"I follow with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East, where faint glimmers of solving the crises that trouble the region alternate with tensions and difficulties that threaten to bring more violence". After saying the Angelus, yesterday morning, the Pope spoke of the situation in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, "on the soil of which, as much yesterday as today, ‘men of different cultures and religions are called to live together to build a nation of dialogue and cohabitation and to concur to the common good". Sharing "the deep anxieties" expressed by the Patriarch, card. Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, and by the Maronite Bishops in the release issued last Wednesday, about such serious events, Benedict XVI asked "the Lebanese and their political leaders to have at heart only the good of the country and harmony between its communities, inspiring their commitment to that unity that is everyone’s responsibility and that demands patient and persevering efforts, along with a trustful and lasting dialogue". In addition, the Pope expressed the wish that "the international community may help find the urgent peaceful, fair solutions that are needed for Lebanon and for the whole of the Middle East, while I ask everyone to pray at this difficult time".
