End occupation, say Lebanese bishops

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 12, 1996 by Gerard O'Connell

ROME - The Special Assembly the Synod of Bishops for Lebanon concluded its work in Rome last month b issuing a strong public message demanding an end to the Israeli and Syrian occupation of the country.

The bishops declared that Lebanon must once again become a sovereign independent state where Christians and Muslims can, as in the past, live together in harmony. The synod called for the renew al of Lebanon's six Catholic communities and urged them to work for unit with other Lebanese Christians. It encouraged Christians and Muslims to cooperate in rebuilding their shattered country and appealed to the Lebanese state to end human rights abuses and help those displaced by war return home.

Unlike Lebanon's 16-year war, which hit the headlines almost every week, the synod, Nov. 26 to Dec. 14, 1995, rarely got a mention in the news. And yet there is no real peace in this country of 3 million people. The war ended with the signing of the Ta'if Peace Accord in Saudi Arabia in 1989, but despite the accord, Syria and Israel still occupy the land. Moreover, a half-million displaced Palestinians also live there.

The Lebanese Constitution, revised in September 1990, affirms that the country is a democratic parliamentary republic founded on respect for human right and, in particular, freedom of opinion and faith. However, these fine constitutional principles are still awaiting full implementation.

Today, there are 18 religious communities in Lebanon: 12 Christian, six Catholic, five Muslim and one small Jewish community. For centuries they live in harmony, but the war destroyed this pitting Christian against Muslim, Christian against Christian and Muslim against Muslim. Before the war, Lebanon was the only Middle Eastern country with a Christian majority. Today the Christian population is a significant but steadily declining minority.

The pope followed the war with great concern, as testified by his 200 statements on it. Then, in June 1991, he convoked a Special Synod of Bishops to help Lebanese Catholics reflect on what happened and discern how best to contribute to the spiritual and material reconstruction of the country. The pope planned to visit Lebanon in May 1994 but was forced to postpone that visit. Originally the synod was to be held in Lebanon, but Rome was finally chosen so the pope and his main Roman curia advisers could attend.

For the first time, members of Muslim communities were invited to a synod. The Sunni, Shiite and Druze communities sent delegates.

The synod's conclusions were presented in a 10-page public message and in a set of 47 proposals that were not made public.

In its public message, the synod called Lebanon's six Catholic churches to greater unity among themselves. It agreed to establish permanent structures to coordinate the work. It encouraged Lebanon's Catholic community to enter into dialogue with other Christian churches. It advocated that Lebanon remain a country where Christians and Muslims can, as in the past, live in harmony and equality before the law. This requires "real democracy,' it said, not domination by the majority.

The synod highlighted the dire social and economic situation of Lebanon, where one-third of the population lives below the poverty line, unemployment is widespread, the young emigrate in search of work and where family life is consequently endangered.

The synod demanded the government give urgent attention to two crisis areas: housing and the health care system. Destruction of 150,000 houses during the war created a chronic lack of affordable housing. At the same time, most people have no social insurance while health care costs are prohibitively high.

Drawing attention to Lebanon's exclusion from the Middle East peace process, the bishops warned that no one is authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Lebanese "as if we were minors under charge."

They called on the Lebanese state to end arbitrary arrests, torture, imprisonment or forced exile for political reasons and to clarify the fate of the disappeared. Nonsynodal sources say as many as 20,000 have disappeared since the beginning of the war.