ABSTRACT
At present, large communities of Lebanese and Syrians are there in the United States of America and in the various republics of Central and South America, as well as on the West Coast of Africa, and in Australia. The return of the Maronites as a unit to the fold of the Roman Church provided an opening wedge for the entry of many Catholic orders into Lebanon and Syria. Beginning with the last century, a stream of emigrants went forth from Syria and Lebanon, at first mainly directed to Egypt, but later all over the world. Not only the most diversified Islamic conceptions are to be found in these territories, not only is the Lebanon the stronghold of Latin Christianity in the Near East, and the field of the oldest and strongest Protestant mission work, but the Syrians and Lebanese are moreover the most widely travelled people among the Arabs.
