BRISBANE Archbishop Mark Coleridge called on local Catholics to join a global Day of Prayer and Reflection for Lebanon announced by Pope Francis for July 1.
Lebanon has suffered through a prolonged social and economic crisis for years, which was brought to worldwide attention after an explosion at a port in Beirut.
The explosion, which happened on August 4 last year, killed 207 people and wounded 7500 people.
It caused an estimated $15 billion in property damage and left 300,000 people homeless.
COVID-19 had overwhelmed much of the country’s hospitals, meaning delivery of medical aid to victims of the blast was strained.
On top of this was a deepening economic crisis.
Unemployment had skyrocketed and the Lebanese pound had lost 80 per cent of its value against the US dollar in the years leading up to the blast.
“The nation is in desperate trouble for many reasons and we need to surround them with prayer,” Archbishop Coleridge told people livestreamed into the 8am Mass from St Stephen’s Cathedral.
“All the more so because we have so many people from Lebanon in this country who have made such a contribution to the nation and to the church in this country.
“Let’s surround Lebanon and its people with our prayers through this day.”
Pope Francis invited Lebanese Christian leaders to Vatican City for a day of prayer today for “the worrying situation in the country”.
The leaders of the main Christian communities in Lebanon will “pray together for the gift of peace and stability”, Pope Francis said.
He urged for prayers ahead of the meeting so that Lebanon may have “a more serene future.”
Lebanon, a country of five million people, has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East and is the only Arab country with a Christian head of state.
Christians make up a third of the population.
