Lebanon at the crossroads

Protesters display flags of Lebanon during protests near the site of the explosion in Beirut, August 11, 2020. REUTERS / Goran Tomasevic

By: Geneviève Delrue

3 min

Confessionalism is pointed out as the main culprit for the unprecedented crisis that Lebanon is going through.

Civil society denounces the corruption, nepotism and patronage linked to this system which plagues political and economic life.

Faced with the anger of the street and the pressure of President Macron, who came to Beirut twice since the port disaster, the authorities are summoned to embark on the path of a secular state.

Publicity

Father

, a Maronite priest, president of the Adyan Foundation which works for inclusive citizenship and interreligious encounter, supports the exit from confessionalism.

Antoine Fleyfel

, the Franco-Lebanese director of the ICO, the Institut Chrétien d'Orient which opens its doors in Paris and its online courses on October 1, also defends the transition to a non-denominational state but with a guarantee for Christians. 

The future of Lebanon depends not only on fundamental reforms, humanitarian aid and reconstruction but also on the rescue of the very weakened education sector.

President Emmanuel Macron announced on September 1 in Beirut the creation of a France fund for French-speaking Christian schools in the Middle East.

L'Oeuvre d'Orient supports this initiative.

For

, director of l'Oeuvre d'Orient, these French-speaking Christian schools open to children of all faiths are a factor of social peace.   

----------------------------------

What spirituality for an adult world?

This is the reflection led by

in his book

 published by Le Passeur.

Henry Quinson was a monk after quitting his trade as a Wall Street trader.

After leaving Tamié Abbey, he moved to the northern districts of Marseille where he does tutoring.

Lecturer, teacher, essayist, Henry Quinson poses the question of spirituality for a humanity that has never been so technically powerful but whose ecosystem is threatened and which no longer adheres to the narratives of major religions is going through an existential crisis.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Lebanon

• Spiritualities

• Religion

On the same subject

Great report

Beirut, bankrupt hope

Lebanon: Macron announces additional aid and calls for a "mission government"

International report

In Beirut, the choice of exile is gaining ground