Pope to visit Lebanon despite Syrian conflict - Vatican

(Aug. 21, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming September 14- 16 visit o Lebanon will go forward as planned despite instability from Syria that has spilled across Lebanese borders, Vatican’s spokesman said on Monday. Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said preparations on the part of Vatican for the papal visit are going ahead and the popemobile , a bullet-proof glass topped papal car has already been shipped to Beirut. The main scope of the papal visit will be to present a document, called an apostolic exhortation, based on the deliberations of a special Synod of Bishops held at the Vatican in 2010. The Pontiff is also scheduled to meet with representatives of local Christian and Muslim communities and address political and cultural leaders. Lebanese church sources say the country’s younger generation of Catholics sees Pope Benedict’s, as a sign of hope in a region embroiled with violence. Of Lebanon's population of nearly 4 million, approximately one-third is Christian. Gulf Arab states told their citizens last week to leave Lebanon, where Shiite gunmen kidnapped more than 20 people in retaliation for the capture of one of their kinsmen in Syria. And United Nations military observers on Monday left Damascus ,as fighting continued between Syrian Preaisent Bashar al.Assad’s forces and rebels.