Big Dt  Catholics persecutes to Baptists again   Because you are a staunch proCatholicand negationist from religious persecutionI request you no delete any reference in Wikipedia on this news httpwwwcomeandseecommodulesphpnameNewsfilearticlesid          Lebanon Catholic Villagers attack and vandalize Baptist Church Posted on  August    Maronite Catholics attacked a newlybuilt independent Baptist church near Beirut this month mauling churchgoers preparing to host war refugees from southern Lebanon   The violence flared up after of several weeks of tense public debate between Maronite and Baptist clergy More than  men from Ajaltoun village attacked Christ Bible Baptist Church on August  slashing car tires breaking the church door and windows stealing computer and sound equipment beating men and groping several women   Compass Direct Aug       A group of  Maronite men assaulted Baptist Pastor Raymond AbouMekhael and another church member at  pm as they were on their way to retrieve items from their parked cars The Maronites broke the unidentified church members rib and both mens glasses smashed the car windows and then dumped the two men inside before joining another group of  in attacking the church building   Police were at the church watching everything AbouMekhael  told Compass They even advised the attackers on what to steal and vandalize   AbouMekhael said that the men were led by Ajaltoun Mayor Khalil Tabet who had the church officially sealed off with red wax immediately after the attack so that no one could enter the building   In an August  newspaper article entitled No Justification for Building a Baptist Church in a Region whose Overwhelming Majority is Maronite the local Maronite bishop attacked the Baptist churchs right to exist   Bishop GuyPaul Noujaim wrote in local newspapers that there were no followers of the Baptists in Ajaltoun and the decrees of the Middle East Council of Churches to which the church does not belong prohibit building a church in areas without followers therein   In an email to Compass Bishop Noujaim said that the Baptist congregation had requested a permit to build a residence but had instead built a church He declined to answer questions about whether he had been aware of plans to attack the church on August  but said that he had been celebrating mass at a church in the mountains when he received a telephone call alerting him to the violence   In articles published in Addiyar and Annahar newspapers the bishop called for the attorney general to close down the building   This is nonsense said Salim Sahyouni President of the High Council of Evangelical Churches in Syria and Lebanon to which the Ajaltoun Baptist church belongs We can worship in a legal church building we can worship in an apartment and we can worship in the free air   As a Protestant community in Lebanon we have the full rights to build churches to worship freely in any place we choose Sahyouni told Compass We do not need to get permission   Worship Rights    In his written responses to Compass Bishop Noujaim did not specify why it was illegal to hold church services in a home but claimed that the Baptists were violating the law by owning a printing press in the basement of their building   The bishops biggest complaint was that the Baptists aimed to steal Maronite members of his flock   Why dont the Baptists want to be part of the Middle East Council of Churches the bishop wrote referring to an ecumenical council of Orthodox Catholic and certain Protestant churches that he said forbids proselytizing each others members Dont they support ecumenism and dialogue If we are mistrustful of the Baptist people it is because of their bad behavior   The bishop did not respond to questions about whether individuals in Ajaltoun had the right to change their religious affiliation   AbouMekhael told Compass today that the church remains officially sealed and that he is in the process of filing a case against the attackers He also said that his congregation of approximately  people is ready to open a second case if they are denied their constitutional right to worship at the site   Even if we get permission to remove the red wax there are still threats from the mayor and from the bishop that if we go to worship they will attack again the pastor told Compass By the constitution of Lebanon we have the freedom to worship there But they say Okay go try to practice your rights but we will stop you   In light of Lebanons deeply entrenched ethnic and religious divides it is not uncommon for government officials to carry deeper loyalties for their particular community leaders than for the central government and civil law   In this type of community the bishop would always be consulted in a matter of building a new church one local source close to the Maronite church told Compass Requesting anonymity for security reasons he said All it would take is one word from the bishop for the place to be opened But theyve never had a Protestant Reformation in the Middle East so they dont know quite what to do with these new evangelical groups   The source added Its not to say that the bishop is right but one has to understand that Lebanon has a very tribal society   Our problem is not with the Maronite church its with this bishop AbouMekhael told Compass Our church founded in  had been meeting in a rented facility in the town of Ballouneh before this and we had no problems there All of my Maronite neighbors and friends are saddened by what is happening   Bishop Noujaim said the conflict is not just religious but political Why do the Baptists want to settle in a patriarchal diocese he said Do they want to weaken the Maronite patriarchate by stealing some believers and further dividing the Christian community which has already suffered in this way   Dropping birth rates and emigration have caused a decrease in Lebanons Maronite population in recent years For many this translates into a weakening of political power According to estimates approximately  percent of the Lebanese population half of Lebanons Christians belong to the Maronite Church   Upon gaining independence in  Lebanons Christian community mainly Maronite constituted more than  percent of the countrys population playing a significant role in bolstering Maronite representation in the central government visvis other religious and ethnic groups   Christians in the Middle East are so few that we need each other AbouMekhael commented We need to support each other Its really too bad what has happened because we were preparing the building to help host refugees from the south   A day war between Israel and Hezbollah troops in southern Lebanon ended in an official ceasefire on August  allowing hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Lebanese to begin returning home Triggered by the Hezbollah kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July  the fighting claimed more than  Lebanese and  Israeli lives   SIDEBAR    Mounting Tensions Erupt in Strife in Mountain Village   Tension over the newlybuilt Christ Bible Baptist Church had been mounting since April  when the congregation legally purchased the building from Pastor Raymond AbouMekhael and requested that the Ajaltoun government construct signs along the path to the church   AbouMekhael told Compass he had purchased the land in  and had built the building in the interest of using it for the church   The mayors office informed the Baptist congregation that it would need to consult Bishop GuyPaul Noujaim before granting permission to place the signs   On July  Mayor Khalil Tabet met AbouMekhael and three Baptist members telling them to close down the building because Bishop Noujaim did not want another evangelical church in the area According to AbouMekhael Tabet threatened to bring a mob to forcibly shut down the church the next Sunday   Undeterred the Baptist congregation began giving out invitations for the churchs official commencement on Sunday July    In response Maronite villagers distributed fliers calling on the townspeople to gather the following Sunday July  at  pm to march together to the Baptist church and deny its commencement   Written in Bishop Noujaims name and also broadcast on local television the flier claimed that the church had been built deceptively and in crooked ways and that it was the right of the church and civil authorities to deny it in all ways   Visiting the village to celebrate mass on Saturday evening July  Bishop Noujaim reiterated his call for the townspeople to stop the church commencement village priest Paul Sfeir said in the Addiyar newspaper   I went to Ajaltoun church to inform people that the Baptists are not a Catholic church the bishop told Compass sidestepping questions about whether it was true that he had asked the townspeople to march on the Baptist church   Bishop Noujaim also failed to say why he had not called police to stop the meeting if it was indeed being held illegally as he claimed   Earlier that day July  Tabet had hired a bulldozer to block the Baptist church road and the buildings front g