(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See’s Press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi,
reflects on Pope Benedict’s Saturday meetings at the Lebanese Presidential Palace
and on his implicit message to the Middle East - in this interview with our correspondent,
Tracey McClure.
Q: You have called Saturday’s meeting at the Lebanese Presidential
Palace a ‘significant moment’ on this papal trip. What stood out the most for you?
A:
There were several aspects. Obviously the speech of the Pope about peace is a fundamental
moment because it is a speech not only for Lebanon but for the entire Middle East.
At the end, the President of the Parliament said to me that all the people and the
politicians of the Middle East should hear, read and meditate on this speech of the
Pope. I think it is a profound speech that helps to see the foundations of the work
for peace: not only the top, but the foundations. It is typical of the method of Ratzinger,
I think. The meeting with the four heads of the religious Muslim communities here
in Lebanon was also very important.
Q: And these were all private meetings
before the official discourses?
A: Yes, this was private but it was the interreligious
moment of this trip. There were four important personalities from the Muslim world,
four representatives of the delegation of the Holy See and the Pope. It was a friendly
conversation. And the Mufti said (an important thing coming from him) that Muslims
want Christians to remain in the Middle East and in Lebanon because they know that
the Middle East without Christians will be a poor land because Christians bring a
religious, historical and cultural contribution which is very important for the richness
of these lands. This is a sign of hope if this important Muslim personality is convinced
that we have to be together in a positive way, that we have a mutual contribution
to make for the common construction. We are on the right track.
Q: We heard
both the President and the Pope lift up Lebanon as an example of coexistence: that
same sort of message that Pope John Paul II spoke of so many years ago.
A:
Yes, it is clear there is a particular situation in Lebanon and the Middle East. It
is a composition with these different communities and there is a pact of coexistence
here. This is a message but it is also a mission. It is not something that is done
once and forever. It is something that has to be done again, built up again, every
day. We have seen how many risks there are involved. Therefore, by repeating this
we are saying: we have to do our part in this regard.
Q: It seems that Lebanon’s
political leaders themselves really wanted this trip.
A: Obviously this trip
is absolutely helpful for peace and coexistence in this land, and it is very interesting
to see how the whole country gave a wonderful reception to the Pope, a really heart-felt
welcome. They understand that the Pope helps peace.
Q: Pope Benedict is meeting
the Patriarchs and Bishops of different eastern Catholic rites on this visit. He’s
handing them the Post-Synodal Exhortation as a roadmap for the future of Christians
here. Relations between these different rites sometimes have known periods of tension.
What does the Pope have to say now to the Patriarchs and Bishops?
A: If the
exhortation speaks about ‘communion’, we have to be in communion to give a positive
witness of the love of Christ in our world. We have to be united. Every division,
every disagreement, any indifference among Christian communities is terrible, it is
a loss of credibility. In this regard, the Pope urges all Christians, communities,
and Rites within the Catholic Church and in the Christian churches, to demonstrate
that the richness of different traditions is complementary. But they have to give
the same witness of the love of Christ and of God to all people of our world.