Damage to Saviour Church, Beirut
Credit: ACN The reconstruction of a church in Beirut severely damaged by the massive explosion that rocked the city this summer is a sign of hope to the area’s inhabitants, said a local priest.
Fr Nicolas Riachy is pastor of the Church of the Saviour in Beirut, Lebanon. He told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in a recent interview that the blast not only damaged his church, but caused a local exodus.
“Ten percent of the population of this neighbourhood has left, because they can no longer live in their homes,” he said. “I can’t do anything to stop them because I can’t give them security, which is what they want.”
It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain hope, he said, as “those who have money and a foreign passport leave, but we poor people will die here”.
The priest hopes the rebuilding of the church will be a beacon of hope amid difficult circumstances.
Fr Riachy said his church lost its roof in the blast. The Greek Melkite church was built in 1890 and is one of the oldest in the city. It has great historical value for Beirut and has a symbolic location on the border between Christian and Muslim neighbourhoods.
The church is now undergoing reconstruction work, with the support of Aid to the Church in Need, which has pledged €5 million to help Christians in Beirut rebuild after the August explosion.