On Lebanon visit, Pope will see 'mosaic of Eastern rite'
July 21, 2012: “The excitement is building” in Lebanon as Catholics look forward
to the September 14-16 visit by Pope Benedict XVI, the chief organizer of the papal
trip has told Vatican Radio in an interview.
Father Marwan Tabet said on Thursday
that the faithful in Lebanon have begun an organized campaign of prayer for the success
of the Pope’s trip. Prompted by a recommendation of the special Synod of Bishops for
the Middle East, Catholic leaders in Lebanon are making a special effort to enlist
all of the Eastern Catholic churches in the same united prayer campaign.
The
main purpose of the Pope’s trip is to release his post-synodal exhortation on the
Church in the Middle East. That synod called for a stronger sense of communion among
the different Catholic communities, and Lebanon provides an ideal background for that
effort. “Four of the denominations of the Eastern Churches are based in Lebanon; the
Maronites, the Melkites, the Syrian Catholic, and the Armenian Catholic”, explained
Father Tabet.
The liturgical celebrations during the Pope’s trip will draw
heavily on the Eastern Catholic traditions, Father Tabet added. While Pope Benedict
will celebrate Mass in the Latin rite, the ceremony will feature “a mosaic of the
Eastern rite,” he said, with music drawn from each of the major Catholic churches
in the region. One choir will include nearly 300 singers, combining Maronite, Melkite,
Armenian Catholic, and Syrian Catholic voices and chants.