Cardinal Czerny visits Lebanon on behalf of Vatican's 'Integral Human Development' dicastery

BEIRUT — Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., prefect (head) of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Holy See, will leave Lebanon tomorrow after arriving on Wednesday on the invitation of Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai for the purposes of attending the end of the plenary Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of Lebanon, which ran from Feb. 17 to 20.

Among the various stops made during his pastoral visist, Czerny prayed at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, visited the tombs of Jesuit Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach in Jamhour and St. Charbel in Annaya where he received a relic of the Lebanese saint as a gift from the monks.  

Czerny, a Czechoslovakian-born Canadian, has been serving since 2022 as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which was established by Pope Francis in 2016. The dicastery's secretary is Italian economist and academic Sister Alessandra Smerilli.

Czerny also met with Tripoli’s mufti, Mohammed Imam, with whom he discussed mutual collaboration with the region’s Catholic Church. “His great teaching [of the mufti] on brotherhood is something we experienced here today," Czerny said following the meeting. "And it is precisely in this way that we can move forward together if we learn to live together as brothers and sisters.”

The Vatican envoy also visited struggling neighborhoods in Tripoli where he learned about the difficulties faced by young people, with a focus on the proliferation of drugs. He visited Saydet al-Hara school, where he learned about the FORSA project implemented in cooperation with the Oum al-Nour and Al-Manhaj associations.

The cardinal’s visit also included a stop at the Beirut Port in remembrance of the Aug. 4, 2020, explosion. “On this occasion, Pope Francis had invited prayer for the victims and their families, and to pray for Lebanon, so that, with the engagement of all its social, political, and religious components, it can face this tragic and painful moment and, with the help of the international community, overcome the serious crisis it is going through,” Czerny said.

During the last four days, the prefect met with around thirty Catholic organizations and also met with young people who are participating in peace training. He met with migrants, internally displaced persons, and refugees assisted by Caritas and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).