“Your fraternal friendship, your warm welcome, your care, your compassion for the suffering of our people – and, above all, your prayers with which you accompany us – are a precious gift to us. Knowing that you remember us before the Lord gives us strength, hope and the courage to continue our mission amongst a population still deeply scarred by war.”

These are the opening words of a letter that Father Toufic Bou Merhi, OFM, a Latin Catholic parish priest in southern Lebanon, addressed to the Community of Sant’Egidio upon receiving the relief supplies recently sent from Rome to support, in particular, Christian families in the villages along the so-called Yellow Line; many of them continue to face particularly vulnerable circumstances.

“I take on this task with profound responsibility,” continues Father Toufic, “... so that every euro may become a tangible sign of hope, dignity and charity for those who are suffering.

Your help is a Gospel-inspired response to the logic of war: where violence divides, you build communion; where hatred wounds, you sow fraternity; where despair threatens to take hold, you rekindle hope.”

Words that strengthen an ancient and ever-living friendship, built on solidarity and the ceaseless prayers of all the Communities, so that peace may finally return to Lebanon.