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Saint Maroun's Feast: Bitter Truths... and Potential for Revival?
Joseph Al-Kosseifi, Head of the Press Editors Syndicate
02/09/02/2025
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney-Middle East Times Int'l: Mar Maroun's Feast falls this year with a president in Baabda Palace after two years, two months and five days of vacancy. During this period, no Maronite party has failed to score goals against the other, trying to have the upper hand in the election in terms of the candidate it is comfortable with and with whom it can build close relationships that will enable it to reap the fruits it desires in terms of services and politics, and block the path of anyone who tries to compete with it.The calls of Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, which urged the representatives, especially the Christian parliamentary blocs, to go to the election with an agreement on the name of a candidate, or agreeing to attend the session to elect a president they choose from among several candidates, were in vain. The important thing is that there is a president in Baabda who organizes the hierarchy of the state from the bottom to the top, so that the engine can roar and remind that constitutional life with all its links must start rebuilding. The entitlement would not have been delayed if the Maronite leaders had made up their minds and stopped the fierce war that they had started among themselves, and their mutual statements often exceeded the literature of communication. In order for the Maronite leaders to escape from the palaces in which they were anchored, they would have found a hanger on which to hang their differences. The bitter truth is that "the vinegar worm is from it and in it", and it is in vain to be stubborn and ignore the perpetrator. Today, General Joseph Aoun has been elected President of the Republic after a long labor, and in a supportive international and regional climate, and a new government has been formed that faces great responsibilities at all levels. The question remains: Where are the Maronites today in the new reality in Lebanon in light of the transformations that have occurred in it and in the region? The answer may be difficult and not available at the present time, but the Maronites must make up their minds and answer the serious question: Are they still with the state of Greater Lebanon that was born on September 1, 1920, that is, with the formula created by Patriarch Elias Howayek, which is still the subject of controversy every time the Lebanese entity is shaken by the winds of external transformations that leave their negative aftershocks on this country in the form of endless wars, strife and conflicts? The irony is that the Muslims who doubted Lebanon as an entity and a state in the 1920s until the end of the 1940s, and among whom parties, forces and political figures arose that demanded its integration into a Syrian or Arab unity, have today become among the most ardent adherents to Lebanon as the final homeland, as an entity and a state, especially after the approval of the “Taif Agreement”, while today voices of doubt about this formula are rising among a group of Christians on the pretext that it has exhausted its purpose. At the beginning of the Lebanese war, those calling for partition arose, and were strongly confronted by Patriarch Cardinal Mar Antonios Boutros Khreich. I witnessed an incident that he was subjected to on the steps of Bkerke by angry people following the invasion of Damour (Chouf Coast) in 1976, at the hands of the Palestinian-leftist alliance. I was also a witness to Patriarch Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir’s response to a party demonstration in 1985 that gathered in the square of the monument chanting: “Shout, Bkerke, shout/ We want a Christian homeland,” which said: “We are with a unified Lebanon from its south, to its Bekaa, to its north.” The Patriarchate has not deviated to this day from its strategic choice: the state of Greater Lebanon with its internationally recognized borders. But the truth is that some skeptical voices within the sect are heard and accepted by a significant segment, especially among the youth. The voices of these voices know that dividing Lebanon is an international decision that is not available, and it does not seem that it will be available. It would also be beyond the capacity of any local party, so they resorted to Plan B by proposing federalism, but without this formula there are obstacles and caveats and it does not stand on solid ground. The alternative formulas that contradict the Howayek project carry within them certain harm to the Maronite sect, which is distinguished by its spread from the far south on the border with occupied Palestine, and the far northern Bekaa, and northern Lebanon in the Akkar region specifically, on the border with Syria. In these areas there is a large Christian population mass that is being eroded by migration internally and externally under the pressure of fear and intimidation from the surroundings, and due to the lack of balanced development. This is something that neither the church nor the Maronite forces have addressed with the necessary firmness to stop the bleeding. In addition to this spread, there are large real estate properties belonging to Christians in general and Maronites in particular in these areas. Despite the sale of large areas of them, these properties are still a factor of presence, thanks to the endowments of the monastic orders in particular and the dioceses in general, and the activity of some civil society associations that establish productive and agricultural projects, which remain, despite their modesty, a manifestation of the desire to maintain spread and rootedness. Another matter of utmost importance is the Maronite presence in the state. Everyone remembers that the Christians of Akkar, especially the Maronites of Kobayat and its surroundings, and the sons of the southern border villages and the Bekaa with a Christian majority, used to constitute the human hum of the Lebanese army, and their numbers began to gradually decrease since 1969 until they reached worryingly low levels. Christian employees, especially Maronites, until the beginning of the first half of the eighties of the last century, constituted slightly more than half of the employees in the state’s departments and agencies. Today, their numbers have declined catastrophically. Do the Maronites and other Christians have the right to complain and grumble about a reality for which they are responsible, and which was facilitated by their boycott of the parliamentary elections in 1992, and their voluntary withdrawal from engaging in the state and its functions, leaving the field for others to fill the void resulting from their absence. There is an issue no less serious than the two issues mentioned above, which is the way to deal with the Maronite Diaspora in the world. This Diaspora, which is supported (with a damma on the yaa) by the successive political crises in Lebanon, the lack of stability, the absence of job opportunities, and the exacerbation of financial and economic crises with the migration of youth and skills, has not been dealt with to this day as an effective energy capable of positive change and forming a rear support base for the motherland. The need is not only for assistance for resident families, and contributing to charitable or development projects in towns and villages, which remain necessary and limited in impact and influence. Rather, there is a plan that enhances the ability to produce, and is not limited to one region over another, but includes all regions equally in order to revive a social and economic renaissance that contributes to connecting people to their land. This responsibility falls primarily on the shoulders of the Maronite Church, as do all other Christian churches and their secular institutions, because its members in the countries of the Diaspora are more numerous, capable and effective, and do not lack the desire to stand by the motherland so that it can rise and stand on its own two feet. The Diaspora should not be considered a world separate from resident Lebanon, but rather an extension of it in time, history, identity, interest, and commitment to preserving the national and spiritual heritage. Therefore, there is no separation between these two worlds. The roof of the church unites, whether it belongs to a diocese or a monastic order, and hence its role in keeping partisan conflicts away. If it really wants the Diaspora to be effective, it must play its unifying role and encourage adherence to national and spiritual constants. The Diaspora communities face two dangers:
1- The gradual disappearance of the generation of Mahdi from the scene, which left Lebanon in the flesh, but its longing for it has never been disappointed.
2- The speed of integration of generations descended from the Mahdi who were born in the countries of the Diaspora and integrated into the host societies, and their feeling that their homeland is where they were born, raised and live, without forgetting their roots and sympathy with Lebanon, but not at the level that existed with previous generations. Therefore, the Church must work diligently to confront this challenge. All those interested in the Diaspora must stop considering it a cash cow, and free it from the influence of political and partisan conflicts, so that it remains capable of serving the homeland and the sons of the Church and contributing to vital projects that strengthen its connection to the roots.
On the feast of Saint Maron, which falls exactly one month after the election of President Joseph Aoun, the Maronites face three challenges:
A - Commitment to the line of the Maronite Church, which has not abandoned the message of Al-Huwayek in the unity of the land, pluralism and diversity, and coexistence.
B - Preserving and strengthening the Maronite diaspora, and thus Christianity, and the identity of the land in the areas of its presence.
C - Considering the Maronite diaspora in the world as an extension of the Lebanese presence in its land, and looking at them as two sides of the same coin that carry out one message in the service of Lebanon and the Maronite people, according to a strategy that transcends all political and partisan calculations.
D - Returning to the state and engaging in it, volunteering in the army and security services, and entering public service, as was the case on the eve of the outbreak of the Lebanese war in 1975.
If the Maronite Church, the political and living forces of the sect, and its elites are able to absorb the lessons of the recent and distant past, and appreciate the seriousness of the setbacks that have befallen it, we can talk about a Maronite recovery that corrects the defect or at least some of it, reduces the circle of frustration relatively, and indicates the seriousness of dealing with the files on which the future of the Maronites in Lebanon depends. If the Maronites want to remain the salt of Lebanon, they must face the difficult facts with the courage and determination of a believer in their cause, and not resemble the ostrich that buries its head in the sand. |
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