Pope's visit to Lebanon
just six weeks away
July 31, 2012
Preparations are continuing for Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic visit in Lebanon, which is just 6 weeks away. The Holy Father will travel to the country from September 14-16, and deliver the Post-synodal Exhortation for the Middle East Synod.
The preparations are “at many levels: material preparing, and moral and psychological preparing,” said Archbishop Paul Boulos Matar of Beirut. “In the government, everybody is trying to keep the country at peace, and to prepare an atmosphere of reconciliation and brotherhood in order to receive the Pope as a united people.”
He told Vatican Radio a mass media campaign will also be used.
“We are preparing people by a campaign on television and we will start at the beginning of August to prepare them about every event that will occur,” he said.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI appealed for peace in Syria, Lebanon's next=door neighbor, calling on the international community to guarantee humanitarian care for all those affected by the violence and to work toward a just, lasting solution to the crisis.
The Nuncio to Syria, Archbishop Mario Zenari, told Vatican Radio that the Holy Father’s words were very welcome. “The appeal of the Holy Father,” said Archbsihop Zenari, “for the cessation of the violence in Syria, and his solidarity with the sufferings of the people, was of great consolation.”
The Nuncio went on to describe the situation in Syria as very grave. “At this moment,” he said, “the feeling among the people is of a great [uncertainty].” Archbishop Zenari called on all the religious leaders of Syria to unite in the cause of reconciliation and peace.
“Come together,” he said, “all of you – and with all the strength of your moral authority, launch a joint and severe warning to the parties to the conflict, to stop, in the name of God, the violence and repression that take the country to destruction.”
Caritas official fears fullscale war in Syria may
force cancellation of Pope's trip to Lebanon
July 30, 2012
The civil war in Syria, which began 16 months ago as protest demonstrations against the regime of Syrian dictator President Bashir Assad, has resulted in an estimated 17,000 people killed and 120,000 refugees. Those who flee, mostly go to Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
The Catholic aid organization Caritas Internationalis is one of the largest non-governmental organizations helping these people by providing food, shelter, and medicine. Caritas Secretary General Michel Roy says the situation of Syria is being made worse by arms being brought in from the outside.
There has also been the worry that the spreading violence could cause the Pope to cancel his trip to Lebanon in September, a trip that's expected to be a landmark trip for the different Churches in the region as well as the Church's relation with the Arab world.
Roy said: “If the war develops, which is the case right now and I don't think it will stop very easily, there is already fighting in the northern part of Lebanon where the Sunni and Alawi people live. The border between Syria and Lebanon on the Mediterranean is a border between people of the same tribes.”
There are also many Iraqi refugees living in Syria that are now returning home after facing a new wave of violence, Roy said.
“Over the past years, Caritas Syria has been very active with Iraqi refugees coming from Iraq and staying in Syria or going to the West. A new team has been put in place with emergency response programs from January onwards.”
The situation still carries many question marks for Syrians and their neighbors. In the meantime Caritas Internationalis continues to offer help to the thousands of refugees who continue to flee.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/08/2012 01:05]