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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - “The excitement is building” in Lebanon as Catholics look forward to the September 14-16 visit by Pope Benedict XVI, the chief organizer of the papal trip has told Vatican Radio.

Father Marwan Tabet said that the faithful in Lebanon have begun an organized campaign of prayer for the success of the Pope’s trip. Prompted by a recommendation of the special Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, Catholic leaders in Lebanon are making a special effort to enlist all of the Eastern Catholic churches in the same united prayer campaign.

The main purpose of the Pope’s trip is to release his post-synodal exhortation on the Church in the Middle East. That synod called for a stronger sense of communion among the different Catholic communities, and Lebanon provides an ideal background for that effort. Father Tabet explains: “Four of the denominations of the Eastern Churches are based in Lebanon; the Maronites, the Melkites, the Syrian Catholic, and the Armenian Catholic."

The liturgical celebrations during the Pope’s trip will draw heavily on the Eastern Catholic traditions, Father Tabet said. While Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass in the Latin rite, the ceremony will feature “a mosaic of the Eastern rite,” he said, with music drawn from each of the major Catholic churches in the region. One choir will include nearly 300 singers, combining Maronite, Melkite, Armenian Catholic, and Syrian Catholic voices and chants.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - Syria’s capital has become a place of fear, desperation, and suffering, according to the city’s Maronite Catholic archbishop.

“On the streets of Damascus you see people fleeing, there are refugees who, desperate, cross the city in search of a refuge,” said Archbishop Samir Nassar. “The lack of charity structures, the embargo, and the limited resources available do not help to face this emergency and contribute to fueling anxiety.”

He continued:

In this period of mindless violence, our voices are drowned by the long ordeal of the country and by a complexity that is blocking any diplomatic solution. The country is sinking in sorrow and gratuitous violence and there is still no end in sight, we have been in a protracted conflict for more than 16 months.

Beyond the political divisions, unemployment and insecurity have favored the terrible phenomenon of people kidnapped for ransom. They are often abducted from school or factory. One should see the panic and anxiety of families struggling to collect from relatives, neighbors, friends and parishes a sum of money sufficient to save a kidnapped son, brother or father. This horrible practice paralyzes social life.

“We note that faith has weakened, children no longer go to catechism and pastoral activities languish,” Archbishop Nassar added. “Many Christian families, terrified, think only about how to leave the country.”

“The Christian community, exhausted, turns in silence and prayer to … the three brothers, Francesco, Abdel-Mooti, and Raffaele Massabki, Maronite Catholic laity [beatified in 1926] and martyred during the persecution unleashed by the Turks in 1860 against the Church. They remind us of what Jesus said: Do not fear.”

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

16/07/2012

His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III (Laham), of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Syria, has imparted these reflections and observations as a vademecum to throw light on the attitudes of the local Church towards the dramatic events in Syria and on certain moral contortions in relation to these events.

Dear friends,

1. The greatest danger in Syria at present is anarchy, lack of security and the massive influx of weapons from all sides. Violence is, alas, the dominant language today and violence begets violence. In Syria, this danger is ensnaring and affecting all citizens, regardless of race, religion or political persuasion.
2. Christians, too, are exposed to this same danger, but they are the weak link. Defenceless, they are the group most liable to exploitation, extortion, kidnapping, torture and even elimination. But they are also the peace-making, unarmed group, calling for dialogue, reconciliation, peace and unity among all the sons and daughters of the same homeland. This is the rarest kind of talk that many do not wish to hear. We Christians, to whom was entrusted the Gospel of Peace, feel ourselves called to further it.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

RISU.ORG.UA - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill dedicated a church at the site of the Katyn massacre on July 15, saying that with the acknowledgment of the Soviet execution of thousands of Poles, “finally, the truth prevailed over lies”, Catholic Culture informs.

“The Katyn tragedy united Russians and Poles, and the two people should always remain brothers,” said Patriarch Kirill as he dedicated the Church of the Resurrection. He appealed for reconciliation between Poland and Russia.

The next day, July 16, Catholic Church officials in Poland held a press conference to express their enthusiasm about plans for Patriarch Kirill to visit Poland in August, in another step toward reconciliation. During his visit the Russian prelate will sign a joint statement with Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the president of the Polish Catholic bishops’ conference, urging Poles and Russians to put aside old enmity and forgive past offenses.    

In 1940, on orders approved by Stalin, Soviet troops shot many thousands of unarmed Polish military officers and civilians—the exact number is in dispute—and left them buried in the Katyn Forest. For many years the Soviet government denied the slaughter, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian leaders acknowledged the deaths—while emphasizing that many Russians had died at Katyn as well.

The first stone of the church was laid on April 7, 2010 by Vladimir Putin, the then Russian prime minister, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The church is complete with a set of building for social work with the local population, classes and a hall for meetings and conferences. There are also rooms for pilgrims, a refectory and auxiliary premises. The complex also includes a belfry and well.

More on Katyn Forest Masacre you can find on CIA web page.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - Coptic Christian leaders refused to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Egypt, charging that American policy is tilted toward support for Islamic power in that country.

Clinton strongly denied the complaint that Washington favors the Muslim Brotherhood: the political party that has dominated election returns since the “Arab Spring” uprising that ousted the Mubarak regime. She had hoped to meet with representatives of the Christian minority during her stay in Cairo.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham has issued “an urgent appeal for dialogue, reconciliation, peace” in Syria, begging for an end to a widening civil war and charging that outside forces are contributing to the escalation of violence.

The call for peace is “one of the rarest languages that many people do not want to hear,” the Melkite Patriarch said. But he added: “We Christians, to whom the Gospel of peace has been entrusted, feel called to promote it.”

Patriarch Gregory told the Fides news agency that Syria is threatened by “anarchy, insecurity, and the influx of weapons.” He blamed outside forces for aggravating the violence.

“There is no persecution, and Christians are not targeted as such, but are among the victims of chaos and lack of security,” the Catholic prelate said. He charged that propaganda about persecution has contributed to the rush toward civil war.

The Melkite Patriarch said that Catholics in Syria have worked steadily for reform without violence—that they have “raised their voices, demanding reforms, freedom, democracy, fight corruption, support for development, freedom of the world."