Beirut, in the Heart of the Church
On the first commemoration of the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020, the Communication and Public Relations Department of the Middle East Council of Churches published a special issue of its quarterly magazine “Al Muntada” in August 2021, entitled "Beirut, in the Heart of the Church, Beirut, a City of Resurrection". The introduction of the issue was written by the Editor in Chief, Director of the Communication and Public Relations Department Huguette Salameh.
Huguette Salameh
Editor in Chief, Director of the Communication and Public Relations Department
One year has passed and the Beirut explosion tragedy is still growing, angrier and stronger. No memory can contain the pain it caused, while no time could ever make it go away. Since last August, Beirut is praying in the name of the Father for every son, brother, sister, mom, or dad wo went to work and never came back. 216 victims within seconds. Thousands of injured, hundreds of whom made it with no permanent disabilities. More than 80 thousand household, business, school, hospital, and historical location that stood long enough to watch Beirut grow and bloom were destroyed.
For 365 days, the parents of the victims have been crying out for justice for their loved ones. They don’t want to bury their memory the way they buried their corpses which they had to send in for a DNA test.
Beirut was murdered. Beirut rose over spite, violence, and extremism. It is the city of life, love, and dialogue where religions would come together… so they destroyed it when there was no State to protect it. They emptied it from its children through pain and displacement! If it wasn’t for religious organizations, civil society associations, and volunteers from young Lebanese men and women, our beautiful city would’ve never risen from the ashes of neglect and corruption.
Ever since August 4, 2020, you could hear its voice, while passing by the port, saying to everyone: “I am Beirut. They killed me in cold blood. They destroyed me and murdered my children. They betrayed me, I, who loved them all, and they sold me down the river!”
Beirut is the city of resurrection. Its residents are people of hope. Their bells and minarets have been asking for a year now in a united voice for justice, mercy, and human dignity.
Beirut churches pledged with a warming heart to help and assist the people of their parishes who lost their homes, their jobs, and even their identification papers. In this special edition of “Al Muntada”, Church leaders reveal how they went with their parishes through hell and back, and how they overcame that pre-planned tragic experience with their children. The bishops in Beirut formed an ecumenical committee in collaboration with the Middle East Council of Churches to stitch up the wounds caused by the explosion. They joined efforts so that the voice of “The Call of Beirut” that the Council started could be heard loud and clear. Beirut is the immortal, unkillable city.
Beirut is in the heart of the Church!