His Excellency Archbishop Georges Assadourian: The Patriarchate pledged to restore 200 houses in the stricken Beirut

His Excellency Archbishop Georges Asadourian, Patriarchal Vicar of the Armenian Catholic Church

Report by Huguette Salameh

The moment the explosion took place in the port of Beirut he was heading to the Patriarchate in Achrafieh – Jeitawi. In less than seconds, the Archbishop started transporting wounded people to the hospital with his car!

His Excellency Archbishop Georges Asadourian, Patriarchal Vicar of the Armenian Catholic Church narrates the tragic hours that followed the blast and what came with it of tragedy, misery and sorrow that tore Beirut citizens, the Lebanese people and everyone who loves Lebanon across the world.

He discussed rehabilitating the houses and the people, the Beirut appeal, the Catholic Armenian Church’s needs. This interview took place in his office in the Patriarchate in Achrafieh that is also highly damaged.

“We grew up on the concept that Armenian people are always united no matter where they are”

Approximately 3 months after the blast, Archbishop Assadourian says: “I found myself running in streets and hospitals searching for my wounded friends, family members and children of my diocese. I kept on helping in the hospital until around 3 am. I swept the glass and removed rubble; I also helped in cleaning parking lots that became a space to receive hundreds of injured and wounded people. I even received a call from the United States asking me to save an old lady stuck on the balcony of a Hospital because of the severity of the Blast.

The children of the diocese and the Achrafieh region specifically, know his Excellency since 1987, during wartime, where he used to serve his diocese; he even prepared a small truck to pick up garbage and to distribute gas, water and hot meals.

Assadourian continued “We, as the Armenian Church we have a lot of faith in our children, they are always ready to support the weakest. The genocide that took place against Armenians united us. This is how we were raised, Armenian are always in solidarity no matter where they are. The proof is what is happening today in the war against karabakh where all Armenian people are united to defend their homeland and brothers and to support in all ways possible.”

“Our presence in Lebanon is the base of our existence and future, that is why we emphasize the importance of youth”

Later on Assadourian spoke about the relief operation to the affected Beirut citizens and he reveals that the patriarchate took it upon itself to restore 200 houses of the diocese that were destroyed by the blast.

As of the first day, we headed towards the destroyed streets and we visited the people to at least help restore their doors and main entrances, in order for the families to be able to sleep safely away from robbery and danger.

This is in addition to the churches that were greatly damaged, including the Grand Cathedral in Al-Dabbas square in Beirut, the headquarters of the Patriarchate in Achrafieh, the churches of Bourj Hamoud and Zalka. The restoration of those churches will be postponed until after the restoration of the houses of the families before winter comes".

He continues, "Since the beginning of the economic crisis, almost since last Christmas, we started offering a daily lunch for about 200 families. We cook and distribute the meals in Bourj Hammoud and the areas around it. We also distribute food rations, once a month to approximately 850 families. We lack medicines, especially in the exceptional circumstances imposed by the coronavirus pandemic and the elderly who do not have any financial support. This is where we find it important to intervene to provide treatment and sometimes we try to secure access to hospitals.

We always thank God for his blessing, we have a greater blessing today embodied by the solidarity between the Churches of Beirut and the Middle East Council of Churches, which was organized by creating an Ecumenical Committee for the relief of Beirut, and I had the honor to join this committee with my church.

The tragedy of the port caused a lot of pain, but we thank God that it united people and it ignited the flame of charity between them.”

Assadourian also added, regarding the suffering of the Middle Eastern people and the price they pay each time to stay in their Homeland “We are invited to be witnesses in this East, and to be witnesses to the inevitability of the Christian presence. Therefore, our presence as Armenian people in Lebanon is the foundation of our existence and future, so we stress the importance of youth presence in Lebanon and we try to prove to them that “there is no place better than Lebanon” and they will realize that when they experience living abroad, where they will find human values, but on the other hand there is a painful absence of religious and spiritual values. These spiritual values are the message of the Church in Lebanon, where we are witnessing to the world what it means to be Christians.

“The Middle East Council of Churches proves every day that our solidarity strengthens hope and faith in the Middle Eastern Christians”

And you as the Middle East Council of Churches, you gather Christian families and you prove to everyone that our solidarity strengthens the hope in the hearts of the Middle Eastern Christians and it confirms that serving others is the source of happiness and peace for the families you are helping.

The Lord works through you, and with you, he says to our brothers and sisters, “the Church and the Council of Churches are gathered, to take care of you, to help you, and to rehabilitate your homes. Many of those who received food rations considered as consolation in the name of Christ. You are working in the name of Christ, who gave you the grace, to work and sow hope. Moreover, the problem is not when we fall down, but it is when we are not striving to rise again”.

Regarding the most important necessities, he expects that the citizens will need in the future, His Excellency Archbishop Assadourian concludes, "today people need all kinds of assistance, and we hope that they will be helped, especially in the restoration of their houses that were damaged by the Beirut blast. We notice that what is also important is securing education for our children, so His Beatitude Patriarch Gregoire Gabroyan decided to insure 2/3 of the tuition fees in our schools. We cannot allow our children to go to non-Armenian schools in which they lose their Armenian language and their spiritual and religious values ​​that we are keen on raising them on.

However, our schools are facing difficulties coping with the current economic crisis, so we decided to collect donations for the 2020-2021 academic year. It is prohibited that our children do not go to school or attend online courses”.

Communication and Public Relations Department