Maronite Patriarch laments death of priest killed in Israeli attack

March 11, 2026

Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, the Patriarch of the Maronite Church, lamented the death of Father Pierre al-Rahi, killed in an Israeli attack on a Christian village in southern Lebanon.

L’Osservatore Romano reported:

“With a heart filled with pain and anguish,” Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, reported in a statement that he received news of the “martyrdom” of Father Pierre, “a victim of the barbaric war” on Lebanese soil, amid the “dangerous military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.” The priest’s death, he added, “is a deep wound in the heart of the Church” and reveals once again “the tragedy for which innocents pay the price in the cycle of violence and war, against which we have long warned, urging everyone to keep our nation out of its tragedies and to embrace negotiation, dialogue, and diplomacy.”

In condemning all attacks against “civilians, religious figures, places of worship, homes, institutions, and every inch” of the country, Patriarch Raï highlighted the “blatant attack on human dignity and the sacredness of life,” urging “all officials in Lebanon, the region, and the international community to assume their historic responsibilities and act immediately and diligently to put an end to this senseless war.”

“An Israeli Merkava tank opened fire on a house outside the village of Qlayaa at around 2 p.m. local time, believing that Hezbollah fighters were hiding there,” Fides, the news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, said in its report on Father El-Rahi’s death. “The homeowner, Clovis Boutros, and his wife were wounded. When Father El-Rahi arrived at the house with five other men to assess the impact of the first shell on people and property, another shell struck the house, also wounding the priest and his companions.”

 

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Further information:

• Domani i funerali di padre Pierre ucciso da un bombardamento nel sud del Libano (L'Osservatore Romano, 3/10/26)
• ASIA/LEBANON - Maronite priest killed in Israeli attack in southern Lebanon (Fides, 3/9/26)