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CAIRO TO DAMASCUS
mayel was following the official line of the Maronite Roman
Catholic hierarchy, which saw in the support of neighboring
Israel a buttressing of its own defense against encroachment
of Islam and the ultimate submergence of the Christians in a
Moslem sea. Although adhering to, and nominally subservient
to the Vatican, the Maronite Church had often followed an
autonomous course in matters relating to the Middle East, to
the extent of clashing with Vatican politics.
As the Falange represented the quasi-military coalition of
Maronites and non-Catholic Christians, Le Bloc National
Libanaise represented the political effort for Catholic survival.
Its leader, Emil Edde, had twice been received by the Vatican.
A prominent layman leader of the Bloc expressed his fears
candidly as to chances for Catholic survival. Citing detailed
statistics, he showed that the Christian majority in Lebanon
was dwindling alarmingly, and if unchecked would all but
vanish.
"Why has there been so rapid a growth of the Moslem population?" I asked.
"Under the Turks, the death rate was high, especially in
childbirth," my informant explained. "During the French regime sanitation and health education made great strides. The
Moslems benefited most. Graduates from the American University here are raising their living standards. There are also
thousands of Moslem refugees from Palestine here. If ultimately given citizenship, they will upset the balance between
Christian and Moslem. Moslems remain true to their faith.
Converts are rare. Polygamy is still practiced. In addition
there is a large emigration of Christians who are afraid of
being marooned on a Moslem island, and are leaving for
America. They are your gain because they represent our best
citizens."
He added that many of the officers of the Lebanese army
were Christian, trained by the French. "Thei "