game of world economics."

"How could Eastern Christians of the Expansion help Christians of the Middle East? We believe that confirming Eastern Christians of the Expansion in their Eastern identity and heritage would generate a dynamic drawing them to their roots, bursting in them the spirituality and faith of their forefathers so that they become an essential source of "spiritual support and solidarity" to their fellow Christians in their homeland. My pastoral experience embodied this vision."

"If the Christians disappear, there will be many problems, both for their own country and for Europe."

"We have to strengthen the faith of the people, anchor them in this country, encourage them to be witnesses of Christ, the salt of the earth and light of the world: we cannot allow our presence here to become insignificant. We have lived through a particularly painful period of history: we are living in extraordinary circumstances. Now we need to deal with them appropriately."

"Everyone sees very well what the goal is: to increase suffering in the population to fuel popular discontent and thus produce regime change. But this way of acting is criminal. Putting an entire people in distress at a time like this, where there is also the specter of the pandemic around the world, is inhuman. And the sign that to pursue your goals you are willing to do anything, even to sacrifice millions of people, poor people, families is a diabolical act."

"Our desire to stay is a "Mission" and not just because we were born here, or because we are obliged to stay here against our will. We Maronites have no place to bring us together other than this cathedral, and the decision to restore it was self-evident, just like a family who wanted to renovate our only house that brought us together."

"The logic of the sanctions is arguably to starve the people and reduce the political consensus for the authorities and thereby overthrow the government. But as a Pastor, I see that people suffer from poverty and it doesn't seem to me that discussions about democracy are a priority for them."

"The Christian presence in the East, even in Aleppo is thousands of years old, since the time of the Apostles; therefore, it is very important that it continues, because this also benefits the universal Church - not only the East."

"Keep praying for Lebanon; pray for our brothers and sisters. When we pray, at least we tell them: You're not alone. We feel with you, and we ask God to help you, as well. Lebanon is important because if we lose the Christians of Lebanon, we could lose Christianity in the Middle East. That's the only haven; they're the only country in the Middle East where Christians have a voice, and that's why Lebanon has that mission."

"You cannot love persons you don't know. That's why we have to work on the schools and the universities to educate young generation to dialogue."

"We Eastern Christians are here to say that we are children of this land. We are the Eastern Churches, not the Trojan horse of the West. We have cultural and religious affinities with the West, but remain easterners. The Muslims are our brothers and together we are trying to solve the shared problems. If there is a "clash of civilizations" it is a political clash, not religious."

"Many refugees will remain and apply for Lebanese citizenship in ten years. What will become of us Christians then? Lebanon is marked by a very delicate religious composition. Those Syrians who will remain in the country are mostly Sunnis. The country's religious balance will thus be destroyed. That is a problem for us. We show much solidarity. We want to act in solidarity. But we have obvious problems before our eyes. A question mark hangs over our future."

"We are trying to help in every way we can, and above all in order to prevent people from choosing the solution of leaving the country forever, and in many cases risking their lives trying to cross the ocean."

"We hope that the initiative of these children spreads and many other children all over the world pray for peace."

"The worst thing about it is that they are doing these awful things in the name of God. In the name of God, they are killing people everywhere. We must call for peace. We must not kill these criminals. We must turn the criminal into a human being who cares for human life."

"The situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is increasingly dramatic."

"On the Syrian border, the situation is worsening day by day. In the next few weeks we expect new waves of refugees. If action is not taken quickly there is the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe."

"We need support from everyone. Society and the Church can do something. But not only the Church alone. Diplomatic support is also required, by disseminating information, supporting the Christian presence in the Middle East which, without Christ, without Christians, is not the cradle of Christianity."

"The Church's role is very important here, because God entrusted it with water sources and mountains... All our Bible Prayers are related to the environment. Our liturgical and spiritual world is a reflection of our relationship with the environment, especially when we talk about God being the shepherd of sheep, the true vine... Believers are intrinsically linked to the environment, so we must not distort it."

"To undo the clarity of faith and morals of the Church would neither be fair nor honest, in fact, it could betray the very purpose explicitly stated by those preparing the synod"

"It's very important for Christians to be thinking Christians, not just partisan Christians."

"I felt how much God loves me to have chosen me a second time after having chosen me a first time to join the order and become a priest, I feel blessed because the church has entrusted me with this new mission."

"Lebanon has been around for six thousand years. In its long history it has gone through difficult times like those of today, but it always overcame all feelings of hatred and terrible persecutions. Sometimes it is necessary to travel down the way of the cross. The peace of the Resurrection of Jesus came through the passion and death on the Cross. Pray to God and to his Mother Mary for Lebanon and for us, so that so many innocents will no longer suffer. We place everything in the hands of Jesus and Mary and we are sure that like the phoenix, Lebanon will rise gloriously from the ashes."

"Until now, people who wish to live in freedom were always able to come to Lebanon and experience this freedom. Sadly, I believe the international community does not appreciate the true value of Lebanon. It is rare to find it in the Middle East and it needs to be preserved by the international community."

"The idea of secularization is not possible in the Middle East. The idea of secularization is a concept that does not exist in the Middle East for both Christians and Muslims because in the Middle East people are by nature religious. It is much better to speak about citoyenneté, "citizenship for all" whereby the citizens are allowed to pursue their own religious values. Islam is not just religion but is both religion and culture. Every act of a Muslim has both a religious and cultural value."

"The problem of so many media is that they don’t really grasp real picture of the situation. The Arab Spring has been depicted as this clear push for liberty and democracy—but the actual results in Libya, Egypt, and Yemen, for example, are proving otherwise. In many respects, the West is poorly informed, including its churches, despite good intentions."