Lebanon: Parish priest says the situation has become unbearable

Fr Youssef Semaan during Mass in Kfour, which has seen the Christian community plummet © ACN

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

A priest whose home was hit by missiles in Lebanon has warned of a deepening crisis in the country, saying the danger increases each week. Father Youssef Semaan, parish priest of Kfour, Nabatieh District, said the conflict in Lebanon emptied his village - and is threatening decades of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims.

The Maronite priest told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) he has been forced to leave Kfour for safety reasons but has managed to return on two occasions to visit those who remain.

He said: "Every week is more dangerous than the last. The situation has become unbearable."

On 3rd June an air raid by Israel Defence Force destroyed three houses belonging to families in the parish.

Over the last few weeks the Governate of Nabatieh has seen Israeli military operations increase in the intensity. Fighting around Beaufort Castle - a historic Crusader fortress - resumed after several days of peace, causing more people to flee and increasing pressure on neighbouring residential areas.

The priest said families had a stark choice: "Stay and risk their lives or abandon our land without any guarantee that we will ever get our houses or our goods back."

Fr Semaan's own story is closely intertwined with the violence that has affected the region. His father Khalil Semaan, also a Maronite priest - married men can be ordained in the Maronite Catholic Church - was kidnapped in Kfour on 2nd December 1987 during the Lebanese civil war, while on his way to Mass. His dead body was returned to his family in 1991 following years in captivity.

"The kidnapping occurred when Lebanon was being torn apart by several armed groups operating in the south of the country."

But the incident did not scare young Youssef away from his vocation, and following in his father's footsteps, he became a priest serving the same community with the aim, he said, of "bearing witness to forgiveness".

He added: "Many years ago, I decided to return to the village [Kfour] to bear witness to the fact that forgiveness is possible. But the war is slowly destroying trust. Coexistence is getting increasingly difficult."

The Christian community of Kfour, which is surrounded by a Shi'a majority, has plummeted.

Since 2nd March 2026, following the US/Israel invasion of Iran, Hezbollah launched rockets from southern Lebanon into the north of Israel, which led to Israeli retaliation bombings stretching into Beirut.

The Christian population in Kfour has dropped from around 120 to about a dozen. The rest have fled to Beirut and Sidon, leaving behind homes, land and farms.

Fr Semaan said: "Some didn't have the resources to leave. Others couldn't bring themselves to abandon their cattle. One of our parishioners continues to care for about forty cows."

But he added that he refused to give in to despair: "We still have hope. But hope itself is not enough. It has to be based on solid foundations that allow us to rebuild and go on living. We are human after all."

With thanks to Christophe Lafontaine

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