{"id":12413,"date":"2021-07-13T17:07:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T21:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=12413"},"modified":"2021-07-13T17:07:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T21:07:48","slug":"catholic-education-in-lebanon-living-as-one-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/catholic-education-in-lebanon-living-as-one-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Education in Lebanon: Living as One Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When Father Andr\u00e9 Ghaoui, L.M., looks back on his Catholic education in Lebanon growing up, he says the rich spiritual life he experienced there \u201cleft something deep in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from the rigorous studies at Fr\u00e8re de la Salle College, the K-12 school he attended in Beirut, the ongoing character formation the school instilled in the students made his education special, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe learned how to be honest and how to speak the truth, how to love each other, how to care for each other and how to forgive each other. These are the main qualities I learned in my Catholic education,\u201d said Father Ghaoui, superior of St. John the Apostle Seminary of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ololb.org\/content\/congregation-maronite-lebanese-missionaries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congregation of Lebanese Maronite Missionaries<\/a>&nbsp;in Harissa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI will never forget my \u2018Catholic family\u2019 that brought me up in the faith, and taught me to love the church and the Mass. This is what has inspired me in my priesthood, my vocation and all through my life,\u201d said Father Ghaoui, who as a teen had considered becoming a lawyer or joining the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBut Jesus knocked at the door of my heart and I answered his call,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was definitely a very clear decision that I would be a priest, according to God\u2019s will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father Ghaoui said that, more than ever, Catholic schools in Lebanon \u2014 which welcome students of all faiths \u2014 have a \u201cbig mission\u201d to spread the teachings of love, care and forgiveness, and to be a witness to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This mission has endured for centuries and is considered one of the pillars of Lebanon \u2014 a foundation for coexistence in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/skaff202104_035H-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Father Andr\u00e9 Ghaoui thumbs through a theology book in the library of St. John the Apostle Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon.\" class=\"wp-image-112942\"\/><figcaption>Father Andr\u00e9 Ghaoui, superior of St. John the Apostle Seminary of the Congregation of Lebanese Maronite Missionaries in Harissa, Lebanon, credits his Catholic education for inspiring his priestly vocation and love for the church. (photo: Raghida Skaff) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Father Ghaoui contributed to this mission when he was rector of Cadmous College,&nbsp;a pre-K-12 Catholic school&nbsp;in the southern city of Tyre,&nbsp;established by his congregation in 1966. The biblical city currently has a Shiite Muslim population of more than 90 percent, and the majority of students at Cadmous are Muslim.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Educating both Muslims and Catholics together in Catholic schools in an ambience that promotes \u201cliving together as one family\u201d helps students and their families to be more open and contributes to the spirit of coexistence for which Lebanon has become known, the priest noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy testimony is that Muslims are happy to enroll their children in Catholic schools\u201d and they also understand the value of learning about Jesus and Christianity at school, said Father Ghaoui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the future of Catholic schools in Lebanon is in jeopardy, as the country spirals further into economic meltdown. The majority of parents simply cannot afford tuition. Without outside financial support for teacher salaries, many of the schools are in danger of closing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf Catholic schools in Lebanon collapse, we are worried that the whole country will also collapse,\u201d he said. Read more about impact of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/magazine\/catholic-education-lifeblood-of-a-nation\/\">Catholic education in Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/campaigns\/lebanoncrisis\/\">support its ongoing mission<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Father Andr\u00e9 Ghaoui, L.M., looks back on his Catholic education in Lebanon growing up, he says the rich spiritual life he experienced there \u201cleft something deep in me.\u201d Aside from the rigorous studies at Fr\u00e8re de la Salle College, the K-12 school he attended in Beirut, the ongoing character formation the school instilled in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/catholic-education-in-lebanon-living-as-one-family\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":12414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2315,69],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lebanon","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Catholic Education in Lebanon: Living as One Family | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/catholic-education-in-lebanon-living-as-one-family\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic Education in Lebanon: Living as One Family\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Father Andr\u00e9 Ghaoui, L.M., looks back on his Catholic education in Lebanon growing up, he says the rich spiritual life he experienced there \u201cleft something deep in me.\u201d Aside from the rigorous studies at Fr\u00e8re de la Salle College, the K-12 school he attended in Beirut, the ongoing character formation the school instilled in &hellip; 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