Yesterday afternoon, President Michel Aoun met with the Papal Ambassador to Lebanon, Monsignor Joseph Spitri, who delivered a written message to him in which “His Holiness has decided to visit Lebanon next June, provided that the date, program and date of the official announcement will be determined, in coordination between Lebanon and the Holy See.” Aoun expressed his happiness that “His Holiness the Pope responded to the invitation that he had renewed for him to visit Lebanon during their last meeting in the Vatican on Monday, March 21,” noting that “the Lebanese have been waiting for this visit for some time, to express their gratitude for His Holiness’s stances towards Lebanon and its people, and for the initiatives that took place in Lebanon.” He performed it, and the prayers he offered in order to establish peace and stability in it, and to show solidarity with his people in the difficult circumstances they are going through.”
Timing and content
According to Al-Jumhuriya’s information, the visit will take place in the first third of June, according to the expected distribution of the Pope’s activities during this month, provided that arrangements for the visit will be completed later in coordination between the Republican Palace, the Papal Embassy, the Embassy of Lebanon in the Vatican, and the departments related to the Pope’s foreign activities.
In her reading of the visit, relevant references through Al-Gomhoria recorded a set of observations, most notably:
– The speedy setting of the date in response to more than one invitation that Aoun had previously addressed to the Pope to visit Lebanon, the latest of which was during their last meeting on March 21 in the Vatican.
– Setting the date of the visit after the parliamentary elections are due means that the Pope wants to renew the papal sponsorship of Lebanon at the gates of the new phase that the elections will launch in order to keep the papal protective umbrella for Lebanon in place on more than one level.
– All papal visits to Lebanon come at times during which the situation is shaken, as evidenced by the timing that accompanied the visit of Pope Saint Paul VI in May 1997 to sponsor the announcement of the Synod on Lebanon. Also, Pope Benedict’s visit in September 2012 was to keep pace with the national dialogue initiatives under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic at that time.