Priest carrying machinegun in church stirs uproar in Lebanon

Footage of a priest with a machinegun slung over his shoulder inside a church in Lebanon’s Mazraat Yachouh has gone viral on social media and stirred controversy in the country.

The Maronite Diocese of Antelias denounced the priest’s move and clarified that his stunt, which was not approved by the church, was part of a sermon emphasizing that “a believer’s weapon is the cross.”

“The aforementioned priest laid down the weapon in front of the believers, calling on them to lay down all the arms that destroy the other and cling to the only weapon which is the cross, the weapon of love and forgiveness,” the diocese said in a statement.

“The Maronite Diocese of Antelias clarified that it does not approve of the method that the priest followed, sending him a written warning and asking him not to repeat these things, knowing that it approves of the sermon’s content seeing as it was in line with the church’s teachings and its spiritual and pastoral orientations,” it added.

The diocese also hoped that the incident will not be given sectarian dimensions and that it will not be “exploited by some to stir sectarian sentiments and grudges, especially amid the tense situations that we are going through.”

كاهن مزرعة يشوع يدخل الى صلاة العيد حاملاً سلاح حربي pic.twitter.com/AqlZOSNsY1

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) December 25, 2024