In Lebanon, Shiites take possession of a chapel of the Virgin

07/27/2011 13:08
LEBANON
In Lebanon, Shiites take possession of a chapel of the Virgin 
by Fady Noun
In Lassa, near Jbeil, Shiites armed with guns prevent cadastral survey on land belonging of the Maronite Church. A meeting at the patriarchate of Bkerke to solve the problem peacefully. Will force triumph over justice? 


Beirut (AsiaNews) – For over two week the Maronite Church has been involved in strenuous efforts to reclaim large areas of land which has been taken over by part of the Shiite population of Lassa, a village in the district of Jbeil Mount Lebanon. The affair erupted when official land surveyors tried survey land on which stands a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. Since 2011 the building has been used, against the advice of the Church as a place of worship for women. In spite of all the past efforts to regulate this sensitive and highly symbolic issue the chapel key was never returned to the Church. For several days the population has prevented the team, with the threat of arms, from carrying out the survey.

The conflict has ancient roots, some details date as far back as the nineteenth century. So the Shiites population claims that the Maronite chapel was already a Shiite place of worship. The Maronite Patriarchate, for its part argues that the plot of land was purchased by the Maronite Church in the nineteenth century, as supported by documents such as title deeds and cadastral surveys dating to 1939. These are the facts that the Church seeks to confirm today, once and for all, with the help of the Lebanese state. Read the rest on: AsiaNews