By Belinda Merhab from Project Eye

Having been united in their struggle to merely exist for hundreds of years, 20 000 Lebanese Maronite Catholics were united today for a celebration.

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In the crisp 7am cold, volunteers bustled around Parramatta Stadium, rolling out the red carpet for the arrival of the Patriarch of the Maronite Church, Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir from Lebanon.

For the Maronite Church, an Eastern rite denomination of the Catholic Church, remaining Catholic in the mostly-Muslim Middle East has been a constant struggle that has dated back from the Crusades to the more recent civil war, which saw the Christian and Muslim populations of Lebanon fighting each other for 30 years.

But today was a day of pride and celebration, with both Lebanese and Australian flags waving, as thousands came to attend the 10am Mass.

Importance of unity

"It's a very important event," says 21-year-old Johnny Tabet.

"It's such an important event because this never happens, so to have all the Maronites together as one, it's a very big thing.

"We have our Patriarch here, he's conducting this mass today...it's all Maronites together, all Maronites combined."

Queenslander pilgrims, 15 year-old Patricia El-Hani and 18-year-old George Elias we're excited to be at the event, braving the early morning cold and the 7am start.

Staying with family members in Sydney, both pilgrims will be attending all WYD events, but this one, they say, is the most special.

"All Maronites, It brings us all together as one," says Elias.

"We unite, we pray together, we meet each other, we know who's from where."

Busy setting up, volunteers Rob Nohra and John Tahtouh, we're making sure they got through as much work as they could before the mass began.

"I'm flat out but I'll be in the mass, I'll make sure, I don't want to miss out," says 29-year-old Nohra.

"It's massive. It'll probably be one of the biggest things that's ever happened in Australia for the Maronite community. Very rarely does the Cardinal come from overseas, plus, it's WYD.

Maronite community awareness

"It's good for the Maronite community, for the Church, because it gives other parts of the Catholic Church the chance to see the Maronite rite. And, there's a lot of Maronites, that don't participate in their Church...this is going to bring people to the Church, and that keeps them away from bad things like alcohol and going out and drugs."

As a result of civil war, 75 per cent of Lebanese Maronites now reside outside of Lebanon, a figure which creates worry about the fate of Christianity in Lebanon. Today created a rare opportunity for the Church to unite it's people, from all over Australia and the world, with groups said to be coming from as far as France and Germany.

"The war that has happened in Lebanon, back in 1975 has destroyed the Catholics, that is why everyone has left the country and has gone to other countries to build their lives," says 28-year-old Tahtouh.

"The Catholics didn't stick together as one...it's about 75% Muslims and 25% Catholics now in Lebanon."

But Nohra believes that although the Maronite Church is going through a rough period, they will, as history shows, come back stronger.

"I don't think they'll ever disappear, because throughout the history of the Maronite Church, Maronites have been persecuted, a lot. The Turks, the Druze, they massacred thousands of them...they tried to make us extinct. Even if you go back 1000 years when the crusaders went through Lebanon...they thought we had died out, but through the grace of God, we weren't extinct, we stayed alive.

"If they couldn't get rid of us then, they can't now, through God's grace, the Maronite community won't die in Lebanon...we'll get over it."

ProjectEye is a content partner for SBS providing critical news coverage of WYD08 from a youth perspective.
Source: Project Eye