Emotional shockwaves from the massive Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, are being felt among parishioners of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ two Maronite Catholic churches.
St. Maron in Minneapolis held two hours of adoration Aug. 7 while calling for a day of prayer and fasting Aug. 8. Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron, said every one of his parishioners has been impacted in some way by the explosions.
Father Emmanuel Nakhlé Ghorr, pastor of Holy Family Maronite Church in Mendota Heights, celebrated a 6 p.m., Aug. 6 Mass dedicated to victims of the explosion. The Mass was livestreamed on the church’s website, HolyFamilyMaroniteChurch, and on its Facebook page, Holy Family Maronite Church.
Lebanon’s residents had been struggling even before the explosion, due to the country’s economic collapse and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Father Nakhlé Ghorr said. The Maronite Catholic Diocese in St. Louis has been encouraging contributions to Caritas Lebanon to help send supplies to Lebanon’s residents. The explosion has only increased the need, he said.
Hundreds of residential and business buildings are out of use now, Father Nakhlé Ghorr said. “But monasteries and convents and schools, Catholic schools and other institutions are opening doors for refugees” whose homes are unsafe or destroyed.
“It’s not like a war zone where the military are fighting,” he said. “It’s civilians, people who have kids, the elderly … going on in their normal life. And they were caught by this explosion.”
