CWNews.com - Pope Benedict XVI has offered his support and prayers to the newly elected Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church.
In a message to Patriarch Bechara Rai, who was elected by the Maronite Synod on March 15 to be the Patriarch of Antioch, the Pontiff affirmed the ecclesiastical communion that the new Patriarch had formally requested. He added his prayer:
"May the Blessed Mother of God, Our Lady of Lebanon, the Virgin of the Annunciation whose name you bear make you a messenger of unity, so that the Lebanese nation (thanks also to all the religious communities present in your country and to their ecumenical and inter-religious dynamism) may accomplish her mission of solidarity and peace, in the East and in the entire world."
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