Dear friends,

The images of last night’s explosions in the port of Beirut have reached us in Taizé. We are deeply shaken by these events, which have once again put your people under great strain, after these last few months marked by the economic and social crisis and the pandemic.

I want to tell you how close we are to you, in solidarity with your suffering, united in prayer.

At midday prayer, with the brothers and all the young people present this week in Taizé, we pray for you with these words:

God of peace, many people on earth know suffering. On this day, we pray to you especially for the people of Lebanon, sorely tried in recent months and again yesterday by the terrible explosions in the port of Beirut. We pray to you for the victims and their relatives, for the families who have lost so much, and we entrust them to you, God of all humankind.

With all our brotherly affection.

Brother Alois