Pope Benedict appealed on Friday for a halt to the flow of arms into Syria, saying it would help end a civil war that has killed many thousands of people and which Christians fear could bring Islamists to power. In his strongest comments yet on the conflict, Benedict branded the weapons imports as a “grave […]
Lebanon Christians find hope in pope
In 1510, Pope Leo X thanked Divine Providence for having preserved the Maronite Christians through the hardest of times, “planted among infidels, schismatics and heretics as in a field of error”. He described them as a “rose among thorns, an impregnable rock in the sea, unshaken by the waves and fury of the thundering tempest”.
Pope Signs Apostolic Exhortation in Harissa
Pope Benedict XVI has appealed to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike to “root out” religious fundamentalism, as deadly unrest sweeps the Middle East over a film mocking Islam. The pope, who arrived in Lebanon on Friday for a three-day visit, has also told the Christian minority in the Middle East not to fear for its […]
Pope arrives in Lebanon with message of peace
A plane carrying Pope Benedict arrived at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri airport on Friday, witnesses said, at the start of a three-day visit aimed at addressing the position of Christians in a region torn by civil war in neighboring Syria. The Lebanese army has deployed thousands of troops to secure the pope’s visit
Pope appealed for a stop to arms exports to Syria
Pope Benedict appealed for a stop to arms imports to Syria on Friday, saying it would help end the civil war there, and said the Arab Spring was a positive “cry for freedom” as long as it included religious tolerance. Benedict spoke in his plane flying to Beirut, only 50 km (30 miles) from the […]
Lebanon: Strict security measures during Pope’s visit
Lebanon announced strict security measures during Pope Benedict XVl’s three day visit to Lebanon from Friday September 14 to Sunday September 16. The measures include suspension of flights at Beirut’s only airport, restricting parking on several roads and diverting traffic in several areas of the capital.
Pope’s Lebanon visit made urgent by Syria’s war
The brutal civil war in Syria and the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya have given a sense of urgency to Pope Benedict XVI’s trip this week to Lebanon, a mission he describes as a pilgrimage of peace for the entire region. The three-day visit starting Friday will take the pope to the nation […]
Christians fear violent backlash from Syria uprising
In a walled churchyard in the old city of Damascus, a small group of Syrians debate whether the time has come to flee one of Christianity’s ancient heartlands.
“I am against all foreign intervention in Syria”, Tlas
Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, one of the most senior defectors from President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, said on Monday he was against any foreign intervention in Syria as it would not be able to bring down the government. Tlas, who fled Syria in July to France, where his sister, widow of a billionaire Saudi arms dealer, […]
UN chief urges human rights officials to lead on Syria
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world’s foremost human rights body on Monday to keep up the pressure on major powers to end the civil war and rights abuses in Syria.