The mission of the Congregation in Lebanon was begun by the Province of St. Clements through the efforts of Fr. Timon de Cock (1928-2018) one of the first founders of the Redemptorist Mission in Lebanon.
Today the mission in Lebanon is taken care of by the Province of Liguori (India) which received the mission formally through a contract signed with the Province of St Clements in 2017. There is at present one community of three Redemptorists from the Province of Liguori serving the mission of the Congregation in Beirut in Lebanon. The community consists of Fr. Binoy Uppumackal C.Ss.R., (Superior), Fr. Shinto Moongathottathil C.Ss.R., and Fr. Lijo Velledathu C.Ss.R.
Fr Ivel with Mr Tony Fersan, a lay collaborator and manager of the Redemptorist School 
This community of 3 confreres is an amazing testimony to the power of the Spirit of God at work in and through the Confreres who seek to realize the call to be Missionaries of Hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer in a land once blessed with a strong and vibrant Catholic community of Maronites, but unfortunately now torn by war and violence and therefore mass migration and economic depression. Lebanon has a rich spiritual history, often called the “Land of Saints,” with several revered figures in the Maronite Catholic School. The most prominent saints include St. Charbel Makhlouf (the Wonderworker), St. Rafqa (the nun who suffered for Christ), St. Nimatullah Al-Hardini, and St. Estephan Nehme. These figures are known for their profound holiness and miraculous intercessions. Their tombs are venerated by the entire Christian community.
Tomb of Saint Charbel 
Our Redemptorists live and work in Beirut. The mission is manifold and truly a sign of God’s presence in a land torn by war and violence and among a people crying out for peace and hope. The Redemptorists under Fr Timon had begun a Catholic School, the Ecole Saint Redempteur (Holy Redeemer School). Today the school is run and managed by a group of Redemptorist Lay Collaborators led by Mr Tony Fersan and takes care of around 250 students from grade 1 to 12 and serves mostly the poor and marginalised children most of whom come from families suffering from the effects of war and the economic depression. The Redemptorists are chaplains in the school and celebrate mass in the school chapel every Friday for the children in Arabic which is the national language of Lebanon.
The Redemptorists take care of the Centre of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the School premises, which welcomes people of different rites: Chaldean, Maronite, Syriac, Latin, Greek Catholic and Orthodox… But despite the presence and richness of all these rites, the people have asked to always celebrate Holy Mass according to the Latin rite; and the Redemptorists do so in the Arabic language.
The Redemptorists reach out to a vast group of migrant workers from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and some from India. There as many as 6 centres including the school which serve these immigrant Catholics of the Latin Rite in English and in the Sinhala language (Sri Lanka). Every weekend the Redemptorists celebrate English masses in these centres for these immigrant communities as well as offer them a variety of services including counselling, legal aid, financial and pastoral support but most importantly a place for them to meet, share, and celebrate. The ministry for migrants also enables the Redemptorists to celebrate mass regularly in the Philippine Embassy for refuges.
The Redemptorists also engage along with Caritas Lebanon in pastoral care for prisoners once a month with a visit and prayer service and sacramental care, most of these prisoners are foreigners in need of counselling services which the Redemptorists offer along with Caritas.
Next door to the Residence of the Redemptorist Community is the convent and house of the Missionaries of Chairty of Mother Theresa for destitute people and orphan children. The Redemptorists are chaplains to the sisters offering them daily mass, regular confessions and recollections as well as weekly Friday adoration and Sunday mass for the inmates of the home. On Wednesdays the Redemptorists care for the elderly males in the home offering them haircuts, a shave and other services. The Sisters and the confreres work together in harmony welcoming the poor and abandoned in a mission that offers hope for suffering people.
On this fraternal visit to our confreres, I was deeply inspired by the sense of mission and commitment to the Lord and the charism entrusted to us Redemptorists. The confreres, even though from Kerala in India, from the Syro-Malabar Rite, have been able to learn Arabic and minister to people in Arabic, celebrate mass in Sinhalese for the Sri Lankan people, in English for the people from Philippines and most importantly are willing to respond in whatever way possible to the needs of the people.
The confreres live in simple and challenging conditions the mission of the Congregation at a time of war and economic depression where the currency is totally devalued and the banks have frozen accounts where everything from groceries to electricity and basic necessities are very expensive.
The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history took place on August 4, 2020, at 6:07 PM in Beirut, Lebanon, after an estimated 2750 tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded. The physical and social impacts of this catastrophic event coinciding with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic were massive. The confreres did not abandon the mission in Lebanon at that time even though they were given the opportunity to do so having themselves suffered the results of the blast both to the residence and school. Later when the Isarel Hezbollah conflict broke out Beirut was under siege and the effects of the war were witnessed over months, yet again, the confreres were advised to leave Beirut and return to India both by the Embassy and also by the Provincial Superior, but they chose to live and work alongside the people. This has had an enormous effect on the people who have taken the confreres to their heart with much love and gratitude for the selflessness of our confreres to be with and serve a people in pain and grief rather than abandon them for their own security and comfort.
My visit to Lebanon was brief due to visa constraints but my visit brought me much joy to share fraternal life with my confreres, to pray and celebrate with them, to listen to their stories and above all to be a brother with my brothers who a few years ago were my students in Theology in Bangalore in India. Today as I look at each of them, I can only marvel at the way the Lord of the harvest works with and through those whom he has called to be labourers in the harvest.
I am very grateful to Frs. Binoy, Lijo and Shinto for their welcome, warmth and hospitality but most of all for their witness of life as they seek to be witnesses of Hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer in a land torn by warm and economic depression to a people longing for peace and hope. I also wish to acknowledge the Province of Liguori and the Provincial Fr Poly K for the constant animation and accompaniment of this mission of the Congregation in Lebanon.
Joseph Ivel Mendanha, C.Ss.R.
General Consultor
