Beirut Church Becomes Last Refuge for 140 Displaced Refugees as Lebanon Burns and Governments Slam the Door
A Beirut church shelters 140 refugees including pregnant women and 70 children after government shelters turn away migrants during Israeli strikes.
Beirut Church Opens Doors to 140 Refugees Turned Away From Government Shelters as Israeli Strikes Displace 300,000
As Israeli airstrikes pounded southern Beirut this week, displacing an estimated 300,000 people across Lebanon, one church became the only refuge for some of the most vulnerable: refugees and migrants who say they were turned away from government shelters.
St. Joseph Tabaris Parish in the Monot district of Beirut has opened its doors to families fleeing the strikes, filling to capacity within the first day. The church is now sheltering roughly 140 people from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and other nations, including two heavily pregnant women and between 60 and 70 children, 30 of whom are under the age of three.
Among them is Ridina Muhammad, a 32 year old Sudanese refugee who is eight months pregnant. She fled her destroyed home with her husband and three children, walking for hours through dark streets until they reached the church.
"I don't know if there's a doctor or not, but I'm really scared," Muhammad said of her approaching due date without hospital arrangements.
She also questioned why the UN refugee agency has not provided more support.
"Us, as refugees, why did we register with the U.N., if they are not helping us?"
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which helped the church shelter displaced people during the 2024 conflict, is once again coordinating the effort. Michael Petro, JRS Emergency Shelter Director, described the scale of the crisis as far worse than before.
"There are many, many more people coming than there were in 2024, and we have fewer and fewer places. We're hearing from hotlines up to government officials and ministries that migrants are not welcome."
Only about 100,000 of Lebanon's 300,000 displaced are in government shelters. The rest are staying with relatives or sleeping on the streets. UNHCR Lebanon, which is only 14 percent funded, acknowledged it cannot reach everyone.
Sudanese migrant Othman Yahyeh Dawood summed up the desperation felt by many at the church.
"We don't know where to go; there's war there (in the south), war here (in Beirut), war in Sudan, and nowhere else to go."
Christian Church in Lebanon Becomes Sole Sanctuary for Displaced Refugees Denied Government Aid
Muhammad's oldest daughter has stopped speaking since the 2024 war, a haunting reminder that the trauma inflicted on these families is not new but compounding. The Israeli strikes were launched in response to a rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah, but it is civilians, and especially the most marginalized among them, who bear the heaviest cost.
Churches across Lebanon, including Salesian centers in Jbeil, have stepped in where governments and international agencies have failed, providing shelter, food, and basic care to families with nowhere else to turn.
The Crusader's Opinion
While the world's governments turn refugees away and the United Nations sits at 14 percent funding, it is the Church that opens its doors. It has always been the Church. From the catacombs of Rome to a parish in Beirut, Christians do not ask for your nationality before they offer you a bed. St. Joseph Tabaris is sheltering Muslims, Christians, and everyone in between because that is what Christ commanded. Meanwhile, government officials say "migrants are not welcome." Shameful. The Church does not have the resources of a nation state, yet it does more with mattresses on a stone floor than the UN does with billions in funding. Every Christian reading this should ask: if my church were under fire, who would shelter me?
Take Action
- Donate to the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the organization directly coordinating the shelter at St. Joseph Tabaris Parish in Beirut.
- Support persecuted and displaced Christians worldwide through The Shepherd's Shield (www.TheShepherdsShield.org).
- Give to Open Doors USA, which provides emergency relief to Christians in crisis zones across the Middle East.
- Contact your congressional representative and urge them to increase humanitarian funding for Lebanon's displaced population. Find your rep at house.gov.
- Pray for the families sheltering at St. Joseph Tabaris, especially the pregnant women and the 70 children, and share this story with your church community to raise awareness.
