Easter Observances Disrupted for Lebanon's Christian Community
This year, the sacred Easter celebrations for many Lebanese Christians are marked by displacement and sorrow rather than the familiar traditions of home. Forced to flee their villages due to the escalating conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, thousands find themselves observing Holy Week far from their ancestral churches and communities.
A Priest's Unfamiliar Pulpit
Reverend Maroun Ghafari had long envisioned delivering his Easter sermons in Alma al-Shaab, his predominantly Christian village in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border. Instead, he now preaches from a Beirut suburb, standing beside a cardboard cutout depicting his church back home—a poignant symbol of what has been lost to the crossfire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters.
The conflict, which erupted last month in the shadow of the broader U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, has resulted in devastating consequences for Lebanon. Official reports indicate over 1,400 fatalities and more than 1 million people displaced from their homes. Among those uprooted are significant numbers of Christians, who constitute approximately one-third of Lebanon's 5.5 million population and represent the largest Christian proportion in the Arab world across twelve distinct sects.
Hardened Enclaves and Tragic Losses
Some Christian villagers chose to remain in southern Lebanon despite Israel's comprehensive evacuation warnings, forming hardened enclaves amidst fierce clashes. In Alma al-Shaab, residents had previously been displaced during the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war but were determined to stay this time, even as airstrikes encroached. They sought refuge in their church as Israeli warplanes targeted southern and eastern regions, ground troops advanced, and Hezbollah continued rocket launches toward Israel.
Tragedy struck when Sami Ghafari, Reverend Ghafari's 70-year-old brother, ventured out on March 8 to tend his garden and was killed by an Israeli drone strike. This devastating loss prompted the remaining villagers, including the reverend, to finally evacuate. United Nations peacekeepers from UNIFIL, monitoring the area for nearly five decades, facilitated their relocation to Beirut's northern suburbs.
"We wanted to stay, but it was always possible that one of us could be targeted or killed at any moment," Reverend Ghafari explained from St. Anthony Church in Jdeideh, where displaced Alma al-Shaab residents gathered for worship. "Everyone is tired, and we see that war brings nothing but destruction, death and displacement."Spiritual Leadership and Communal Grief
In his annual Easter homily, Patriarch Beshara al-Rai of Lebanon's Maronite Church placed blame on both Hezbollah and Israel for the widespread suffering. "The country is going through a critical situation due to Iranian interference through Hezbollah and Israeli aggression," he declared. "Our hearts bleed for the victims of the conflict imposed on Lebanon."
For many Lebanese Christians, Holy Saturday traditionally involves visiting loved ones' graves, reflecting between Good Friday's commemoration of Jesus' crucifixion and Easter Sunday's celebration of resurrection. This year, displaced individuals like Nabila Farah could only remember from afar. Dressed in black at St. Anthony Church, she expressed profound heartbreak a month after leaving Alma al-Shaab.
"You miss the smell of home, the lovely traditions and customs, the sounds of the bells of three churches ringing," Farah reminisced. "As much as we experience the Easter atmosphere here, it will never be as it is over there."
Challenges for Those Who Remain
In Tyre, southern Lebanon, where much of the Christian community has hunkered down, Priest Marius Khairallah described their determination to stay "not out of stubbornness, but out of a sense of mission, to remain alongside their fellow faithful, as witnesses." He acknowledged that "a significant number of parishioners have been displaced or are absent," yet churches remain open with prayers continuing, albeit with fewer voices.
Mounting worries accompany the Lebanese army's withdrawal from parts of southern Lebanon, as the military strives to maintain neutrality in the Israel-Hezbollah war. This retreat leaves Christian communities increasingly exposed to advancing Israeli forces.
A Solemn Good Friday Reflection
During his Good Friday sermon at St. Anthony Church, Reverend Dori Fayyad solemnly addressed the war's widening toll on southern Lebanese Christians. As congregants recited prayers in Arabic and Syriac—a dialect of the Aramaic language spoken by Jesus—the packed pews and crowded stairs reflected both devotion and displacement.
"Today, you understand what the cross means, not as an idea, not as a concept, but because you are going through it," Fayyad told the assembly, with many wiping away tears as he named southern churches illustrated in cardboard cutouts near the pulpit. "These churches in these villages are not only places of worship. They are silent witnesses to suffering and to faith."
As Easter observances continue under these strained circumstances, Lebanon's displaced Christians embody both the profound losses of conflict and the resilient hope central to their faith tradition.
