The president of a leading Catholic charity organization in Lebanon is sounding the alarm over the increasingly precarious situation faced by Christians in the region.
About 1 million people have been displaced over the past 10 days in Lebanon, where the situation continues to deteriorate, according to Marwan Sehnaoui, president of the Sovereign Order of Malta’s Lebanon chapter.
“The situation in Lebanon, in Beirut, and all over Lebanon is a catastrophic situation,” Sehnaoui told “EWTN News Nightly” host Veronica Dudo on March 18. “We are a peaceful country, and here we are with shelling all over.”
Sehnaoui leads the Order of Malta’s Lebanon Association, which, he said, “is all over the Lebanese territory,” with about 600 employees charged with operating more than 60 projects related to health, social, and agricultural humanitarian aid. The Order of Malta also operates 12 mobile medical centers, he said.
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“Around 20% of our population had to run away,” he said, noting that “where to put them” has become “a very complicated situation.” He further cited about 1,000 casualties in the region, noting the deaths of 60 people “just today.”
“To see this is very painful, as you can imagine, when there is shelling, destruction, and death,” he said, “but we will survive.”
Sehnaoui emphasized the war’s impact on the Christian community, warning that if the war continues, increased pressure on Christians in the region may force them to leave their homes.
“We don’t want immigration; we want people to stay on their lands,” he said. “And this is why the order has opened a lot of projects on agriculture, so they can be there and cultivate the land and have food.”
“What is important for [the Lebanese Christian community] and others is to have their dignity,” he said. “And the order is a factor in giving back dignity and being an instrument of coexistence … not through weapons but through love and presence at the side of the suffering.”
Sehnaoui expressed gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for visiting Lebanon last year, which he said “was very important for all Lebanese.”
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