Pope Leo XIV at the meeting with young people in the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerké
Lebanese youth: Pope Leo is like a 'big brother' bringing
peace
Lebanese young people share their thoughts about the Pope’s
meeting with them at the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate of
Antioch in Bkerké on December 1, and explain what life is like as a young
person in a country that has faced multiple crises in the last decades.
By Isabella H. de Carvalho – Bkerké
“After these hardships in our country, the Pope is here to
give us a new kind of peace and joy, to make us feel seen, it’s like when a big
brother visits his younger brother.”
This is how Ralph Sarkis, 24 years old, described Pope Leo
XIV’s meeting on Monday, December 1, with 15,000 young people in the square in
front of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch in Bkerké, close to Beirut.
Ralph Sarkis
The atmosphere was like a small World Youth Day as the
square and the surrounding spaces were filled to the brim with excited young
people sporting scarves with the papal visit’s logo and waving Lebanese and
Holy See flags.
They had come from all over Lebanon and cheered, danced and
clapped as they waited for the Pope to offer them encouraging words, especially
in the face of the various issues that the Land of the Cedars has faced in the
last decades.
From the 2019 economic crisis to the 2020 explosion in the
Port of Beirut, the COVID-19 pandemic and various conflicts, Lebanese young
people have struggled to build their lives.
The young Christians at the event see these hardships
clearly and are unanimous in saying that being a young person in Lebanon today
is hard. However, they are unwavering in their desire to build a stable country
and a better future, many drawing also from their faith to find hope and
strength.
The inability to build a future
“The main hardships started in 2020 with the blast of
Beirut, we lost a lot of our friends,” Ralph said. “Many of our friends have
also left the country. For example, my brother left to find peace and
stability.”
Despite his own doubts about whether he should leave, he
ultimately decided to remain. “I believe that the plan of Jesus Christ was for
me to stay. I feel like the Lord is advising me to stay and have my own mission
here,” he continued.
Young people at the
meeting with Pope Leo XIV (@Vatican Media)
“At this age, other young people are really working on
themselves. For us, it’s harder because there is always something happening in
the country, so whenever you make a plan, there is always something that will
change it,” Janice Ghossoub, 24 years old, shared: “We have a lot more to worry
about. Building for the future is very hard.”
But like Ralph, she doesn’t see herself anywhere else: “I
love Lebanon, I love the spirit we have, I love my family, my friends. We are
very social people, we love communities, we love our people a lot, so this is
the main reason we stay,” she said.
Finding strength in faith
For them, their faith is an anchor in the face of these
struggles that they have no control over, and the Pope’s visit strengthens
this. “It’s important for us as Lebanese Christians to feel heard. Seeing the
head of the Catholic Church visiting us is important,” Ralph explained. He
encouraged all young people “in Lebanon and all over the world to seek the
Lord, really seek him, he is the only hope you need.”
“Due to the economic crisis, many of our young people are
losing their faith, but we are Lebanese, we are Christians, we are sons and
daughters of God, with Him nothing is impossible,” shared instead Ralph
Yammine, a member of the Lebanese scouts who was helping to organize the
meeting. He insisted also that “all the people in Lebanon are in need of peace”
and “Pope Leo is here to teach us this peace and we have the best example of
peace, which is Jesus Christ.”
Ralph Yammine
Marie-Lyne El Hayek, 25 years old, highlighted how hope also
comes from having faith: “I always like it when we gather around Jesus with all
the youth. It’s tough being a young person in Lebanon. It’s a great country,
but it’s hard; you need a lot of faith to persist. The Pope’s presence here
shows us that we should always have a strong faith because better days are
coming.”
Marie-Lyne El Hayek
“The Pope’s visit is bringing a lot of hope because we’ve
lost it recently a little bit,” Janice emphasized instead: “It’s nice to see
everybody united. Even Muslims, not only Christians, see how they received him,
how they celebrated his coming. It gives us a glimpse of hope of living
together, all of us.”
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