Maryknoll Lay Missioner Dee Dungy shares a reflection from her special assignment serving displaced people in war-torn Lebanon.
Editor’s note: Late last year, Pope Leo XIV embarked on his first international visit since assuming the papacy. After a few days in Turkey, he visited Lebanon. A giant poster that greeted him as he walked down the steps of the plane read “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” Soon after, in his first public comments, Pope Leo reiterated, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.”
The parish was excited for the papal visit, and many followed along or participated intently. On his second day, he participated in an interfaith gathering which highlighted coexistence and national unity. The pope stood alongside the Syriac Catholic and Maronite patriarchs, the Grand Sunni imam and a Shia representative. They read from both the Gospel and the Quran, and all leaders spoke some message of hope and unity. In his remarks, Pope Leo actually spoke about an event that was celebrated yesterday.
Dear brothers and sisters, on 25 March each year, celebrated as a national holiday in your country, you come together to venerate Mary, Our Lady of Lebanon, honored in her sanctuary at Harissa, which is adorned with an impressive statue of the Virgin with outstretched arms, embracing all the Lebanese people. May this loving and maternal embrace of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus and Queen of Peace, guide each of you, so that in your homeland, across the Middle East and throughout the world, the gift of reconciliation and peaceful coexistence may flow forth “like the streams flowing from Lebanon” (cf. Song 4:15). May they bring hope and unity to all.
To further his point of unity, the Holy Father concluded this remark with the Arabic word, “Shukran,” which means, “Thank you.”
The next day, reportedly more than 140,000 people converged at Beirut’s waterfront for a Mass and prayed for peace with the pope. It was an amazing few days amidst Lebanon’s tense political and religious climate.
Just three months later, these beautiful images were eclipsed as the situation for the Lebanese and migrants became disrupted and chaotic. Israeli airstrikes intensified as they fought the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Families fled their safety during all hours of an airstrike warning. Migrants made their way, some walking five-plus hours, to the Arrupe Migrant Center where I volunteer, and where they sat in the parking lot until we arrived the next morning.
The Arrupe Migrant Center has a maximum capacity of 85 persons. In less than two hours, we were receiving more than 100 individuals. Today, we are hosting 200 displaced individuals, including pregnant mothers close to delivery, 64 children and their moms and dads.
We suspended all church activities except for Mass. This decision was a testament that God’s light shines in the bleakest and darkest of times. As “Missionaries of Hope,” we still have a place to worship God and, for our non-Christian believers, a refuge of safety.
A core value of Maryknoll Lay Missioners is “joy,” and this is a value I intend to share and cultivate. As I spoke with the migrant children at the Arrupe Migrant Center and our catechumen located elsewhere in the city, I heard them express anxiety; they had trouble concentrating in fear of the next bomb or warning shots. I felt the need to focus their attention on a more positive approach. The youth needed to maintain a sense of normalcy in their lives. I recall how music makes me feel, and I know that it calms the soul. I foraged for old or unused guitars and drums in the different Arrupe Migrant Center communities.
I was able to find instruments and participants. I divided the youth into different classes, found instructors, and made sure all understood the aim was to enhance mental wellness through music while preparing the next generation of Christian instrumentalists and singers for a proposed international youth choir at St. Joseph Church.
Although they are migrants in a foreign land, music could very well be the key to embodying Pope Leo’s vision and hope for unity among the people. When Pope Leo visited, in his first public remarks he said
I conclude by drawing inspiration from another precious feature of your tradition, which stretches back thousands of years. You are a people who love music. On feast days, this becomes a dance, a language of joy and communion. This aspect of your culture helps us to understand that peace is not only the result of human effort, however necessary. Indeed, peace is a gift that comes from God and which, above all, dwells in our hearts.
A few weeks ago, St. Joseph Church held a special event commemorating the pope’s visit to Lebanon and reflected on his speeches and teachings. Apostolic Vicar Bishop César Essayan facilitated this gathering where he continued to share a message of hope. He reiterated that this war is not ours to fight, but rather, that we are to answer Pope Leo’s call and be — like the poster that greeted him at the airport — peacemakers for Christ. Sadly, as we reflected on these words, the quiet was pierced by drones humming in the background. War and violence once more surround us, the migrants and all residents of Beirut.
Our Lady of Lebanon, pray for us.
Our Lady of Maryknoll, pray for us.
Our Lady of Annunciation, pray for us.
Dee Dungy, who has been a Maryknoll lay missioner since 2011, previously served in Cambodia and Kenya. Since April of 2025 she has been on a special assignment in Lebanon at the Arrupe Migrant Center, a ministry of St. Joseph Church, in Achrafeiah, a district of Beirut.
Featured image: Lebanese Maronite Catholic priest Father Pierre al-Rahi, also known by his French name Pierre el-Raï, in vestments second from left, takes part in a Palm Sunday procession in Qlayaa, Lebanon, April 2, 2023. Father al-Rahi was killed in this village in southern Lebanon during an Israeli artillery tank fire on a house March 9, 2026. (OSV News photo/Aziz Taher, Reuters)
