Monsignor Mariano Fazio in Lebanon

The Auxiliary Vicar of the Prelature traveled to Lebanon from the 9th to the 14th of September, sent by Monsignor Fernando Ocariz to express his closeness during the difficult period the country is going through.

Monsignor Mariano Fazio brought the affection and support of the Prelate during the unprecedented social and economic crisis in Lebanon, aggravated by the explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020, and the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic. As Michel Medarde tells us from Beirut: “The government is providing only three hours of electricity a day (the rest is provided by private generators, if available). People need to wait in line up to five hours for 8 gallons of gasoline, and many families have had to leave the country. Pharmacies lack even the basic medications, and people have gone from eating meat almost daily to being able to do so only every ten days.”

“You are going through material circumstances that make life difficult,” Monsignor Fazio told them, “but you have a great treasure, your faith, which enables you to see with hope that God makes use of all this to help us become better. You should be people who pass on hope in your surroundings, who are concerned about others.”

The Auxiliary Vicar and the Regional Vicar in the Monastery of Saint Maroun, where the relics of Saint Charbel, patron saint of Lebanon, are preserved.

During his stay, the Auxiliary Vicar met with many people who take part in the means of formation offered by the Prelature in Beirut, Jounieh, and Maad. He encouraged everyone to pray for Pope Francis and passed on some points that the Prelate frequently stresses: the centrality of Christ in Christian life, the importance of freedom, friendship with Jesus, fraternity, and living our Christian vocation with joy.

Last June, the Prelate met online with the people in the Work, cooperators and friends in that country, through an international get-together by Zoom, with about 120 Lebanese families taking part.