Christianity in Lebanon
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Christianity in Lebanon has a long history and has been closely connected with many recent conflicts in that country.
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[edit] History
Christianity came to the territory of the present day Lebanon with the early Christians in the first century.
[edit] Demographics
- See also: Demographics of Lebanon
The number of Christians in Lebanon has been disputed for many years. There has been no official census in Lebanon since 1932. Many argue over the percentage and population of Christians in Lebanon. The most common estimate of Christianity in Lebanon is about 40%. It has the largest percentage of Christians of all the Arab nations. However a religious data suggests the Christian population has lowered to 25% as of 1985[1]
The Maronite Church, a church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest and politically most active and influential denomination of Lebanon's Christians. The Greek Orthodox Church forms the second largest proportion of Lebanese Christians. The Armenian Apostolic Church also forms a large portion of the Christian population in Lebanon. Other branches of Christianity, including the Greek Melkite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Church loyal to the Pope, are very common in Lebanon. The Latin Rite Roman Catholic Church, the Coptic Church, the Syriac Orthodox are also important Christian sects within Lebanon. These branches of Christianity are very influential in daily business and in the economy of Lebanon. In the Lebanese Parliament, the Christians hold 64 seats in tandem with 64 Muslim seats. The Maronite Catholic church hold 34 seats, the Greek Orthodox 14, and the Armenian, Greek Catholic, and Protestant make up the remaining 22.
[edit] Churches and monasteries in Lebanon
The head of the Maronite Church is the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, who is elected by the bishops of the Maronite church and now resides in Bkirki, north of Beirut (the Maronite Patriarch resides in the northern town of Dimane during the summer months). The current Patriarch (since 1986) is Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. When a new patriarch is elected and enthroned, he requests ecclesiastic communion from the Pope, thus maintaining the Catholic Church communion. Patriarchs may also be accorded the status of cardinals, in the rank of cardinal-bishops. They share with other Catholics the same doctrine, but Maronites retain their own liturgy and hierarchy. Strictly speaking, the Maronite church belongs to the Antiochene Tradition and is a West Syro-Antiochene Rite. Syriac is the liturgical language, instead of Latin. Nevertheless, they are considered, with the Syro-Malabar Church, to be among the most Latinised of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
The main Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, is St. George Orthodox Cathedral, which is situated in the middle of Centerville in downtown Lebanon. The See of the Maronite Catholic Church is in Bkerké. There are monasteries in Lebanon which run by both the Maronite and Orthodox Church. The Holy Monastery of Saint George in Deir El Harf, Saint John the Baptist Monastery in Douma, both date back to the 5th century. The Balamand Monastery in Tripoli is a very prominent monastery that has a seminary and a University associated with its monastery.
[edit] Current Political and Religious Issues
The Taif agreement helped establish a power sharing system between the Christian and Muslim Lebanese political parties [1]. The political and economic situation in Lebanon had improved greatly. Lebanon had rebuilt its infrastructure. The past affairs between Hezbollah and Israel have threatened to deteriorate Lebanon's political and economic situation, growing tension between March 8th and March 14th alliances are threatening Lebanon with strife. The Christian community is currently divided with some aligned with Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, and others with the various March 14th Christian leaders. Although the taif has been considered by some that it would degrade the Christian role in Lebanon removing much of the president's role (which is given to the maronites) and increasing the roles of the prime minister (a Sunni).
[edit] External links
- The Lebanese Christians: Unsuspecting Victims of a Sunni Shiite Cold War in Lebanon
- http://Rmaich.com Christian Maronite Town in South Lebanon
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