The Holy Father has sent through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, an initial aid of 250,000 euros to meet the needs of the Lebanese Church in these moments of difficulty and suffering. This donation is intended as a sign of His Holiness's attention and closeness to the affected population and of his fatherly closeness to people in serious difficulty.
The aid has been sent through the Apostolic Nunciature of Beirut and will serve to assist those affected by the terrible explosion in the port on 4 August, which has caused hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injured and displaced persons, in addition to destroying buildings, churches, monasteries, facilities and basic sanitation. An immediate emergency and first aid response is already taking place with medical care, shelters for the displaced and centres of basic needs made available by the Church through Caritas Lebanon, Caritas Internationalis and several Caritas sisters organizations.
We all join in the invitation of Pope Francis, expressed during his General Audience on August 5: "We pray for the victims and their families; and we pray for Lebanon that, with the commitment of all its social, political and religious components, it will be able to face this tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the serious crisis it is going through”.
