by aleteia.org — The economic and political crisis in Lebanon, home to the Middle East’s largest Christian community, has deepened ahead of a historic July 1 meeting between Pope Francis and Christian leaders from the country. This week, the country’s currency plunged to a record low of 17,000 to the U.S. dollar, having lost 90% of its value since an economic crisis began in 2019. Mounting anger against the government has been exacerbated by a fuel crisis. A shortage of foreign reserves necessary to import fuel has left many Lebanese waking up at 3:00 a.m. to line up at petrol stations, in scenes more reminiscent of Venezuela than one of the region’s more prosperous countries. For years, Lebanon has stood apart in the Middle East as a haven for Christians. It does not mandate Islam as a state religion, and an informal agreement even dictates that the President be a Maronite Catholic. For this reason, it has welcomed thousands of Christian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq or Syria. “Over the years, when we have seen a rise in extremism in other countries, Lebanon has been a place where the Christians and the Muslims could live together, be educated together, to work together, and we would like to see this continue”, said Regina Lynch, Director of projects of the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Today, however, its status as a haven for Christians is under threat. The currency crisis has been exacerbated not only by the economic fallout of the pandemic but also by the impact of an explosion last year in Beirut, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. The blast decimated the mostly Christian neighborhoods around Beirut’s port area, killing at least 200 people. Almost 100,000 buildings were destroyed and several hundred thousand people were left homeless in one fell swoop. “The Catholic schools are in danger of closing. The Catholic institutes like hospitals and clinics are struggling to survive, even to find the funds they need to buy important medicines and important medical equipment, so it’s really five minutes to zero hour now at the moment in Lebanon”, stated Regina Lynch.