Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church in Bkerké, Lebanon
(Credit : J.Hassoun, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)
For a Middle Eastern nation, Lebanon has a large and influential Christian population. The latest figures show that Lebanon remains about 70% Muslim and about 30% Christian, according to a 2022 international religious freedom report by the U.S. Department of State — a far higher percentage of Christians than its neighbors.
Christianity in Lebanon traces its roots to the dawn of Christianity itself — in fact, Christ himself visited Lebanon. The Bible mentions the ancient pagan trading towns of Tyre and Sidon, both of which still exist today as major cities in southern Lebanon, dozens of times.
Just a couple of years ago, Lebanon was one of the most peaceful nations in the Middle East and — despite some serious domestic problems that can’t be overlooked — a model for other countries in the region for how Christians and Muslims can coexist in the same country in relative peace.
Who are Lebanon’s Christians?
The majority — over half — of Lebanon’s Christians belong to the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic rite in full communion with the pope. There are about 3.5 million Maronites worldwide.
St. Maron, the Church’s namesake, was a Syriac-speaking hermit who is believed to have died in the early fifth century. Later on in the mid-fifth century, Maron’s disciples established a monastery named after him that thrived for many years until the Muslim conquest of the region, which led the Maronites to move their monastery from present-day Syria to the mountains of Lebanon.
Enduring persecution by various groups over the centuries, the Maronites retained a strong relationship with the popes. The Maronite College in Rome was founded by Gregory XIII in 1584.
Gaining influence within Lebanon and abroad, Maronite emigrants began leaving the country in the mid-19th century, bringing their religion with them.
Other Christian groups present in Lebanon, according to the U.S. State Department, include Greek Catholics (Melkites), Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholics, Assyrians, Chaldean Catholics, Copts, Protestants (including Presbyterians, Baptists, and Seventh-day Adventists), and Roman Catholics.
St. Charbel Maklouf
St. Charbel is perhaps the best-known Maronite saint, other than St. Maron himself, lending his name to Maronite churches across the world.
He was born Yussef Antoun Makhlouf to a humble Lebanese family in 1828, the youngest of five children. As a boy, he spent a great deal of time outdoors in the fields and pastures near his village, contemplating God amid the inspiring views of Lebanon’s valleys and mountains.
His family wanted him to get married, but the young man had other ideas. He trekked on foot to the Monastery of St. Maron, where he took his monastic vows in 1853. After studying for the priesthood, he was ordained and returned to the monastery where he would humbly serve for the next 19 years. He showed great devotion to the life of prayer, manual work, and contemplative silence.
In 1875, he was granted permission to live in solitude at a nearby hermitage. He spent the next 23 years there, until his death.
St. Charbel was deeply devoted to God’s presence in the Eucharist. On Dec. 16, 1898, Charbel suffered a stroke while celebrating the Maronite Divine Liturgy (the Maronite equivalent of the Mass).
He died on Christmas Eve of that year, and Pope Paul VI canonized him in 1977.
The former monastery and nearby hermitage where St. Charbel lived out his last days is located in Annaya, an hour north of Beirut and in the hills nine miles inland from the coast. It remains a place of pilgrimage for Christians and Muslims alike, who come seeking miraculous healings.
Since 1950, when St. Charbel’s tomb was first opened, the shrine has archived some 29,000 medically-verified healings.
The language of Christ preserved
Lebanese Christians, particularly the Maronites, have played a key role in preserving Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ. This ancient language has been safeguarded through the Maronite liturgy, which still includes Syriac-Aramaic prayers and hymns.
Recent developments
After a long civil war from 1975 to 1990, Lebanon gained a reputation for being one of the most peaceful and prosperous nations in the Middle East. In later years, however, Lebanon’s people began suffering from a nationwide financial crisis.
In 1989, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter warning that “the disappearance of Lebanon would be one of the world’s greatest sorrows” and that saving it is “one of the most urgent and noble tasks” for the global community. Recognizing Lebanon’s unique religious diversity, Pope John Paul II famously referred to Lebanon as “more than a country; it is a message.”
Then came the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, one of the largest nonnuclear, man-made explosions in human history, which took place at Beirut’s vital port caused by a stockpile of dangerous chemicals that had sat at the port for years amid negligence and corruption.
Most of the neighborhoods of Beirut destroyed in the explosion were majority-Christian, which exacerbated an exodus of Christians from the country.
While Lebanon often makes headlines for its turbulent politics and military conflicts — including in recent days as tension has escalated between Hezbollah and Israel — its rich Catholic heritage, both past and present, is frequently overlooked.
In this EWTN News special documentary published in April 2026, Colm Flynn travels to Lebanon to learn about the historical pressures faced by its Christians, as well as how they live today in one of the Middle East’s most complex societies. Speaking to major religious and political figures, as well as the ordinary Lebanese people, we hear first hand how war, economic crises, corruption, and emigration have decimated the country. In various interviews Flynn examines the slogan that Lebanon is a message, speaking to those who believe it to be a living reality, and those who see it as a dream that may never be reached. Filmed during the visit of Pope Leo XIV , the programme also talks to the youth of the country, and meets inspiring young Lebanese Christians who are taking the future into their own hands.
Article by Catholic Time Staff
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