HOUSTON, Texas, MAY 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The Maronite patriarch of Antioch said he will ask U.S. President George Bush for help so that Lebanon can be sovereign and independent.
Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir said this Monday during a visit to Our Lady of the Cedars Maronite Catholic Church in Texas, reported the Houston Chronicle.
"We need to be assured that neighboring countries will not attack, invade, undermine or compromise the sovereignty of Lebanon," Cardinal Sfeir said. "I am asking for [Bush's] help so Lebanon will be sovereign and independent and have the best situation with all her neighbors."
The patriarch is scheduled to meet with Bush on Thursday.
Cardinal Sfeir is on a multi-continent trip that he began May 4. His first stops included Qatar and South Africa, and during the U.S. leg of the trip, he has stopped in New York, Philadelphia, and Houston, Texas.
On Thursday, he addressed the U.N. Security Council, where he spoke of the various issues facing Lebanon. He also met privately with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Fighting in Lebanon escalated May 7 when the nation's cabinet banned the communication system used by the Shiite Hezbollah group. More than 80 people have since been killed. The Pope appealed for peace in Lebanon after praying the midday Regina Caeli on May 11 in St. Peter's Square.
Lebanon's complex political and social situation has resulted in a power vacuum in the country. Since November, opposing factions have been unable to come together to elect a president.
Loving one another
In Philadelphia on Friday at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Cardinal Sfeir expressed his confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Noting the first feast of Pentecost, the cardinal said, "This same Holy Spirit can still change things today! As the Holy Father said recently, 'The Church is in a perpetual state of Pentecost.' Yes, even though the world around us remains imperfect in so many ways, we are always in a state of Pentecost if our hearts are open to repentance, forgiveness, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
"We gather today to offer this Divine Liturgy and to pray for a new outpouring of this Holy Spirit. We invoke the tender care of the Mother of God, Mary, to pray for Lebanon and her people. […] It is that Holy Spirit who gives us the grace to love another as he loves us."
Faith and reason
While in Philadelphia, the cardinal also received an honorary doctorate from Villanova University, which is a sister school with Lebanon's American University of Science and Technology.
He thanked the priests who had visited Lebanon and invited him to Philadelphia to receive the degree.
"Visiting Lebanon is so very important to the Lebanese, because there, you can see for yourself the special character of Lebanon, home to Sts. Sharbel, Rafka, Nemtallah and now, most recently Blessed Jaques Haddad, and where even today the desire for holiness and love of hospitality is still part of the very soul of the Lebanese people," the cardinal said. "One still sees and experiences in Lebanon the conviviality among religions and cultures.
"Unfortunately, we also note -- as we sadly see today -- the challenges, failures and intense pressures present where different opinions and political currents meet and conflict."
Cardinal Sfeir said that despite everything, Lebanon's Catholic education system is thriving.
"How important it is for our young people to know the world in all its cultures, to be steeped in the richness of Catholic tradition, to honor faith and reason, to live by Catholic principles of social justice and ethics, and to take the time to know others well -- even those whose ideas are different from our own," he stated. "This is also what makes Lebanon so precious. In Lebanon all Catholic education -- elementary, secondary, and higher education -- continues to thrive; we hope it always will."
ZE08052004 - 2008-05-20