Christianity in Lebanon

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Beirut : Orthodox St. George's Cathedral (in the background minarets of the Mohammed al-Amin mosque )
Beirut: Maronite cathedral Saint George (left) next to the mosque Mohammed-al-Amin (right)

The Christianity in Lebanon has a long tradition and formed a religious majority in the Lebanese population until the 20th century, especially in the mountains.

The Lebanon is a country of refuge for Christians from other Middle Eastern states. After the creation of "Greater Lebanon" in 1922, a process of transformation manifested itself under the French mandate, in which Lebanon developed from the former rule of an Islamic empire under the Ottoman Empire to an independent state led by a Christian president. With the institutionalization of confessionalism, France, as patron, ensured that the Christian Maronites were in control of the state. With the National Pact of 1943, the Lebanese Republic became independent and the French mandate ended. Although Article 95 of the Constitution was intended to ensure the division of power between religious groups, the Maronite leaders remained at the center of power.

More recently, many Christians emigrated to Europe, America, and Australia due to the Civil War and the Lebanon War in 2006 .

Share of Christians in the total population of Lebanon

The proportion fluctuates due to the lower number of children of the wealthier class and the middle class, which is more often, but not exclusively, Christian. But especially because of the return rate from the diaspora, which is much higher than the number of Lebanese in Lebanon.

  • 1932: 51.2% (last official census)
  • 1985: 25% (estimate)
  • 2010: 41% (estimate)

Churches

There are several churches, some of them very old and autochthonous. They all exercise their own personal status law. They are also represented in parliament (political confessionalism ).

Overall, the Christian churches can be divided into four major Christian religious communities:

Catholic churches
The Maronites, the Melkites, the Syrian Catholics and the Armenian Catholics are also known as Catholics united with Rome. The churches all have their own patriarch. The current Maronite patriarch is also a cardinal. The Latin Church d. H. Roman Catholic Church belongs directly to Rome. The Chaldean Catholic Church is also one of the Catholic churches.
The Catholics are the largest Christian religious community in Lebanon.
Orthodox churches
The Rum Orthodox Church is also usually referred to as the Greek Orthodox Church, it is the only Orthodox church in Lebanon. The Orthodox are the second largest Christian religious community in Lebanon.
Ancient oriental churches
The Armenian Apostolic Church is an ancient oriental church that has only had its seat in Lebanon since the genocide of the Armenians . The Syrian Orthodox or Jacobite Church did not recognize the Council of Chalcedon and therefore belongs to the ancient oriental churches. Your patriarch resides in Damascus. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt has several parishes in Lebanon. Somewhat outside the church category is the Assyrian Church of the East . The ancient oriental Christians are the third largest Christian religious community in Lebanon.
Protestant churches
The Reformation churches include the Armenian Protestant Church, the Presbyterian Synod of Syria and Lebanon, the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, and the Anglican Church and the Baptists . The Protestants form the smallest Christian religious community in Lebanon.

Settlement areas

The Greek Orthodox Christians are settled both on the coast and in the Lebanon Mountains . A well-known settlement area for Greek Orthodox Christians is Koura. The Maronites traditionally live in the mountains . Many Maronites moved to Beirut as a result of the civil war. The east of Beirut is mainly inhabited by Christians. The town of Zahlé is predominantly inhabited by Melkites . In Tripoli , the Mina district is inhabited by Christians. In the south of Lebanon there are some Christian villages like Marj Aioun .

Political situation

Map according to parliamentary seats
Distribution of religious groups in Lebanon

The denominational parity with a Maronite president and an Orthodox deputy prime minister as well as the number of evenly distributed cabinet posts between Muslims and Christians is unique in the Middle East and goes back to the national pact of 1943, which was modified in 1989 by the Taif Agreement . Since then, 50 percent of the seats in parliament have been reserved for Christians (around 41% of the total population). The state offices and functions in the public service are divided equally between Christians and Muslims. The Lebanese president and the supreme commander of the army are each a Maronite, the Deputy Prime Minister a Greek Orthodox Lebanese.

The number of parliamentary seats per Christian denomination according to the Taif Agreement (128 in total, Christians: Muslims 5: 5) and in brackets before the Taif Agreement (99 in total, distribution 6: 5): Maronites 34 (30), Rum Orthodox 14 (11), Greek Catholics 8 (6), Armenian Orthodox 5 (4), Armenian Catholics 1 (1), Other 1 (1)

Position of Christians

Lebanon has traditionally been a haven for Christians from the Middle East. The Christians in Lebanon are very autonomous compared to other Christians in the region and are subject to less repression than in other neighboring countries. However, z. For example, alcohol-based shops in some areas have been attacked by Muslim groups.

During the civil war in the Lebanon Mountains in the summer of 1860 between Christian Maronites and Muslim Druze , a total of 20,000 Christians were killed, plus an unknown number of Muslims. 380 Christian villages and 560 churches were destroyed.

After Lebanon's declaration of independence in 1943, relations between Muslims and Christians were initially peaceful. However, this experienced a turning point in the Lebanon crisis in 1958 and in the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990. For example, the Christian Phalange militia carried out the Karantina massacre of Palestinian refugees during the civil war in 1976 . In revenge perpetrated Muslims shortly afterwards in the port city of Damour the Damour massacre of Christian inhabitants. One of the worst war crimes on the Christian side is the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre , in which numerous Palestinians were murdered by the Phalangists.

Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir , head of the Maronites (1986-2011)

Due to the many armed conflicts with Israel ( Lebanon War 1982 , Lebanon War 2006 and the conflict over the Shebaa farms ), political economic life and the security situation in the country have become very difficult for the Lebanese. As a result, the reasons for emigration have increased, especially among young Lebanese. Compared to the Muslims willing to emigrate, the Christian Lebanese feel exposed to additional pressure and restrictions on their freedoms.

Muslim investors are currently trying to buy land in Christian core areas through middlemen. A well-known case is the purchase of a piece of land above Balamand Monastery . In 2006 there were attacks by Muslim extremists on churches and Christian areas, e.g. B. in Ashrafiyya , after the cartoon dispute in the spring and after the broadcast of an LBC program "Basmatwatan" in which the General Secretary of Hezbollah , Hassan Nasrallah , was caricatured (May 2006).

There are also numerous murder cases, e.g. B. Murder of a nun in Haddath, a border town to the Shiite suburb of Beirut, in 2001, and other comparable cases. In 2005 and 2006 several Christian journalists ( Gebran Tueni , May Chidiac , Samir Kassir ) and politicians ( George Hawi , Elias Murr , Pierre Gemayel junior , Michel Pharaon ) were assassinated, most of which were killed.

In the inner-Lebanese political discussion, open discussion for Christians is becoming increasingly difficult due to threats and intimidation from the Muslim side.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Leonhardt: The Orthodox Christians in Syria and Lebanon: Between Assad and Islamists (= DOI short analyzes) Deutsches Orient-Institut, Berlin 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c d Report: Nearly Half the Maronites Consider Fleeing Lebanon, An-Nahar, Beirut April 2, 2007
  3. ↑ a b Une branche d'el-Qaëda promet des "mers de sang" aux chrétiens du Liban ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ The collapse and reconstruction of Lebanon
  5. ↑ Lebanon - International Religious Freedom Report 2010 US Department of State. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  6. ^ Contemporary Religious distribution of Lebanon's main religions
  7. ↑ Christoph Leonhardt: The Greek and the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch in the context of the Syrian Conflict. In: Chronos 33 (2016), pp. 193–242.
  8. ↑ IMI magazine. April 2007 edition. P. 21–22 Militarization Information Center (IMI), Tübingen Online (PDF; 87 kB)
  9. ↑ Newspapers in Lebanon . In: Alsharq