Posters welcoming Pope Benedict XVI decorate the Christian port city of Jounieh, north of Beirut, on September 12, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI called for peace in the Middle East based on "respect for legitimate differences" before his Lebanon trip this week as the conflict in neighbouring Syria rages. AFP PHOTO / PATRICK BAZ (Photo credit should read PATRICK BAZ/AFP/GettyImages)[/caption]With the Middle East’s largest Christian community, Lebanon is an ideal place from which to address the entire region.
Due to arrive on Friday, 14 September and stay for three days, Pope Benedict XVI's “pilgrimage of peace” comes in a time of war—uncertainty about the future, inflamed sectarian tensions and unspeakable violence.
In addition to his message of peace, the Pope will also present the final document of a 2010 meeting of Middle East bishops, which highlights the main concerns of Christians in the Middle East today, namely, victimization by the communities holding state power, and increasing emigration because of it.
As religious and ethnic diversity shrink in the Middle East, the more inward its communities will turn and the less of a chance there will be for reconciliation, compromise and peace.
This is in stark contrast to globalization, which compels us to engage with what was previously unknown. It is in this interaction, colored by the knowledge that the differences between us are becoming less acceptable, and wrongly so, that we will see more violence.
For this reason, we need leaders of all persuasions to reach out to one another as I expect the Pope to do while he is in Lebanon.
Among the statements I would like to hear from him are the following:
1. A condemnation of Christian leaders (under the authority of the Vatican) who are voicing their support for violent regimes, such as that of Bashar Al-Assad. People like the Maronite patriarch, Bishara Rai, for example, ought to be reigned in.
2. A condemnation of all statements and actions that serve to divide Middle East communities into religions and sects.
3. A condemnation of any government that allows crimes against any one religious group to go unpunished. Egypt and Saudi Arabia come to mind. With this, an expression of strong support for equality under the law.
4. A promise to do more to support the Christians of the Middle East to stay in their homelands. A strong signal in this regard would be to officially adopt the Kairos document—this means taking a stance against Israeli policy to cleanse Biblical Israel of non-Jews.
5. A commitment to increase the Vatican’s engagement with Muslim and Jewish leaders serving their communities in the Middle East.
6. And finally, a reaffirmation of the separation between religion and state in the context of representative democracy and the rule of law.
Public messages such as these are vital to communities suffering from violence and war. Yet, in the end, what will matter most is what regular people do in their everyday lives.
