Story updated Aug. 21 to include details of the Canadian government matching donations to Lebanon.
Vancouver Catholics found themselves reeling in shock and looking for ways to offer support after the devastating explosion in Beirut that killed hundreds and wounded thousands.
In response, more than 200 people joined in prayer during a livestreamed Rosary Aug. 7.
Father Paul Goo of Vancouver’s “Virtual Parish” regularly hosts an online Rosary prayer group for young adults, and he offered to host the Rosary for those left to mourn and rebuild in Lebanon in the wake of the tragedy.
He teamed up with Father Gabriel de Chadarevian, assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver, who prayed the first decade in Lebanese.
“It was, to say the least, very moving for me, to sense the great solidarity of Catholics in Vancouver, with the agony of their brothers and sisters in Lebanon, and to unite through the Rosary their intercessions to the intercession of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Lebanon, and that of St. Sharbel.”
Most of those participating were Canadian, but there were also viewers from the U.S., India, and the Philippines. Father Goo said he was surprised to find the vast majority of people who joined in prayer were either in their late teens and early twenties or older than 65.
The video has since been viewed on YouTube nearly 1,200 times.
Father de Chadarevian said the tragedy comes at a terrible time for Lebanon, which has recently been hit hard with civil protests and demonstrations, high unemployment rates, hyperinflation, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just 24 hours after the blast Aug. 4, he had already received many questions from local Catholics looking to donate to relief efforts.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, released a statement suggesting anyone interested in donating to relief efforts do so through pontifical aid organizations Aid to the Church in Need or the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
He also noted Development and Peace – Caritas Canada launched an emergency appeal to respond to the short- and long-term needs of the most vulnerable populations in Lebanon affected by the tragedy. The government of Canada will match donations made by individual Canadians to the Humanitarian Coalition and its members, between Aug. 4 and 24, up to a maximum of $8 million. Through its membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Development and Peace is participating in the Humanitarian Coalition appeal to support people of Lebanon through this crisis. All individual donations to Development and Peace marked for the Beirut explosion emergency response will be matched. Click here to donate.
“With the faithful of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, I reach out in solidarity to our beloved members of the Chaldean, Maronite, and Melkite Greek Catholic communities as we look with shock and grief at the devastation that has taken place in Beirut,” he wrote.
“As the country responds to this disaster, I assure you of our prayers for consolation and healing, for you, and for the victims and their loved ones."
Dr. Nick Kahwaji, honourary consul of Lebanon in Vancouver and a member of St. George Melkite-Greek Catholic Parish in Burnaby, said while some churches and church-owned hospitals in Beirut were seriously damaged, others have stepped in by offering their schools and auditoriums as temporary housing for the 200,000 people left homeless after the blast.
Kahwaji suspects a majority of the blast victims are Christian.
“I mean, it doesn’t matter, they are human beings, but if you want to be precise, mostly Christians, because the side facing the explosion, it’s a Christian area.”
The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to His Beatitude Mar Béchara Boutros Cardinal Raï, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, conveying condolences and prayers. In the letter, CCCB President Archbishop Richard Gagnon said, “the Catholic Bishops of Canada, your brothers in faith, stand in prayerful solidarity with you and your people as the rescue and recovery efforts continue.”
