Pope Benedict XVI to Kick Off Lebanon Visit September 14-16
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon in September to preach peace and unity for Christians in the Middle East, a senior religious figure said Friday a day after meeting with the pontiff.
"The pope will come to support Christians so that they are united," said Gregory III Laham, the head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, adding that the visit would take place September 14-16, the I.Media religious news agency reported.
Benedict will also bring a message of "peace in the Middle East," where violence has raged in Lebanon's neighbor Syria for a year and efforts to resolve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict are as mired as ever, he said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati invited the pontiff to visit in November last year during a visit to the Vatican.
The trip will mark the second to the region for Benedict, who visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 2009.
Patriarch Gregory, who is headquartered in Damascus, heads the second-largest Catholic community in the Middle East, with some 700,000 followers in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.
16 March 2012, 15:20
62
I will be there to help welcome you. Bless you ya baba! May you bring peace, unity, dialogue and respect among the people of Lebanon and the levant. Whether Christian, Muslim or Jew, we need a powerfull voice reminding us that only dialogue, respect and true international, fair justice will lead to peace.
16 March 2012, 15:57
21
Naharnet, can i please suggest that you somehow build in something into the like and dislike buttons that identifies who has liked and disliked comments :) ? thank you
16 March 2012, 16:07
14
I dont know whether to laugh or throw up at the hypocrisy of maronites. We hate each other yet talk about unity when its time for the pope to come. Why dont we unite for real instead of putting on a fake show for the arrival of the pope only. As long as we have hate in our hearts we will never unite. And i dont think this hate is going anywhere any time soon.
16 March 2012, 16:22
31
Those that repeat hate, spread it. It start with me & you; Nobody else. Plus this "hate" (strong word) you speak of... is Political and Only Political.
16 March 2012, 18:11
01
Yes its political hate, that is hate, a hate this is just as bad as religious hate, thousands of maronites were killed by other maronites bcuz of this hate. Not to mention those who were tortured, by fellow maronites! And the strong hate maronites hold for each other in their hearts, its almost as if LF and FPM are two diffirent people, it is the same as if it was a racist fight.
16 March 2012, 16:41
00
Oh Dear Pope. How much we need you, and God knows! That big wise powerful loving father of all! So powerful he created us! all equal apparently! so mighty and strong, he created this entire existence and can end it in a second! So strong that no power of Evil can affect him! yet, he needs our money!
How long will it take for human kind to become human?
17 March 2012, 11:20
00
Anyone is welcome in Lebanon, except the black turbaned Persians. Religion is poison
