Lebanese crisis, Abp. Gallagher: ready to support national dialogue
The Secretary for Relations with States in Beirut to relaunch the dialogue between the parties and avert an escalation of the crisis. The Pope will go to Lebanon "soon", but there is no set date yet. The meeting with the highest civil authorities and the speech at the university. The unresolved issue of Palestinian and Syrian refugees.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Will he come or not? Responding to questions about a possible visit by the Pope to Lebanon, the Holy See's secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Richard Paul Gallagher, left the Lebanese anxious yesterday without dispelling the doubt. He announced that the Holy Father would keep his promise and come to Lebanon "soon", but added that "it all depends on what we mean by soon".
He also addressed the question of a confrontation between the parties in order to resolve the controversies and tensions that are tearing Lebanon apart and a possible role for the Vatican: "If this were to happen," said the prelate, using English alternately with French, "the Holy See would take into serious consideration the fact of participating in, and perhaps even hosting, a national dialogue between the Lebanese. But this must be the result of a request made by all the parties involved in the matter".
On the first day of his visit (31 January - 4 February), Mgr Gallagher met the Head of State, Michel Aoun, the Speaker of the House, Nabih Berry, and the Commander of the Army, General Joseph Aoun (no relation to the President). He then met with the academic staff and members of the Strategic Council of Saint Joseph's University, giving a short lecture in the university's newest amphitheatre. Today's agenda includes a speech at the opening of a symposium on "John Paul II and Lebanon-Message" at the University of the Holy Spirit in Kaslik, then a meeting with the Maronite Patriarch and, in the afternoon, a planned visit to a reception centre run by Caritas Lebanon.
The meeting at the presidential office was attended by the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, Msgr. Joseph Spiteri, and the chargés d'affaires at the papal embassy, Msgr. Giuseppe Franconi and Msgr. Marco Formica.
According to the Lebanese presidential office, Archbishop Gallagher began the meeting by conveying Pope Francis' greetings to President Aoun, stressing his "meticulous attention to developments in the Lebanese situation". Msgr Gallagher then stressed that the pontiff had once again expressed his desire to visit the country of the cedars. He then reciprocated the courtesy by inviting President Aoun to visit the Holy See. The head of state had visited the Vatican for the first time in 2017, at the beginning of his mandate.
After the meeting, Msgr Gallagher reminded the press of the circumstances that led him to Lebanon and some of the words Pope Francis addressed to the diplomatic corps this year and last. "The Holy Father," he said, "instructed me to convey to the Lebanese people his closeness and concern for Lebanon and the Lebanese [...]. In his address to the diplomatic corps this year, Pope Francis said the following about Lebanon: I hope that the necessary reforms and the support of the international community will help the country to remain firm in its identity as a model of peaceful coexistence and brotherhood among the various religions present. And on this occasion, I appeal to the international community to continue to help Lebanon on the path to resurrection. We hope that the country can continue to be an example for a pluralistic, tolerant and diverse Middle East in which the Christian community can make its proper contribution".
In 2021, again addressing the diplomatic corps, Pope Francis said: "Christians constitute the historical and social connective tissue of Lebanon, and through their many educational, health care and charitable works, they must be assured the possibility of continuing to work for the good of the country of which they were founders. Weakening the Christian community risks destroying the internal balance and the Lebanese reality itself".
After recalling the pope's words, Mgr Gallagher expressed "closeness and solidarity" with the victims of the explosion at the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020.
"Finally, he said, allow me to remind you of what Pope Francis said on July 1, 2021, when he gathered the Christian leaders of the Churches in the Vatican. “In these woeful times ,we would like to emphasize that Lebanon was, is and must remain a peace project. It’s vocation is to be and remain a land of tolerance and pluralism. An oasis of fraternity (…) I would reiterate the need for those in power to make the decisive decision to work for true peace and not for their own interests. Let this be the end of the few profiting of the sufferings of many. No more letting half truth continue to frustrate frustrating the people’s aspirations. Stop using Lebanon and the Middle East for outside interests and profits. The Lebanese people must be given the opportunity for the architects of a better future in their land, without undue interference”.
Msgr Gallagher then met reporters at a press conference. Recalling the fears of Pope Wojtyla, who as early as 1989 feared the danger of Lebanon's "disappearance", the prelate did not rule out the "risk" that the nation's future "is not assured", which is why "the national and international community" must do everything to "preserve" Lebanon as a "message of coexistence and fraternity". On the subject of refugees (Syrians and Palestinians), he confirmed the Holy See's commitment to the issue and its desire for their return, even though in some contexts the security conditions are not in place to proceed, starting with the fundamental issue of "reconstruction in Syria".
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16/10/2020 17:33
11/05/2022 11:51
