by AFP -- The World Bank said Friday it was canceling a loan to fund a dam in Lebanon that environmentalists claimed could destroy a valley rich in biodiversity. The Bisri Dam was partially suspended in June after the Washington-based development lender said it raised concerns about the project's implementation, and given the government of Lebanon until September 4 to finalize key agreements related to operations and maintenance as well as the environment. In a statement, the World Bank said it had notified the government that it was withdrawing its financing "due to non-completion of the tasks that are preconditions to the commencement of construction." "The canceled portion of the loan is $244 million and the cancelation is effective immediately," the bank said.

Located in a valley 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the capital, the dam aims to supply drinking water as well as irrigation for 1.6 million residents. Environmentalists and some farmers had disputed assurances from the government and the World Bank that the dam, to be built on a seismic fault line, does not increase the risk of earthquakes. Roland Nassour, an activist who has campaigned against the project, said he was delighted the loan had been cancelled. "Today one of the corruption deals in the country has collapsed," said Nassour, the coordinator of the Save Bisri initiative, adding that popular anger had made the project a "burden" for the global lender.

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, (CNA).- Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Lebanese Catholics at a Mass in Beirut Thursday that Pope Francis is close to them, and praying for them, during their time of suffering. “It is with great joy that I find myself among you today, in the blessed land of Lebanon, to express to you the closeness and solidarity of the Holy Father and, through him, of the whole Church,” the Vatican Secretary of State said Sept. 3. Parolin visited Beirut Sept. 3-4 as the representative of Pope Francis, a month after the city experienced a devastating blast which killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands, and left thousands without a home. The pope has called for Sept. 4 to be a universal day of prayer and fasting for the country.

Cardinal Parolin celebrated Mass for around 1,500 Maronite Catholics at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, a major pilgrimage site in the hills of Harissa, north of Beirut, on the evening of Sept. 3. “Lebanon has suffered too much and the past year has been the scene of several tragedies affecting the Lebanese people: the acute economic, social and political crisis which continues to rock the country, the coronavirus pandemic which has worsened the situation and most recently, a month ago, the tragic explosion of the port of Beirut which ripped open the capital of Lebanon and caused terrible misery,” Parolin said in his homily. “But the Lebanese are not alone. We accompany them all spiritually, morally and materially.”

Parolin also met with Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, a Catholic, on the morning of Sept. 4. Cardinal Parolin brought the president greetings from Pope Francis and said that the pope was praying for Lebanon, according to Archbishop Paul Sayah, who is responsible for external relations for the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch. Parolin told President Aoun that Pope Francis “wants you to know that you are not alone in these difficult times that you are experiencing,” Sayah told CNA. The Secretary of State will conclude his visit with a meeting with Maronite bishops, including Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, the Maronite Catholic patriarch of Antioch, during lunch Sept. 4.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s army said on Thursday it had found 4.35 tonnes of ammonium nitrate near the entrance to Beirut port, …

by aleteia.org -- We need a miracle to change the hard hearts of those who govern [Lebanon],” Fr. Georges Breidi, a Maronite priest, told I.MEDIA on September 2. He is the priest with the big Lebanese flag that Pope Francis called to his side during the general audience as he announced that Friday, September 4, will be a global day of prayer and fasting for Lebanon. Father Breidi is a member of the Lebanese Maronite Missionary Congregation. Along with about 500 other pilgrims, he was able to attend the first general audience to be held in public since Italy began its lockdown last spring. Fr. Breidi has been a student in Rome for four years; he could not have imagined the scene that would occur. Knowing that the Argentinean pontiff was particularly affected by the situation in his country, he went to this audience with a flag. “I was almost sure he was going to bless it,” he said. While the Bishop of Rome did indeed kiss the flag when he arrived, the story didn’t end there. At the end of the audience, with the young priest at his side, the pontiff delivered a long plea for Lebanon. “I hope that the Holy Father’s message can change something; but to tell the truth we need a miracle to change the hard hearts of those who govern the country, our politicians, who have come to this point because of their corruption,” Father Breidi told I.MEDIA after the audience. “For more than 100 years, Lebanon has been a wealthy class in the Middle East, the Switzerland of the region, but today we’re facing a great catastrophe. I hope that the Holy Father’s message can change hearts so that peace may come.”