The Ancient Order of Hibernians has written to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urging the United States to address the killing of a Catholic priest in southern Lebanon and reaffirm protections for Christian communities in the Middle East.
Neil F. Cosgrove, Political Education Chair of the AOH, sent a formal letter to Ambassador Huckabee following the death of Father Pierre al-Rahi, a Maronite Catholic priest who was killed on March 9, 2026, in the village of Qlayaa, Lebanon, after Israeli tank fire struck a residential building where civilians had taken shelter.
According to local officials, Father al-Rahi had rushed to assist parishioners whose home had been struck moments earlier.
“Father al-Rahi died doing what priests have done for centuries - running toward danger to minister to those in need,” Cosgrove said.
“When clergy and civilians of any faith are killed, the international community has a duty not only to speak, but to ensure these acts are neither ignored nor repeated.”
In his letter, Cosgrove noted that the death of Father al-Rahi follows several other incidents involving Christian communities in the region.
These include the December 2023 killing of Nahida and Samar Anton within the Holy Family Parish compound in Gaza and in July 2025 with an Israeli tank strike on that same church that injured parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli and killed three elderly civilians.
In October 2024, the Melkite Catholic Church of St. George in Derdghaya, Lebanon, was destroyed in a missile strike that claimed multiple lives.
The AOH expressed concern that repeated attacks on Christian communities, clergy, and places of worship contribute to a growing sense of insecurity among some of the world’s oldest Christian populations.
“These communities are not recent arrivals,” Cosgrove said. “They are among the oldest Christian communities in the world, rooted in the lands where Christianity was born. Their survival matters not only to Christians but to the stability and pluralism of the Middle East.”
In the letter, the AOH urged the United States to publicly address the circumstances surrounding Father al-Rahi’s death and reaffirm the importance of protecting Christian villages, clergy, and places of worship throughout the region.
“The world often speaks of protecting religious minorities,” Cosgrove said.
“That principle must apply consistently—including when Christian communities and clergy come under attack.”
