As Israel goes after Hezbollah, Catholic university president in Lebanon advocates for peace

CNA Staff, Oct 2, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

In the midst of intensifying Israeli raids against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Father Talal Hachem, president of Holy Spirit University of Kaslik located just north of Beirut, said in an interview with “EWTN News Nightly” that “because we have faith, because we have hope, we are seeking peace.”

An estimated 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced, according to the country’s prime minister, following Israel’s latest targeted ground raids in southern Lebanon against the terrorist group Hezbollah.

The Iranian-backed terrorist group, which has been a major player in the Lebanese political system, had set up the villages as staging grounds “for an Oct. 7-style invasion,” according to a statement by Israel Defense Forces.

Iran has since directly fired on Israel, targeting 10 million civilians with hundreds of ballistic missiles on Tuesday. That attack comes on the heels of Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Most of the missiles were intercepted.

“Our people in Lebanon are struggling today. They are worried. They are shocked, but they have faith and they pray and we pray for them,” Hachem told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol during a visit to Washington just before returning to Lebanon on Wednesday.

The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Jounieh, Lebanon, is run by the Lebanese Maronite Order, a monastic group also known as the Baladites. Hachem said he is “not afraid” to go back and wants to be there with his community.

“We are worried about every human being in Lebanon because there is a big, big difference between what Lebanese people want and [how] the political parties are behaving these days,” Hachem said.

Though Hachem’s particular community is “a bit far off from the military tension,” he said, “we have many Lebanese people who are Catholic that are near this tension. That’s why we are worried. We are worried about them.”

Lebanon is about 70% Muslim and about 30% Christian, according to a 2022 international religious freedom report by the U.S. Department of State. The nation is home to the largest concentration of Catholics in the Middle East and has the highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East.

The majority of Catholics in Lebanon are Eastern-rite Catholics. The Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic rite with roots in Syriac rituals, is centered in Lebanon.

When asked what faith means to him in a time like this, Hachem said: “Because we have faith, because we have hope, we are seeking peace and at least stability.”

“Our hope is to get this peace as soon as possible so people can live safely,” he said.