Despite the conflict raging across the border in Syria, which has also raised tensions within Lebanon, excitement is building as Beirut prepares to welcome Pope Benedict in September.
The Pope will visit the Lebanese capital from September 14 to 16 to set out his vision for the future of the Eastern Catholic churches of the Middle East.
His visit, under the slogan “I give you my peace”, will come 15 years after an historic visit by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
“The excitement is building, particularly among the young people”, Father Marwan Tabet, general co-ordinator of the papal visit to Lebanon, told Vatican Radio.
He said the young people — increasingly tempted to leave their homelands, frustrated by decades of tension, war and sometimes persecution — are waiting to hear what the Pope will have to say to them.
“The Church in Lebanon is very diverse in the sense of its belonging to the Catholic Church,” said Father Tabet. “Four of the denominations of the Eastern Churches are based in Lebanon: the Maronites, the Melkites, the Syrian Catholic and the Armenian Catholic and these four denominations form a very important presence on the grassroots, political, social and cultural level.”
In August, Christians throughout the Middle East will begin a simultaneous prayer marathon in the lead up to the Pope’s arrival. From Bkerke to Baghdad, including Gaza’s tiny parish of the Holy Family, the same set of prayers will be recited weekly by Maronites, Melkites, Chaldeans, Syrian Catholics and Armenian Catholics, as well as by members of other denominations.
Meanwhile, the situation in the refugee camps on the border with Syria continues to worsen.
“Thousands of refugees are crossing the border trying to escape from the Syrian hell. Most are women and children. The suffering of these people is enormous. Wherever you go you hear cries of despair, hatred, revenge, many feel abandoned by God,” Father Simon Faddoul, president of Caritas Lebanon, told AsiaNews.
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Image: Holy Family Church