In an age when Catholic leaders across the world are calling on governments to welcome migrants, Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi stands out. The spiritual leader of the world’s three million Maronites has appealed to the Lebanese government to help refugees return to their home countries.
Speaking at a Mass earlier this month, the Patriarch argued that Syrian and Iraqi refugees would only be able to preserve their distinctive identities and cultural heritage if they returned home.
Lebanon, a country of six million, hosts an estimated 1.5 million refugees from Syria and around 50,000 from Iraq. And it is in the midst of a political and economic crisis.
