Middle East Bishop Lives Forgiveness as Path to Peace

/ Tom Delaney, O.F.S., M.A. Theo., Cert. Catech.

(photo: Sidon, Lebanon, Vyacheslav Argenberg, 2008)

Catholic Maronite Bishop Mounir Khairallah of Batrun (Lebanon) has been a vocal advocate for peace in the Middle East, as well as for interpersonal forgiveness. He was recently interviewed by Paulina Guzik for OSV News, and shared his personal story of forgiveness and his thoughts on the relationship of forgiveness to Christian faith. His words distill wisdom from deep experiences of suffering and forgiveness. We can learn a great deal from them and use them to be the forgiveness and peace wherever we find ourselves in our own lives. In this article, I will share with you highlights of Bishop Khairallah’s interview.

Bishop Khairallah’s personal engagement with forgiveness goes all the way back to his childhood, when a Syrian farm worker murdered his parents. It is best to read the story in Bishop Khairallah’s own words:

Lebanon is a country of hospitality and conviviality. … We welcomed him into our home to help our dad work the land. The night of September 12 to 13, the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, which is for us in the East, a very big celebration, the Syrian man ended up murdering them both [parents].

Bishop Khairallah was ordained a priest on September 13, the same date as the date of the murder of his parents. It is also the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Bishop Khirallah explains, “I naturally chose this date for the anniversary of my parents’ martyrdom, above all to remember … to remind everyone, that the sign of the times is a sign of God’s will. God never wants anyone to die. But for us, it was a sign that the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies bears fruit.” [John 12:24]

Here are quotes of Bishop Khairallah from his interview that can help us attain a deeper understanding of forgiveness, if not also a deeper experience of forgiveness in our own lives:

  • Peace is a desire that we all carry together.
  • As a church, we are committed not only to believing and hoping for peace, but also we have the will to go all the way to make peace a reality.
  • [Recalling an aunt who came to the Maronite monastery where he was placed with his siblings after the murder of their parents:] She came to take us home and to her church, and she invited us to kneel. She said, “Raise your arms, we’re going to pray together.” The surprise was: ‘We’re not going to pray for your parents, because they are martyrs. They are surely in the Kingdom of God. But we are going to pray for the one who murdered them.” We prayed, and when we finished the prayer, before leaving, she gave us a recommendation, a commandment that wasn’t hers, but Christ’s. She told us, “Now, with your childlike innocence, you have prayed with me, you have forgiven. I recommend that you continue to pray for this man, to forgive and to live your lives.”
  • Once you are young, you are grown up to continue to forgive, to know that this is the price to pay and to live to truly be children of your father in heaven. Jesus told us not only to love, but also to love those who don’t love you — what a merit — love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.
  • Inner peace helped us [Bishop Kairallah and his siblings] greatly to continue our lives. And we never felt the lack of our parents, because God never abandoned us and our Mother in Heaven, Mary, Our Lady, never abandoned us and they blessed our family, my brothers, their children. I believe providence has always been our protector.
  • Living inner peace with forgiveness open[s] our horizons, not only to dialogue, not only to respect others, but also to go deep.
  • I believe (that) it is the mission that we Christians carry on this earth of Christ who forgave on the cross. We always want to be witnesses of Christ — in love, in charity, but also in forgiveness. Let’s do it together.

Ya Oum Allah (Mother of God) is a hymn that is central to the Maronite liturgy. One source even described it as “the Maronite anthem.” The lyrics include:

Though your body may be far from us O Virgin
Mother when you pray, your prayers are
always with us giving us protection and shelter.
We implore you to ask Him who honoured you
when He became incarnate from you. Ask Him,
for us sinners, forgiveness and His mercy for
ever and ever.
You are our Mother, you are our hope, you are
our glory and you are our refuge. Be our
advocate before your Son that in His mercy He
may forgive our sins.

Sister (Soerr) Marie Keyrouz was born in Lebanon, raised in the Maronite Rite, and is a nun in the Melchite (Byzantine Rite Catholic) Church. She sings a beautiful version of Ya Oum Allah in this video, and while you listen to it you can close your eyes and simply rest your heart in the mercy of Jesus Christ through the compassion of Mary, Mother of God – “Ya Oum Allah.”

Please share these words with someone who needs them today.

This text is an original work of its author Tom Delaney and was entirely composed without the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

If your parish or faith community is seeking a deeper experience of forgiveness, healing, mercy, and spiritual renewal, Live and Forgive is here to help. To begin the conversation, email Live and Forgive presenter and facilitator Tom Delaney at tom@liveandforgive.com — he will be glad to connect with you for a conversation. Please type in your email and click “Subscribe” below to stay connected and get Live and Forgive articles delivered to you.

Take your learning deeper! Enter the term or word for any idea or thing you saw in this article that you want to know more about, and you will get a list of other articles that also talk about that idea or thing!

Leave a comment