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A delegation from the Makassed Islamic Association, led by Mohammed Sammak and the association’s president Faisal Sinno, discreetly visited the Vatican on March 28, without any media frenzy. This marked the delegation’s first visit to the Holy See in its 138-year history. The delegation’s members were warmly received by the Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, with whom they discussed their wish to further develop a cooperation agreement established last year between their 24 educational institutions and the General Secretariat of Catholic Schools in Lebanon.

Founded in 1876, the Makassed Islamic Association is the oldest and most prestigious association within the Sunni community in Lebanon. Affiliated with Dar el-Fatwa, the Sunni community’s leading authority, it provides services in three main sectors: education, social services and healthcare. It operates 24 schools across Lebanon, a university, mosques, hospitals and clinics, a scout group and cultural institutions.

The association, which encompasses a staff of 10,000 people, is mostly self-sufficient, but does get support from Saudi Arabia for specific services, including mainly the dialysis unit at Makassed Hospital in Beirut. Nevertheless, Mohammed Sammak voiced concern over the loss of all downtown properties to real estate ventures spearheaded by the Solidere company.

The Vatican visit aimed to strengthen collaboration between the Makassed school network—serving nearly 6,000 students—and the Catholic schools network in Lebanon, which provides education for roughly one-third of the country’s students (approximately 200,000 children). Discussions centered on student exchanges, teacher engagement and curriculum coordination. “We are fully dedicated to promoting our cooperation agreement, which is celebrating its first anniversary,” the president of Makassed stated.

“The Makassed delegation’s meeting with Cardinal Parolin lasted 50 minutes. The Vatican Secretary of State, who showed great enthusiasm for the project, promptly instructed his secretary to contact Father Youssef Nasr, President of the General Secretariat of Catholic Schools, to encourage him in this direction, believing it can contribute to fostering coexistence and a culture of dialogue,” Faisal Sinno said.

A coordination meeting with Father Nasr, set to take place after the end of the holy month of Ramadan, was decided on the spot. The teacher and administrator fondly recalls “a time when students didn’t even consider their classmates’ different religious backgrounds. Hatred and mistrust have no place in our vocabulary,” he asserts.

“We had an open conversation with Cardinal Parolin,” added the president of Makassed, who admitted to being “surprised” by his interlocutor’s thorough understanding of the Lebanese reality.

‘Stubbornness’ and ‘Selfishness’

In this context, Sinno stated, “In response to our persistent queries, the Vatican’s Secretary of State expressed ‘sadness’ about the ongoing presidential deadlock, occasionally blaming different leaders for their ‘stubbornness and selfishness’ while also acknowledging the current geopolitical complexities.”

On the other hand, the president of Makassed sincerely praised “the exceptional qualities of faith and kindness” expressed by his counterpart and the overall mood prevailing in the Vatican.

On his part, Father Youssef Nasr confirmed—via a phone call—his secretariat’s dedication “to strengthening the common grounds of values between the two associations,” citing the Vatican’s endorsement of this venture. “That’s Lebanon. A space for openness, coexistence and dialogue,” as per his words.

At the Forefront of Religious Struggle

The Makassed Islamic Association transcends the realms of education, healthcare and social services. Since 2015, following the “Beirut Declaration on Religious Freedoms,” whose themes and call for citizenship were echoed in the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Human Fraternity (2019), the institution has been at the forefront of the religious fight against Muslim extremism. “The enemy is now among us. Extremist ideologies have infiltrated our society,” warns Sammak. “We once believed that our open and liberal society, given its multicultural makeup, was immune to this phenomenon. We are shocked and surprised by its intensity, especially among today’s youth.”

“We must fight extremism from within Islam,” emphasizes Mohammed Sammak. We cannot just say ‘This is not Islam.’ We must convince Muslims with arguments rooted in Islamic faith, from the Quran.”

Regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza, it’s relevant to recall Mohammed Sammak’s statement from September 14, 2020, in his op-ed titled “Enough is Enough.” He claimed, “The Hamas movement, entrenched within the Gaza Strip, has established a mini-state within the broader Palestinian state project, just like Hezbollah, which has created a mini-state within Lebanon. However, no good can come from these two dismissals of the official state, even if they are justified by the most sacred and noble cause: resistance.”