Benedict XVI’s "deep emotion" for the wreck, in the archipelago of the Philippines, of a ferry boat that a few days ago was swept away by the Fengshen typhoon. "While I ensure my spiritual sympathy with the populations of the islands affected by the typhoon said the Pope yesterday after the Angelus prayer ,I raise a special prayer to the Lord for the victims of this new tragedy of the sea, in which many children too seem to be involved". Finally, words of hope, because Yaaqub da Ghazir Haddad, whose real name was Khalil, a priest of the order of the Capuchin Friars Minor and the founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Nuns of the Cross of Lebanon, was proclaimed blessed in Beirut yesterday. "In expressing my congratulations to his spiritual daughters said Benedict XVI , I wish with all my heart that the intercession of the blessed Abuna Yaaqub, combined with that of the Lebanese Saints, may make that beloved, tortured country, which has suffered too much, finally move towards a stable peace".
