From plague to presidential crisis, Corpus Christi to heal Lebanese wounds

The celebrations in Zalhé, Christian centre of the Bekaa, an opportunity to return to talk about the crisis that has hit the country. For Christians (and non-Christians) in Lebanon, the presidential vacuum (since October 20222) is worse than the plague. It compromises the ‘political entity’ itself, as the Greek Catholic archbishop emphasises. The rediscovery of faith against the trend towards secularisation.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - ‘With the fervour of the early days, we pray that God will heal our beloved country from a disease even more malignant than the plague, a disease that is corroding its entity and its unique formula’.

This is the cry of alarm raised yesterday by the Greek Catholic Archbishop of Zahlé, Mgr Ibrahim Ibrahim, on the occasion of the feast of Corpus Christi, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. An anniversary that the important Christian centre has proudly commemorated since 1825, the year in which a procession of the Blessed Sacrament miraculously saved Zahlé from a very serious plague epidemic.

As chance would have it, this cry is echoed - albeit unintentionally - by the warning issued on the same day by Jean-Yves Le Drian, President Emmanuel Macron's envoy to Lebanon, at the end of yet another failed mediation: if a head of state is not elected as soon as possible, it could be ‘the end of political Lebanon’, declared the former French foreign minister, while recalling that the country of the cedars has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's term in October 2022.

Addressing the faithful gathered in front of the seraglio building, Bishop Ibrahim stressed that the lack of a head of state compromises not only an office that remains vacant, creating a vacuum, but ‘the entire Christian presence in Lebanon’ and ‘the very destiny of the homeland’.

In this regard, the prelate added, ‘we must consider it a national duty to give our unwavering support to the Lebanese army and security forces as an irreplaceable instrument of internal security and stability’. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the army commander, General Joseph Aoun, is one of the three serious candidates in the presidential elections.

The Archbishop of Zahlé also defended the principle of the intangibility of bank deposits and the condemnation of the main perpetrators of this sectoral crisis. He then called for a fair distribution of high state offices among all communities [Christians, Shiites, Sunnis, Druze] and demanded that Corpus Christi ‘be officially proclaimed a public holiday in Zahlé’.

Significant historical event

The capital of the Bekaa, with its 52 churches, has considered itself a ‘Eucharistic city’ since two centuries ago (1825), ‘on the advice of a dream’, the then archbishop Aghnatios Ajoury, managed to organise a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. An event that wound through the streets of the city, saving it from a plague epidemic that was raging in the region at the time.  

‘This miracle is a historic event that left its mark on the general consciousness of the population,’ explains Georges Okaïs, a Greek Catholic MP and local member of the Lebanese Forces. ‘The festival,’ adds the politician, ‘is part of our spiritual heritage. Without it, Zahlé would lose its identity’.

Founded in the 18th century, the city has always had its own personality. With its 120,000 inhabitants, it is the largest purely Christian city in the Arab world. Located on the edge of the Bekaa plain, its importance grew in the 1700s when it became a railway crossroads and an important trading centre for goods and agricultural products between Beirut, Damascus and the hinterland.

Throughout history, the Greek Catholic bishop of Zahlé has traditionally played a unifying role. Linked to the great families of the area, he has always had a say in affairs and matters concerning the city, as well as being the head of the Church.

Corpus Christi in Zahlé is characterised by separate processions of all the churches present, both Catholic and Orthodox, which is unique in Lebanon. Starting at dawn, these separate processions converge on the city's seraglio, before uniting and spreading their monstrances throughout the neighbourhoods to the delight of the faithful of all ages, who come individually or in organised groups.

There is no shortage of confraternities, colleges, scout groups, Caritas volunteers, neighbourhood marching bands, etc., as well as residents who wait - dressed in full regalia - for the processions to pass under their balconies or by their places of rest. 

The day begins at the crack of dawn and ends at the end of the ceremony around noon, in a joyful and festive atmosphere, with its devotional load. Lastly there is the solemn mass followed, for those still fasting from the morning, by the first coffee.

The service is broadcast live on its social channels by Zahlé TV and is followed closely by the large Greek Catholic diasporas in Brazil and Canada, for an event that unites the inhabitants of Lebanon with expatriates and overseas migrants from all over the world. 

‘Belonging means following in the footsteps of those who came before us, creating our own history and forging our own identity,’ says Névine Hajj-Chahine, a historian married to a large landowner in the area. ‘Somewhere,’ adds the Christian scholar, ‘in this dominant trend of secularisation, we realise that the world is once again ordered according to a higher order, and I think this is wonderful.