Friday, September 14, 2012

From Paul VI to Benedict XVI: Popes in the land of cedars

Beirut awaits the Pope's visitForty eight years after Pope Paul VI and fifteen years after John Paul II, the Catholic Church in Lebanon and the Middle East prepare to welcome another pope, Benedict XVI. 
 
Ratzinger will be in Lebanon from 14 to 16 September. This is the third time a pope visits the land of cedars, which is home to a million and a half Christians (41% of the population).

Paul VI stopped off at Beirut international airport on 2 December 1964, before going on to India. The country gave him an unprecedented welcome. These were the first intercontinental visits ever paid by a pope and there was a great deal of enthusiasm, also because of the Church spring that was taking place in Rome in the form of the Second Vatican Council.
 
John Paul II’s historic visit to the country took place between 10 and 11 May 1997. Its purpose was the signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “A New Hope for Lebanon”. During the trip, Wojtyla asked young people to help rebuild their country on the basis of evangelical values, after decades of war.
 
Benedict XVI’s visit was particularly significant because of the events and revolutions which have shaken the Middle East over the course of the past two years. 
 
This will probably be one of the most difficult trips of his pontificate, but Pope Benedict XVI did not consider bailing out for one minute, even after the conflict in Syria intensified and the Arab Spring evolved, complicating the already complex Middle Eastern landscape, with all its different populations and Christians in the region.
 
Egypt, Tunisia and Libya saw their autocratic governments, with leaders who had stayed in power for years, crumble; these regimes were overthrown with different degrees of ferocity and the atmosphere in Arab towns and cities was so inflamed that the conflict even spread to the Gulf Countries.
 
This whole section of the Mediterranean experienced and is still experiencing a momentous transformation. For the first time there is talk of democracy and at the same time, the great Islamic political parties - such as the Muslim Brotherhood – are taking the helm and will be undergoing the tough test of pluralism and freedom.
 
A word is changing and Christian communities in these countries are living in hope and fear. On the whole, the Arab revolts did not bring about a rise in anti-Christian persecution, as Apostolic Nuncios in the various countries throughout the region have pointed out on a number of occasions.
 
The fact that today Christians are an important element within the Lebanese political world, is highly important in this predominantly Muslim area, even though the former are politically divided. The presence of Christians in Lebanese institutions is a guarantee for the respect of religious freedom and a form of protection for all those faithful who live in the Arab and Islamised Middle East.
 
But the situation of Lebanese Christians is delicate and under threat. There are groups of fundamentalists that carry out religious brainwashing on protest movements and the role of Muslim leaders is fundamental in contrasting this, as Benedict XVI’s message during his forthcoming trip will be.
 
Meanwhile, the Maronite patriarch, Mgr. Bechera Rai, said he hoped the Pope’s visit would reinforce the “message of peace” in the Middle East. “Christians must not forget their identity; they a message to send out in Lebanon and across the Middle East,” the prelate said in his homily in the church of St. Anthony the Great, in Fuwata, in the Chouf region, during a pastoral visit to the area.
 
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Fr. Marwan Tabet, who is responsible for coordinating the papal visit, stated: “What I find touching is that all religious denominations in Lebanon  are ready to welcome the Pope and that many initiatives have been taken by our Muslim brothers in Lebanon, in order to give the Pope a warm welcome. We have started seeing the Pope’s photo and flags popping up in areas which are deeply Muslim or inhabited predominantly by Muslims. I was truly struck when I received phone calls from Muslim leaders asking us how they could help make the Pope’s visit a success.”

CATHOLIC CHURCHES:
 
Maronite Church, Patriarchate in Bkerke (Lebanon)
Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Patriarchate in Damascus (Syria)
Armenian Catholic Church, Patriarchate in Beirut (Lebanon)
Syriac Catholic Church, Patriarchate in Beirut (Lebanon)
Chaldean Church, Patriarchate in Baghdad (Iraq)
Latin Church, Patriarchate in Jerusalem (Israel)

ORTHODOX CHURCHES:
 
Greek Orthodox Church, Patriarchate in Damascus (Syria)
Armenian Orthodox Church, Patriarchate in Antelias (Lebanon)
Syriac Orthodox Church, Patriarchate in Damascus (Syria)
Assyrian Church, Patriarchate in the United States
Coptic Orthodox Church, Patriarchate in Cairo (Egypt)

PROTESTANT CHURCHES:
 
In Lebanon there are representatives of the Evangelical, Baptist, Episcopalian and Anglican Churches.