“Lebanon today is in crisis. It is an existential crisis.”
- Pope Francis, 2021
Like the Good Samaritan, our mission is to save lives from all kinds of persecution, rejection, or neglect and to confirm them in God’s image, the Author of all Goodness.
Mission of Hope and Mercy was founded in 1997 on the prophetic words of Pope John Paul II:
“Lebanon is more than a country. It is a message of freedom and an example of pluralism for East and West.”
Our Mission and Vision
Like the Good Samaritan, Our mission is to save lives from all kinds of persecution, rejection, or neglect and to confirm them in God’s image, the Author of all Goodness.
We are the Mission of Hope and Mercy, consecrated under the intercession of Saint Rafka (Rebecca), the Lebanese Catholic Maronite nun and saint who died March 23, 1914, and the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the source of Divine Mercy and Divine Grace.
The Mission of Hope and Mercy acts as a prophet who warns and educates, a soldier who protects and saves, a Good Samaritan who ministers and restores, and an apostle of Christ who is a peacemaker and herald of the Good News.
Every year we touch the lives of many who just long for a safe place to live and the opportunity to care for their family. Mission of Hope and Mercy is on the front lines providing food, shelter, education, and safety, tending to the sick and vulnerable and ministering to those in desperate need. The number of orphans in Lebanon
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of the population in Lebanon lives below the poverty line, 36% in extreme poverty
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%
Christians are killed every day across the world
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Churches around the world were destroyed in 2021
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LEBANON IN CRISIS
Lebanon was once considered a safe haven for Christians in the Middle East. However, this is no longer the case.
The economy has deteriorated – the price of goods has nearly quadrupled, leaving people with barely any access to food or medicine. Approximately 80% of Lebanon’s population lives below the poverty line, and 36% are in extreme poverty.
The economic crisis worsened during the pandemic, followed by the 2020 Beirut port blast, which has been described as “one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history,” killing 217 people, wounding 7,000+, and leaving 150 permanently disabled.
This adds yet another layer of strain and anxiety for Christians in Lebanon, who have been struggling against existential threats to their religious and cultural practices for over a hundred years in the Middle East. Our Lebanese brothers and sisters in Christ need our help now more than ever.
On his monumental trip to Iraq in 2021, Pope Francis acknowledged the existential crisis in Lebanon, pledging to visit the country.
“Lebanon is a message. Lebanon is in pain. Lebanon represents more than just a balance. Lebanon has some weakness resulting from diversity, some of this diversity that has not reconciled, but Lebanon has the strength of a reconciled people, like the power of a Cedar tree.” – Pope Francis
Father Andre YS Mahanna
President, Mission of Hope and Mercy
Father Andre YS Mahanna is uniquely qualified to speak on the topic of religious freedom in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the United States. A friend of freedom, Fr. Andre has informed and advised the U.S. Administration and members of Congress on these issues at home and abroad. He was an honored guest of President Donald J. Trump for the signing of the executive order on religious freedom at the White House on the National Day of Prayer, May 4, 2017, and has been invited back to this event as one of 40 select religious leaders every year since then.
In November 2017, Fr. Andre was elected the North American Councilor of the Apostolic Union of Clergy, a Vatican-associated office, and continues to serve as U.S. president. Fr. Andre is also the Founder and President of the Apostolate of Our Lady of Hope/St. Rafka Mission of Hope and Mercy. He served on the Vatican’s 2010 Synod on the Middle East, helping deliver the document “Ecclesia in Medio Oriente”.
He grew up in war-torn Lebanon. As a boy accompanying his father on government trips to Muslim and Christian regions, he heard stories of religion-based crimes by both groups. At 10, his family with other families escaped Christian massacres by living in caves in Mount Lebanon. His bed was a Phoenician tomb. By age 12, he had decided to become a Maronite Catholic monk. It was then that concern for precisely what the world is experiencing now – famine and massacre of women and children – gave him the resolve to address ecumenism and inter-faith understanding and to devote his life’s work to be an instrument of peace.
A citizen of the United States, Fr. Andre is fluent in seven languages and understands twelve. Educated in Rome, France, and the U.S.A., he addresses the hard realities of genocide, persecution, and violence in the Middle East. He is a popular speaker and has authored many articles focused on the unity of Christians, religious freedom, and the biblical foundation of Judeo-Christian values and traditions.
An opera-trained vocalist, Fr. Andre, known simply as “Abouna”, is a recognized thought-leader on the historical, religious, social, and cultural complexities of the many regions that comprise the Middle East and North Africa. He is a trusted friend of many international faith leaders including Orthodox and Catholic bishops, cardinals, patriarchs, and popes as well as Protestant pastors, Jewish rabbis, and Muslim imams. He works tirelessly to encourage American leaders to keep God in the public square and to defend religious freedom at home and abroad so that all might live in peace, love, and conviviality for the glory and honor of God.
Meet Our Team
VOLUNTEER WITH US
Our Mission is made possible by a diverse group of volunteers with varied interests, talents, and abilities who are using their skills to help end religious persecution and oppression. Interested in volunteering? We need you! Tell us a little about yourself.
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Apostolate of Our Lady of Hope
St. Rafka Mission of Hope and Mercy
For federal income purposes, St. Rafka Mission of Hope and Mercy is a 501(c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible. The St. Rafka Mission of Hope and Mercy EIN number is: 47-4855538
© 2022 Apostolate of our Lady of Hope Saint Rafka Mission of Hope & Mercy