Arab Christians seek Pope’s encouragement, guidance

CWN - April 10, 2012

Welcoming the official announcement of Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to Lebanon, the vicar general of the Maronite Catholic Church told Vatican Radio that Lebanese Christians, as well as Christians elsewhere in the Arab world, will be seeking guidance on how to live as citizens in the midst of nations affected by the Arab Spring uprisings.

“The Arab world now badly needs a word of encouragement, a word of hope, and also some directives to the local Christians as to how to approach this new reality, which is not an easy thing to deal with because minorities are always in a difficult situation when it comes to a revolution in a country,” said Archbishop Paul El-Sayah.

“The Christian minorities as a whole have always been, not necessarily with the regime, but at least they have been as they should be: good law-abiding citizens, trying to live their lives quietly and doing what they can for themselves and for their country,” he continued. “So they may find themselves, and they do find themselves , in a bit of a difficult situation as to where to turn and how to go about approaching this new reality that is really causing a very sad havoc.”

“We expect this visit to inject a new dynamism, not only in the Lebanese society and Christians in Lebanon but specially I would say in the region,” he added.

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