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Priest, 68, murdered in Lebanon; his bishop calls for hope: “We are children of the Resurrection”
The Maronite Church mourns Father Samir Daou. Lebanese authorities announced the arrest of a suspect on October 30, but have not publicly established a religious motive.
CHURCH IN LEBANON
Ana Paula Morales (Poli)
11/2/20264 min read
Photo caption: Father Samir Mikhaël Daou and an archival view of St. John’s Church in Byblos, Lebanon. AI-assisted editorial composite: Press Crux. Portrait circulated by Daou Families/Facebook, via L’Orient-Le Jour; church photograph: Linaduliban/Wikimedia Commons, public domain. The images depict different places and moments.
BYBLOS, Lebanon. The Maronite bishop of Jbeil — the historic city of Byblos — Bishop Michel Aoun, urged his diocese not to lose hope and to work for peace after the murder of Father Samir Mikhaël Daou, a priest who served several communities in the region.
“We are children of the Resurrection,” the bishop said in a homily published on Monday by the Catholic Information Center of Lebanon. Opening the liturgical and diocesan year, he acknowledged the grief of the priest’s family, parishioners and fellow clergy, and offered the Eucharist for the repose of his soul. The homily was published on November 2; the killing had become known the previous week.
Byblos, now known as Jbeil, also has a link to Scripture: it is the ancient Phoenician city of Gebal, whose craftsmen are mentioned in Ezekiel 27:9 for their skill in repairing the ships of Tyre. The reference places the city within the historical horizon of the Old Testament and recalls its ancient connections with other peoples of the Mediterranean coast.
A priest with 33 years of ministry
Father Samir Mikhaël Daou was 68 and had been a priest for 33 years, Bishop Aoun recalled at his funeral on November 1. He was a diocesan priest of the Maronite Eparchy of Jbeil (Byblos), not a member of a religious congregation. A native of Aïn Jrain, he served the communities of Hsoun, Farhet and Aïn el-Delbé.
He entered the Ghazir seminary in 1977 and was ordained in 1993, after a stay in Canada. He had married Rogette in 1986 and was the father of three daughters and one son, as well as a grandfather. The bishop remembered him as a gentle man, close to his family and devoted to his communities. The Maronite Church, in full communion with Rome, permits the ordination of married men.
From his disappearance to the investigation
According to L’Orient-Le Jour’s report on Thursday, October 29, Father Daou had been unreachable since Wednesday the 28th. His relatives found his body in a house he owned in Aïn Jrain, in the Jbeil district. Judicial police went to the scene to collect fingerprints and other evidence.
The priest served the parishes of Hsoun, Farhet and Aïn el-Delbé. In its first statement, the Maronite archdiocese condemned the crime, recalled his dedication to serving God and the faithful, and urged caution regarding circulating accounts of what had happened. L’Orient-Le Jour.
On Friday, October 30, the Internal Security Forces announced the arrest of a suspect. According to LBCI, authorities confirmed that the investigation continued under judicial supervision. L’Orient-Le Jour noted that the police announcement did not identify the detainee or explain the motive. An arrest is not a conviction.
The Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, demanded that the facts be established and those responsible brought to justice. The archdiocese also asked people not to spread rumors or unverified accounts. L’Orient-Le Jour.
A grieving diocese and the task of building peace
In the homily released on November 2, Bishop Aoun did not reduce peace to a demand addressed to others. He invited the faithful to examine their own conduct and to build peace in their families, parishes and wider society. Prayer, he explained, should lead to conversion and concrete relationships marked by respect and love.
The bishop connected that task with the suffering of Lebanon and the Middle East, without presenting Father Daou’s murder as a crime whose religious motive had been demonstrated.
The distinction matters. A priest can be a victim of criminal violence without proof that he was attacked for his faith. To describe a crime as religious persecution requires evidence of that link; the victim’s status as a priest does not establish it on its own.
The UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects both life and religious freedom. In Byblos, solving the crime and accompanying those who have lost their priest remain urgent tasks: Christian hope is no substitute for justice or for the search for truth.
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