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Presiding Bishop Issues Lebanese Appeal

Episcopal News Service. July 1, 1982 [82151]

NEW YORK (DPS, July 1) -- Presiding Bishop John M. Allin has called on the people of the Episcopal Church to give generously to a special appeal for Lebanon which he issued on June 21.

"With a sense of great urgency and personal concern," he wrote to Episcopalians, "I am issuing a special humanitarian appeal to the people and friends of our Church in response to the extreme physical suffering and continuing tragedy of war in Lebanon."

The contributions are being channeled through the Church's Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. The Fund, according to Allin, will distribute the contributions received through two types of agencies. One will be churches and church agencies through which contributions have been made in the past, such as the Anglican Church in the Diocese of Jerusalem, which encompasses Lebanon, and the Middle East Council of Churches, with headquarters in Beirut.

Another distribution avenue will be public and private voluntary humanitarian relief organizations, which are now active in Lebanon, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, OXFAM, UNICEF and other United Nations agencies.

Allin noted that casualties in Lebanon since the Israelis invaded the country June 6 have been enormous. In the confusion, it has been difficult to arrive at accurate figures of casualties, but estimates of displaced persons in Lebanon range from 600,000 to one million persons. Thousands of civilians have been killed, as well as many Israelis, members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Syrians.

Allin wrote about those who "have been left homeless and have lost all means of livelihood with which to feed and support their families.

"There is no simple answer to the vastly complex political issues that face Lebanon and the Middle East," he continued. "In the midst of the continuing and now escalated tragedy, response to this Appeal can be a message of hope, a witness to the love that exists within us."

Allin asked the clergy of the Church to mobilize their congregations and friends and to come to the aid of the stricken Lebanese through contributions to Presiding Bishop's Fund.

Contributions may be sent to the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017, marked for "Lebanon Special Appeal."