‘Missiles Are Flying Over Our Heads’: Lebanon’s Bishops Vow to Stand with the Flock as Airstrikes Rain Down

In a land where the thunder of war has once again drowned out the whispers of peace, Lebanon’s Catholic bishops are refusing to flee. As waves of airstrikes shattered the fragile ceasefire with Israel early this week, sending missiles screaming over Beirut and beyond, church leaders on the ground have issued a defiant pledge: they will not abandon their people. Melkite Greek-Catholic Bishop Elie Haddad of Saida captured the terror gripping the nation with a stark confession to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): “Missiles are flying over our heads.” The overnight bombardment, which began in the early hours of Monday, targeted not only the capital but also the Keserwan region, southern Lebanon, and the Beqaa Valley, effectively ending the truce that had held since November 2024. With more than 30,000 people already displaced since the US and Israel launched military action against Iran last weekend, the humanitarian toll is spiraling, and the Church is scrambling to respond.

Across the devastated regions, bishops are opening their doors even as their resources dwindle. In Tyre, Melkite Bishop Georges Iskandar described a people utterly exhausted, “armed only with fear and prayer,” yearning for the simple dignity of sending their children to school without terror or sleeping peacefully in their own homes . He insists the Church’s foremost mission is to remain present, “to listen to their suffering, to pray with them, and to remind them that their dignity is safeguarded in the sight of God.” In the Beqaa Valley, Maronite Bishop Hanna Rahme of Baalbek-Deir El Ahmar is sheltering both Muslim and Christian families fleeing Baalbek, operating with extremely limited means but with an unshakable resolve: “They are our people; we will take care of them with what we have.” Meanwhile, in Zboud, a school run by the Sisters of the Good Service has reached full capacity with 100 refugees, and Sister Jocelyne Joumaa warned with chilling certainty, “We are safe for now, but certainly it will be our turn soon.” As the bombs continue to fall, the Church in Lebanon stands as a fragile but unwavering ark in the flood.