News

Urge Cooperation and Joint Effort to Find Peace

BEIRUT, Lebanon, APRIL 4, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As Lebanon continues to suffer a power void -- the country hasn't had a president since last November -- the nation's bishops are calling on cooperation to fix the "miserable situation" facing the Lebanese people.

Following their monthly meeting led by Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the Maronite Catholic bishops issued a statement Wednesday calling for justice and peace.

The prelates noted that the Arab Summit held in Damascus -- not attended by their country at all, and slighted by other members of the Arab League -- "insisted upon the commitment toward the Arab initiative for the treatment of the Lebanese crisis. The fathers ask all parties, inside and outside, to cooperate to realize this initiative and drive Lebanon out of its trial."

The bishops lamented that the working class is struggling under the high cost of living and threatens to strike. This is a matter, they said, "which the government and all responsible sides should take seriously into consideration and treat with a responsible mind."

The Lebanese bishops decried a lack of justice from the state, noting problems with the government ignoring court rulings against it in a few cases, as well as a failure to bring justice to conflicts over land and water.

"The critical circumstance Lebanon is going through requires from all Lebanese cooperation and joined efforts to overcome the ordeal and face it with a strong will," the bishops affirmed. "The Lebanese must ask God to enable them to get through this ordeal by finding the right solution."

Benedict XVI prayed for Lebanon during his Feb. 17 Angelus address.

The Pope said on that occasion that together with the Maronite patriarch "and all the Lebanese bishops, I ask you to join with my supplication of Our Lady of Lebanon, that she encourage the citizens of that dear nation, and the politicians in particular, to work without ceasing for reconciliation, for a truly sincere dialogue, for peaceful co-existence and for the good of a homeland deeply felt as common."

Syria and Iran support the Lebanese opposition led by Hezbollah, while Saudi Arabia and several other Arab states, as well as the West, back the ruling majority.

Maronite Catholics make up the largest percentage of Lebanon's Christian population, which is itself about 39% of the entire population of the nation.