Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest Father Pierre al-Rahi was commemorated by Pope Leo XIV ahead of the cleric's funeral attended by scores of faithful as well as Catholic and Lebanese government officials in his southern village of Qlayaa.

Pope Leo extolled Father al-Rahi "as a true shepherd who always stayed beside his people, with the love and sacrifice of Jesus the Good Shepherd," he said at the close of his March 11 general audience where he urged prayer for the Middle East at this critical time of war.

"I am close to all the Lebanese people at this moment of grave trial," Pope Leo said.

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"As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded in a bombing, he rushed to help them without hesitation," the pontiff said of Father Rahi. "May the Lord grant that the blood he shed be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon."

Father al-Rahi, whose last name means "shepherd" in Arabic, died March 9 after sustaining wounds from Israeli tank fire on a house in Qlayaa. He rushed to the house in the mountainous area of his parish with several young people when the Israeli tank struck the house a second time. Father al-Rahi was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries. The priest is also known by his French name Pierre el-Raï.

The apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Paolo Borgia, and a representative of the Maronite Patriarchate and the president of Caritas Lebanon, Father Samir Ghaoui, as well as numerous Catholic priests and faithful paid honor to Father al-Rahi at the funeral service following the Divine Liturgy held in St. George Church in Qlayaa. Lebanon's army commander in chief, Rodolphe Haykal, also traveled to the village by helicopter to attend the funeral and pay his respects to the slain priest.

Commemorating Father al-Rahi, Lebanon's top cleric, Cardinal Béchara Bourtos Raï, the Maronite Catholic patriarch, called his death a "martyrdom," saying the parish priest fell victim to the barbaric war raging on Lebanese soil amidst the dangerous military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel," in remarks carried by the Lebanese An-Nahar newspaper.This, Cardinal Raï said, "constitutes a deep wound in the heart of the Church."

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Qlayaa Mayor Hanna Daher remembered the town's priest as "a respectable and decent man. ... We will remain here and will not leave, and we do not possess weapons."

The Lebanese French-language daily, L'Orient Le Jour, reported that hundreds of Qlayaa residents attended Father Rahi's funeral, many in tears, chanting "Samidoun" ("We resist"), declaring their refusal to leave the village.

It also reported that they met lawmaker Elias Jaradé with hostility, forcing him to leave the funeral because although he is a Christian, he has ties with Hezbollah.

Lebanese have told OSV News that many of their number blame Hezbollah for the death of Father al-Rahi.

Earlier, Father al-Rahi had joined with Christians in Lebanon's south, deploring the removal from their land due to fighting between the Lebanese Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah militia and Israeli forces. The Israeli military has demanded villagers evacuate areas in the south so they can uproot Hezbollah and its weapons. But Christian villagers fear leaving their homes and lands, because Hezbollah fighters can take them over.

"When we defend our land, we do so as pacifists who carry only weapons of peace," Father al-Rahi said before his death. He had urged for the area of Marjayoun where Qlayaa is located to be designated a "red zone," meaning it should not house displaced people from the region who support Hezbollah.

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Lebanon President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of dragging the country into the war to bring about its collapse on behalf of Iran during a March 10 videoconference with the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, according to press reports.

Aoun also urged for "direct negotiations" with Israel to secure a "truce" that would allow Lebanon's under-equipped national army to receive assistance and equipment necessary to extend its authority in conflict zones and "disarm Hezbollah," the only militia to retain its weapons from the Lebanese civil war 1975 to 1990.