“Our routine for 50 years has been war”

The war does not stop the Lebanese faithful from celebrating their rituals. Achrafieh woke up on Sunday to the sound of church bells Armenian church of St. Hagopin which the faithful prayed and sang in their native language with lit candles in their hands, celebrating Palm Sunday.

There was no hint of nervousness on the faces of the parishioners. Everyone seemed calm, even after a particularly tense night, in which five hypersonic missiles They hit at night, and after an afternoon in which the sound of the drones could not be heard.

The Armenian Orthodox Church, whose community has volunteered to help make this report, is one of the 18 faiths recognized in Lebanon12 of them Christians. A part of the Armenian diaspora – settled in Lebanon following the 1915 genocide – is in Beirut, where they celebrate Holy Week.

On Tuesday, at Holy See and Armenian Patriarchate of Ciliciawhere the Church of Saint Elias is located and the Catholicosate – residence of the Armenian Supreme Patriarch or Catholics– the Armenian Orthodox community celebrated Holy Tuesday, or “Big Tuesday“. It is located in Antelias, about 20 minutes north of Beirut.

The celebration consists of a special ritual. After the mass, a group of girls carrying, each one, a candlego visit the Catholics Aram I – supreme patriarch and the equivalent of the Pope – in his residence in front of the cathedral where mass was celebrated. They receive his blessing and a giftwhich is, on this occasion, a transparent plastic ball with candy inside.

Boghos Donikiana Lebanese of Armenian origin who attends mass, explains that from his point of view, in Lebanon all churches and creeds are like brothers. He says that, for him, the war has not divided, but rather has united more with the Lebanese.

For Donikian, in times of crisis the Lebanese are more united out of love for their homeland. “Even if they are Shiites, Sunnis, I, even if I am a Christian, am going to help them. We help them because they are from Lebanon, and that is why we cannot deny anyone help, or tell them that you cannot receive them in your home because you are Christian and they are Muslim.”

“I love my country, I am proud to be Lebanese, that is the main reason why I do not leave it to go to another country to work. It is not that there are not difficulties, there are, but even so we remain committed to Lebanon,” he continues.

“We can’t leave it, because if we leave, the other side will come and take our place. And that is why, even when there is war and I can leave, I choose to stay. If a missile fell near here, everyone around us would go help,” he concludes with determination.

Dean Philip Jinian of St. Hagop Armenian Orthodox Church in Achrafieh has a different opinion from Donikian. He tells EL ESPAÑOL about the delicate situation in the capital.

“Here, in Beirut, we are at war and not at the same time. It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t from here. We are in the middle, and the front is – or should be – in principle, in the south: in the south of the capital, Dahiye, and in the south of the country, in the Bekaa Valley…” he comments with the attitude of someone who knows what he is talking about.

War is suffered mainly by civilians even if they do not participate in combat. “They are suffering a strong economic crisis. We have many problems, beyond the war. Every day, Lebanese consider leaving the country. They are afraid and worried about their future, even if they don’t show it,” he explains.

Thus, for the dean, the biggest problem in the region is the growing diaspora, the economic crisis and growing inflation, beyond the war. “In Lebanon, We have experience with war. It is part of our life. For example, what happened on Saturday night – the hypersonic planes that flew over Beirut – was very scary. But we are used to it. It’s routine for us. The problem is that we have had this routine for 50 years“he concludes.

Starting on Holy Thursday, schools in Christian neighborhoods will be closed. The children will have vacation – if the attacks on Beirut do not intensify – for two weeks.

In times of war they are the only ones that are opensince in the Muslim areas of the city, which suffer a greater risk of attacks, they have been closed since the conflict began. Many of these schools have become shelters for the displaced.

The humanitarian function of parishes

Each church in the city, such as St. Hagop, has a special committee which is dedicated to charitable works and charity, work that intensified especially after the port explosion in 2020.

Thus, the parish committee collaborates every month with the neighborhood’s Armenian community. Due to the current crisis, the work is not limited only to its community. They have been dedicated to the displacedthose most in need at this time.

Churches and initiatives of different cults, as well as secular organizations fill the institutional void. The priest also explains that each church and cult has organizations and NGOs that collaborate and support members of their community.

This is common in Lebanon, where leaders of the various religious sects are governed by clientelism networks that replace the State and are the main providers of social services.

And Lebanon is a melting pot of different cultures and faiths, in which there have been no official figures or official census since 1932. However, it is estimated that 69.3% of the population is Muslim, with 31.2% Sunni; 32.2%, Shiites; and 5.5% Druze. Christians are approximately 30.5% of the population. Its largest group is that of Maronite.

Where the state and institutions fail, it is organizations like Karagueuzianwhich provide free medical care, or Nation Stationinitiatives that arise from the community in an altruistic way, which are really doing help and assistance to the vulnerable population that the state is not capable of assuming.