Bechwat in the Lebanese Context

Since August 21, 2004, the village of Bechwat, in northern Lebanon, has turned into a large place of pilgrimage attracting both Christians and Muslims, mostly from Lebanon, but also from the neighboring countries of Syria and Jordan.

A tense political context

A new constitutional amendment, adopted in September 1990, substituted a system of « balanced community » to a former political system based on the hegemony of Christians (of Maronites in particular), decreased the executive power of the president and distributed authority among three presidencies (President of the Republic, President of the Cabinet and Speaker of the House), respectively reserved for a Maronite, a Sunni and a Shiite.

The absence of a superior authority, the rejection of community preeminence, and an increased practice of clientelism gave Syria the role of an arbitrator. The population, made up of 18 different religious communities, has never been as segregated as it is now.

Situated in the eastern slope of Mount Lebanon, Bechwat overlooks the plain of the Bekaa. It is a poor zone of farming, left out of the economic hub.

Yet the key position of the region, which borders Syria, and the porous character of its border, make it an important geopolitical stake.

Bechwat belongs to the Christian enclave of Dayr al-Ahmar, about 60 miles from Beirut and 20 miles from Zahle, but to reach it one must go through the outskirts of Baalbek, the current Hezbollah headquarters, and through Shiite villages.

The cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy

Since 1976, the valley of Bekaa, especially its northern part, is a place of intense production of opium and cannabis. During the civil war, factions and militias of all sides drew from these substances a substantial part of their financing.

A tense ecclesial context

In 1981, in the middle of the civil war, Father Boutros, nicknamed « al-wâ'iz » (the preacher), without seeking the approval of the Church, founded the Order of the Cross and built a convent on the hill of Dayr al-Ahmar with the financial support of families from the region. His community counted up to 32 monks and nuns consecrated by him. But after 1995, the Maronite hierarchy suspended this community founded outside the Church in spite of the strong appeal from of the local families.

A narrow family context

Bechwat's population is composed of one and only family, the Kayrouz.

Our Lady of Bechwat is a statue of the Virgin of Pontmain brought there in the 1900s, probably by a Jesuit missionary. The chapel it adorns belongs to the family.

And yet, this « family Virgin» became the « Virgin of the whole country»...

August 21, 2004

The presence of Mary, manifested by signs and healings, provided a sense of reassurance and safety to the Lebanese, allowing all to envision the possibility of the sought-after « national reconciliation».

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Source :

Emma Aubin-Boltanski cnrs, Centre d'études interdisciplinaires du fait religieux, La Vierge, les chrétiens, les musulmans et la nation Liban, 2004-2007, Dans la revue « Terrain » Religion et Politique, n° 51 2008/2

Synthesis F. Breynaert