The current political, economic and social crises have hugely endangered the Christian presence in Lebanon and is provoking a profound emigration out of the country.
Will you choose to give the gift of new clothes to these children this Christmas?
This Christmas, 15,000 children in need will welcome a new pair of pants and a shirt which will be given to them by their parish, during a small celebration.
With just $21, you can put a gift under the Christmas Tree for a Lebanese child and make Baby Jesus smile.
Between 2017 and 2020, the percentage of negative relationships doubled from 21% to 43%, mainly after the Beirut port explosions; negative relations jumped from 32% to 43%, with a clear impact from COVID-19 and tensions provoked by the reduction of job opportunities. More recently, the media described a dispute over the scarcity of fuel supplies between neighbouring Shi’ite Muslim and Christian villages in southern Lebanon, forcing the army to intervene.
On July 1st Pope Francis held a summit in Rome where Lebanon’s Christian leaders, including Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, prayed for solutions to the country’s deepening crisis.
Total population: 6,019,795
Territory: 10,452 km2
Religion: Muslim 60% Christian 35.1%
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): 7,000
Refugees registered in the country: 865,300 Syrian refugees, 10,286 asylum seekers and 7,149 people of concern; in total, approximately 1.5 million Syrians live in Lebanon.