Coordinator of Papal trip to Lebanon speaks to Vatican Radio

The Coordinator of the papal visit to Lebanon was part of a Lebanese Church delegation to come to Rome this week to fine-tune preparations for Pope Benedict XVI’s September 14-16 journey. Fr. Marwan Tabet, the former Secretary General for Catholic Schools in Lebanon, was appointed by the Maronite Patriarchal See in Lebanon to organize the papal itinerary together with Vatican officials.

The highlight of the 3 day papal visit will come at a big mass September 16^th when Pope Benedict will sign the Apostolic Exhortation, the papal document that follows the 2010 Synod of Bishops of the Middle East.

“The Lebanese population, Christian and Muslim, had heard that the Pope will be coming to Lebanon. They were expecting something to happen,” Fr. Tabet told Vatican Radio.

“They didn’t know the date, the form or the content (of the visit) so when the news broke on Easter day, there was a lot of happiness coming with the Easter message. As everyone knows, the Lebanese are very attached to Rome and to the papacy, especially to the popes. The Lebanese had experienced the euphoria of a papal visit with John Paul II and they are waiting as well for this visit of Benedict XVI.”

Vatican Radio coordinators and technical teams met Fr. Tabet Tuesday together with Fr Abdo Bou Kasm, director of the Catholic information centre of the Maronite Church and media coordinator for the visit, and Fr. Hani Matar of the Maronite Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, responsible for preparing the liturgical celebrations for the Holy Father while in Lebanon.

The delegation also met with other Vatican officials, including Archbishop Nikolo Eterovic, Secretary General of the Vatican office for the Synod of Bishops charged with preparing the post-Synodal Exhortation.

“The Pope will stay in Lebanon three days and two nights…. We know that is a long trip for the Pope and during this time he will be meeting with officials because it’s an official visit to the country of Lebanon. He will be meeting the political officials; he will be addressing the people of culture: writers, people from the private and the public sectors; he will be meeting with the youth - we are preparing for a big encounter for the Pope with the youth,” Fr. Tabet confirmed.

Pope Benedict will also meet Muslim religious and political leaders as well as with the heads of the Orthodox and Protestant churches in Lebanon and the Middle East.

“Many personalities from around the Middle East and north Africa will be present to welcome the Pope to listen to what he’s going to say.”

“This part of the world is passing now through a very critical, very critical moment… what’s happening in Syria, what’s happening with Israel – on both sides, Lebanon is not happy,” laments Fr. Tabet.

“The problem in Syria is reflecting badly on the Lebanese economy and people are waiting to see what’s going to happen. The border with Israel is not always safe as well. The whole region is boiling at this stage. It was called the Arab Spring but I guess now we have to reconsider whether it is an Arabic Spring or (if) these revolutions have affected the social (make up) of the existence of the ethnic groups in Lebanon, especially the Christians. The presence of the Christians in the East now, is again under a big question (mark)… we have to wait for the whole situation to settle to see where the Christian will be at this stage.”

Fr. Tabet acknowledges the Church in Rome’s concern for events unfolding in the region and expresses gratitude that Vatican officials are in frequent contact with the local Churches in the Middle East.

“Rome is really watching carefully the progress of what’s happening and they have a position towards that and the Pope personally is concerned with the presence of the Christians in the East. That’s why we see in his speeches always, he comes back to their presence and he’s giving directives.

Rome looks for peace between people, looks for conviviality between ethnic groups. Rome wants that the Christians in the East remain there because they are natives; they are among the composites of the area.”

But how will the Lebanese and Christians from the region receive Pope Benedict this September?

“On behalf of the Lebanese Catholic Church and all Lebanese, we would like to say to the Pope and the papal (entourage) who will be accompanying him: ‘welcome to Lebanon! You will be stepping on holy ground; we look forward to (welcoming) you as our father and as the protector of Catholicism. Lebanon is your country; we know it’s in your heart and we would like you to know that you are in ours as well.'”

Listen as Fr. Tabet speaks to Tracey McClure: