Two pope Saints: for many Lebanese John Paul II should be their "second patron saint"
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Several
thousand Lebanese have come to Rome to attend the canonization of Pope John
XXIII and John Paul II. With
them, the President of the Republic Michel Sleiman and Maronite Patriarch
Bechara Rai.
The
Lebanese feel particularly close to John Paul II, after his visit to the
country in 1997. Nor should it be forgotten that the Patriarch Bechara Rai was
the coordinator of the Special Synod for Lebanon, celebrated
in 1995, and, therefore, was able to work with the team of the Polish pope and become
quite close to him.
Most of the faithful who came to
Rome are young people and pensioners, but some married couples have also made
the trip, despite the high cost of travel and the expected crowds.
Tony
Sacre, a business manager, and his wife Amal travelled from Amchit (Jbeil):
they were engaged when John Paul II came to Lebanon in 1997 and were married later
that year. They now have four children,
who accompany them on pilgrimage. They
have fond memories of the visit and the open-air mass in front of the sea,
which drew together half of the Christians in Lebanon. Tony
says he is in Rome with his wife in the spirit of Lebanese hospitality: they
are returning the visit to John Paul II.
This is also the case of Hanna, who
works at the Casino of Lebanon, who is in Rome with his wife Liliane and his
son Jean -Marc. They
too were married shortly after visit of 1997.
The
two couples and their children are part of a group of about forty pilgrims who
have come for the canonization. Like
them, many dozens of other groups, walk the streets of Rome and visit the
surrounding shrines ahead of Sunday's great event.
Carmen Zogheib , president of the Arab Women's Movement, and member of the Office for pastoral care of women in Bkerke, is very excited. She has been this way since last night when she prayed before the tomb of John Paul II, placed near the entrance of the Vatican Basilica. Last night she was unable to sleep and this morning she is still immersed in a state of grace. She is convinced John Paul II is "a Lebanese saint, like Charbel and Rafka" she says. She, like many other pilgrims think that Lebanon should choose him as a "Second patron Saint" after the Virgin.
Like Carmen, one of her friends,
Maguy Bassil, said she was moved to tears. "I've
never cried so much", she confides, while continuing the Novena of Divine Mercy,
which began Friday. "I'm
here first of all to give thanks - she says - and then to ask. My list is long".
Father
Robert Daccache, who leads the group, had promised he would be at the
canonization ceremony since John Paul II was beatified. He lhas always loved John
Paul II. He is the director of the Saint-Jean
Aqaïbé school (Kesrouan) and was present, May 10, 1997 at the prayer vigil for
young Lebanese held in Harissa, during which the Pope signed his apostolic
exhortation "A Hope for Lebanon".
Fr. Daccache willingly
identifies himself as one of the so-called "John Paul II generation" ; the
fruit of prayer for a "new Pentecost " elevated by Pope John XXIII when
he opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962. The flourishing of many prayer
groups and new Christian communities, after the Council had been perceived as
an answer to that prayer. John
Paul II reaped the benefits of these in the form of World Youth Day, which was
launched in the early 90s.
The
Maronite Patriarchal Synod of 2005 had warned against allowing the Spirit that dwells
in those movements "to go out", given that some Maronite clergy had expressed suspicions
in their regards.
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