In
every society, group of people, community, or nation,
there are exchanges at every level and in every
field, domain, succession and sector. Education,
culture, work, sport, industry, communications,
consumption, love, prayer and dialogue, the list
is long and covers the whole of existence, even
Heaven, Paradise, the Good God and the world to
come.
The Holy Father, the Pope, the Sovereign Pontiff
(from the Latin Pons, Pontis, a bridge1)
is a bridge between us and Heaven. In the ritual
of ceremonies, in prayers addressed to God our Creator,
to the Virgin Mary, to the saints in glory beyond,
to Paradise, the priest pontiff is a bridge uniting
this world to Heaven, to the spiritual world, to
the divine, and to the world beyond, and when as
minister at the altar he dons his vestments and
prays aloud and incenses the cross, the holy pictures
and the faithful, he “pontificates”, being the bridge
(pons) between earth and the above...
This symbolism leads us to consider earthly relationships,
the bonds that men set up between them in this world.
Thanks to the bridges which bind, unit, and bring
men together, immense spaces separated by rivers
and gulfs are joined together, spaces where life
has developed in different ways, with particular
races, cultures and religions with their various
claims about who has a right to the body of water.
The river Rhine long separated two rival peoples,
the Germans and the French, but the bridge of Kohl
at Strasbourg reconciled them.
We hear talk about the Roman, Phoenician and Arab
bridges and aqueducts and about the importance of
these constructions for communication between the
opposing shores. Even at Paris, every bridge has
a legendary history behind it, Pont-Neufs, Lovers’
Bridge, and Goldsmiths’ Bridge. At Toulouse the
road of thirty-six bridges along the Garonne has
brought the two banks of the river into a common
destiny.
Bridges have been the work of great artists and
have attracted thousands of tourists and curious
sight-seers. Even in Lebanon, where so many deep
torrents and gullies have isolated different regions,
the remains of ancient Roman bridges are to be found,
that of Septimus Severus, Lovers’ Bridge near Ajaltoun
where young folk meet, Basha Bridge, The Sheikh’s
over Nahr el-Kalb (Dog River), and the little Roman
bridge at Maameltein.
There are modern bridges and fly-overs, realizations
of the Public Works and of engineers to allow easy
communication both civil and military, the bridges
of Madfoun joining North Lebanon and Central Lebanon,
Fidar Bridge, the new Ghazir Bridge and all those
of the Beqaa, South Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon, all
resplendent with strength and beauty.
In the year 2006 there was no comparison between
the forces of Lebanon and those of Israel. Lebanon
was faced with a belligerent Israel, a destructive
invader without pity, and with no respect for justice
or for the liberties of others. Having at its disposition
a powerful and greatly superior war machine, it
allows itself to scatter death and destruction as
it pleases, bombarding infrastructure, power houses,
factories and hospitals, with the main aim of paralyzing
communication.
In 2006 within a few minutes all the bridges in
Lebanon were bombed, cutting means of contact and
supply routes and succor. This was done with unparalleled
savagery. Some examples I saw with my own eyes on
the ground and others on television.
To destroy bridges is to destroy the ties within
a civilization. Of course, there are other more
modern means of contact such as radio, television,
and internet, with the use of satellites. But on
a practical level, to destroy a bridge is to destroy
all daily activity and all work in hospitals, bakeries,
and schools; it is to disrupt food, power, and water
supplies and routine travel. Yes, in 2006 our dear
little country, source of culture and civilization
and knowledge throughout the entire world, saw a
hundred of its bridges destroyed.
But thanks to its greatness, its life, its dynamism,
its faith in God, its resolve, its pride and its
mission, Lebanon always rises like a phoenix from
the ashes. Lebanon has arisen greater and prouder
than ever. Reconstruction began the very same day
thanks to a people of rare quality. Lebanon does
not die; its people’s ability to build, construct,
and survive, is a gift of Heaven. As for the bridges,
I have seen them rise up greater, more solid, ever
prouder, to mock the Israeli arsenal.
All the neighboring countries should have come out
to make front and to fight, but they went down on
their knees. Lebanon for its part has only preached
love, friendship, pardon and dialogue. It does not
have an arsenal like that of the United States,
but is like the reed of La Fontaine. It bends but
it does not break. It rises up like Adonis in the
anemones on the banks of the river. All the bridges
once strengthened have taken back their original
role, uniting the regions, ferrying life, multiplying
relationships, offering new roads, throbbing with
vehicles bounding with life after winning a victory.
Our enemies, you have not taken hold of us. We are
still here, resplendent, renewed, and victorious.
Long live Lebanon the Eternal!
---- 1-
In pagan Rome, the High Priest was in charge of
the building and maintenance of bridges, a religious
office at a time when there was no distinction between
religious and civil life. Hence he was called Pontifex
(Bridge-maker) Maximus, a title that passed into
Christian use. It should be noted that the original
version of this text was in French, in which language
the word for “bridge” is pont, close to the Latin.
Joseph Matar - Translation from the French:
K.J. Mortimer
