The extensive damage caused by the Tuesday's explosions in Beirut, Lebanon CHURCH
- European Union
- bishops' conference
- Comece
- Lebanon
- solidarity
EU bishops express closeness with Lebanese people after deadly blasts Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, the president of the European bishops’ conferences, issues a message of condolence following Tuesday’s explosions in Beirut.
By Robin Gomes
The bishops of the European Union (EU) have expressed deep shock and sadness at the devastating explosions in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday.
The blasts at Beirut’s port has killed at least 135 people and injured thousands, sending shock waves deep into the city with widespread damage to property. The explosions appeared to have been caused by a fire that touched off a massive quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored for years in the port.
“I would like to express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and to all those that have lost loved ones – friends, neighbours, colleagues,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, the president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the EU (COMECE), wrote in a condolence message on Wednesday.
“We raise our prayers for the souls of the deceased and for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
He said the EU bishops were sharing the sentiments of Pope Francis for Lebanon and were praying “so that through the dedication of all its social, political and religious elements, it might face this extremely tragic and painful moment”.
Cardinal Hollerich pledged the closeness of EU’s Catholic Church “with Lebanese people, including the many refugees who escaped violence and were welcomed in fraternity by this small but generous country with a key role for peace in the entire Middle Eastern region”.
The COMECE president expressed appreciation for the “immediate assistance and humanitarian mechanisms activated by the EU in support to the Lebanese authorities,” as stated by Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management.
The explosions come atop the country’s worst economic crisis besetting the country’s 4.5 million people, who are already burdened with an estimated 1.5 million refugees, mostly from neighbouring Syria.
Cardinal Hollerich invited the EU to work with the government and people of Lebanon, including local religious communities, “in this dramatic historical moment, also marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, a heavy economic crisis and a serious regional instability”.
Messages and gestures of condolences and solidarity have been pouring in from around the world.
Your contribution for a great mission:
support us in bringing the Pope's words into every home Topics
- European Union
- bishops' conference
- Comece
- Lebanon
- solidarity
06 August 2020, 09:32
- Send
