BEIRUT — The Syriac Maronite Union–Tur Levnon launched an effort to persuade Duolingo, one of the world’s most widely used language-learning platforms, to add Syriac to its growing catalogue of languages, bringing a centuries-old language of the Middle East into an app used daily by millions of learners around the world. The initiative builds on Tur Levnon’s broader campaign to revive Syriac in Lebanon through education, cultural awareness and religious life.

QARNO D'AYLO, Lebanon — The latest episode of From Lebanon, broadcast on Suryoyo TV on Thursday, explored the history and mission of the Living Monastery of St. Elias, a Syriac Maronite Antonine monastery in the mountain town of Qarno d'Aylo (Qarnayel) in Baabda district. The program featured Father Elias Shakhtoura, the monastery's superior, who traced the institution's nearly three centuries of history and highlighted its enduring role in spiritual life, education and fostering coexistence between Christian and Druze communities.

BEIT MERY (BETH MORYO), Tur Levnon —The Monastery of Saint John the Baptist (Mor Yuhanon) at al-Qalaa in Beit Mery, administered by the Syriac Maronite Antonine Order, stands on a site whose history reaches from ancient Phoenician worship through the Roman and Byzantine periods to the Christian monastic tradition that continues there today. Archaeological remains at Deir al-Qalaa include the ruins of a major Roman sanctuary associated with the god of dancing Baal Marqod, as well as a Byzantine church and mosaics.

MINIYEH, Lebanon — The Syriac Maronite Church of St. Teresa in northern Miniyeh, Lebanon, was targeted by unknown assailants who pelted the building with stones and broke several windows. The incident drew widespread condemnation and calls for a full investigation and accountability. Security forces have launched an investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible. Tawfiq Zaraykeh, head of the Miniyeh Municipalities Union, accompanied by members of the Union, visited the church following the attack.

BRUMMANA (BETH RAMANNA), Mount Lebanon —The Syriac Maronite Church of Mor Isaiah the Prophet has become more than a place of worship. It is a living record of the town’s religious, cultural, and social history. The church, dedicated to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, reflects a Christian presence in Mount Lebanon that dates back centuries. In an episode of “From Lebanon” on Suroyo TV Lebanon, Father Boutros Boudaher, pastor of the Syriac Maronite parish of Mor Isaiah the Prophet in Brummana, explains how Christians began settling in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries and initially worshiped together in an older church.

ZAHLE, Lebanon — The Zahle Coordination of the Universal Syriac Union Party (USUP) joined celebrations marking the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, participating in a Mass at the Church of Our Lady in the Lady neighborhood and the annual procession held for the occasion. As part of the celebrations, the coordination’s women’s committee installed a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary near the Syriac Martyrs’ Square monument, beside the coordination’s headquarters.

HARF MIZIARA, Lebanon / BEIRUT — Syriac Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rai and Mar Charbel have called for justice, accountability and genuine reforms in Lebanon, stressing the need to strengthen state institutions and ensure that decisions of war and peace remain exclusively in the hands of the state as Lebanese-Israeli negotiations over southern Lebanon continue. During a Mass at the…

BEIRUT — For nearly a century, they remained hidden in a wooden box. Inside were photographs of people reduced to skeletons, children standing beside the bodies of their dead, and families confronting a catastrophe that had already begun to fade from Lebanon’s collective memory. The photographs were taken during Kafno (the Great Famine) of Tur Levnon (Mount Lebanon) between 1915 and 1918 by Ibrahim Naoum Kanaan, a Lebanese photographer and government official who moved through the villages and streets of the Ottoman-ruled Tur Levnon during one of the darkest periods in the country’s modern history.

DIMAN, Lebanon — The Syriac Maronite Church on Saturday celebrated the beatification of Patriarch Elias Howayek (1843–1931), following Pope Leo XIV's decree recognizing one of modern Lebanon's foremost religious and national figures and a principal architect of the State of Greater Lebanon. The solemn celebration, held on 25 July at the Patriarchal See in Diman, followed the Holy See's announcement of Howayek's beatification on 22 May.