CNA Staff, Nov 19, 2020 / 18:27 pm
The reconstruction of a church in Beirut severely damaged by the massive explosion that rocked the city this summer is a sign of hope to the area's inhabitants, said a local priest.
Fr. Nicolas Riachy is pastor of the Church of the Savior in Beirut, Lebanon. He told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in a recent interview that the blast not only damaged his church, but caused a local exodus.
"Ten percent of the population of this neighborhood has left, because they can no longer live in their homes," he said. "I can't do anything to stop them because I can't give them security, which is what they want."
It is becoming more and more difficult to maintain hope, he said, as "those who have money and a foreign passport leave, but we poor people will die here."