Vatican City, Sep 4, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Lebanese Catholics at a Mass in Beirut Thursday that Pope Francis is close to them, and praying for them, during their time of suffering.
“It is with great joy that I find myself among you today, in the blessed land of Lebanon, to express to you the closeness and solidarity of the Holy Father and, through him, of the whole Church,” the Vatican’s Secretary of State said Sept. 3.
Parolin visited Beirut Sept. 3-4 as the representative of Pope Francis, a month after the city experienced a devastating blast which killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands, and left thousands without a home.
The pope has called for Sept. 4 to be a universal day of prayer and fasting for the country.
Cardinal Parolin celebrated Mass for around 1,500 Maronite Catholics at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, a major pilgrimage site in the hills of Harissa, north of Beirut, on the evening of Sept. 3.
“Lebanon has suffered too much and the past year has been the scene of several tragedies affecting the Lebanese people: the acute economic, social and political crisis which continues to rock the country, the coronavirus pandemic which has worsened the situation and most recently, a month ago, the tragic explosion of the port of Beirut which ripped open the capital of Lebanon and caused terrible misery,” Parolin said in his homily.
“But the Lebanese are not alone. We accompany them all spiritually, morally and materially.”
Parolin also met with Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, a Catholic, in the morning of Sept. 4.
Cardinal Parolin brought the president greetings from Pope Francis and said that the pope was praying for Lebanon, according to Archbishop Paul Sayah, who is responsible for external relations for the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch.
Parolin told President Aoun that Pope Francis “wants you to know that you are not alone in these difficult times that you are experiencing,” Sayah told CNA.
The Secretary of State will conclude his visit with a meeting with Maronite bishops, including Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, the Maronite Catholic patriarch of Antioch, during lunch Sept. 4.
Speaking via phone from Lebanon the morning of Sept. 4, Sayah said that the patriarchs have a deep appreciation and gratitude to the Holy Father for his closeness “in such difficult times.”
“I’m sure today [Patriarch Rai] will express those sentiments to Cardinal Parolin face-to-face,” he noted.
Commenting on the Aug. 4 Beirut explosion, Sayah said “it’s a huge disaster. The suffering of the people… and the destruction, and the winter is coming and people will certainly not have the time to rebuild their homes.”
Archbishop Sayah added, however, that “one of the beautiful things about this experience is the influx of people volunteering to help.”
“Young people especially have really flocked in the thousands into Beirut to help, and also the international community which has been present offering assistance in various ways. It’s a good sign of hope,” he said.
Cardinal Parolin also met with religious leaders at the Maronite Cathedral of St. George in Beirut.
“We are still shocked by what happened a month ago,” he said. “We pray that God may render us strong to care for every person who was affected and to accomplish the task of rebuilding Beirut.”
“As I arrived here, the temptation was to say that I would have liked to meet you in different circumstances. I said, ‘no,’ however! The God of love and mercy is also the God of history and we believe that God wants us to accomplish our mission of caring for our brothers and sisters in this present time, with all its difficulties and challenges.”
In his homily, delivered in French with Arabic translation, Cardinal Parolin said the Lebanese people can identify with Peter in the fifth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel.
After fishing all night and catching nothing, Jesus asks Peter “to hope against all hope,” the Secretary of State noted. “After objecting, Peter obeyed and said to the Lord: ‘but at your word I will let go of the nets… And having done so, he and his companions caught a great multitude of fish.’”
“It is the Word of the Lord which changed the situation of Peter and it is the Word of the Lord which calls today the Lebanese to hope against all hope and to move forward with dignity and pride,” Parolin encouraged.
He also said that “the Word of the Lord is addressed to the Lebanese through their faith, through Our Lady of Lebanon and through Saint Charbel and all the saints of Lebanon.”
Lebanon will be reconstructed not only on a material level, but also on the level of public affairs, according to the secretary of state. “We have every hope that Lebanese society will be based more on rights, duties, transparency, collective responsibility and the service of the common good.”
“The Lebanese will walk this path together,” he said. “They will rebuild their country, with the help of friends and with a spirit of understanding, dialogue and coexistence that has always distinguished them.”
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I suppose there’s no point in asking why, if the judges were selected in July, they weren’t formally nominated until three months later. If the documentary on the Rupnik case hadn’t been released last month, we’d probably still be waiting.
Two weeks until October 27th, the exact day when Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations. Will the trial start by the time the two-year mark is reached? I have been searching and haven’t found any news about that.
Exactly. And Catholic News Agency failed to do basic diligence and mention the July 3 press conference. This should be a wake up call for those who still think Leo is not Francis 2.0, including in the cover up and protection of abusers. It’s beyond doubt this is being deliberately slow-walked. The loophole mentioned on July 3 of saying they weren’t officially appointed on paper must have been deliberate tactic. As a canonist, the handling of the case defies belief, including this latter trick- make a point of announcing that judges were selected, but instead of just appointing them then, or waiting until the official appointment to make any announcement, we’re told they’re “selected,” but tell us three months later they were not actually “appointed” until now. Of course, Leo is suspect of having protected abusers as a bishop and superior. Rupnik perhaps knows where some bodies are buried with respect to Leo as well as much of the corrupt figures at the holy see that are still there from Francis’ time.
Mary E,
“If the documentary on the Rupnik case hadn’t been released last month, we’d probably still be waiting.”
Than you for mentioning it; now I am aware of the documentary and watched already the interview with its author; she is a Catholic and she made a point that she is not lashing the Church (for which she has a huge respect); she is concerned with the inhumane system.
I know how important it is for the victims of that kind of abuse to be heard. Now they are heard in the most effective way and the knowledge that the lid is off will provide them with some relief (the worse aspect of such an abuse is a suffocating silence/silencing). This documentary will be of help to other victims, religious and lay women, not just of Rupnik.
My only grief is that if you are right and the Vatican moved only because of the documentary = publicity it means they do not care about anyone but themselves and own image. Of course, the lack of actions/cover up of Rupnik already stated “we do not care” but somehow now it is even worse.
“One year later, the Vatican declared Rupnik to be in a state of “latae sententiae” excommunication for absolving an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment. His excommunication was lifted by Pope Francis after two weeks.”
And this in microcosm is the Francine pontificate. What possible reason would there be for such extraordinary Pontifical clemency? Asking for former Archbishop Vigano and Bishop Strickland.
A day late and a dollar short.
More farce from the pontifical theater of “the-church-for-the-decapitated-Body.”
Just to make sure I’m understanding correctly. Bishop Strickland was immediately, unceremoniously, and spitefully removed from his position because he dared to call Francis out on his moral and spiritual compromises. But the Rupnik case is still being litigated. Challenge the pope and you’re out. Commit repeated spiritual and sexual abuses, and we’ll hope that it goes away if we drag it out long enough. Got it.
Athanasius: The truth is we have a morally bankrupt Catholic hierarchy. We know justice will be carried out by the Perfectly Just Judge. In the meantime, the Body of Christ is being tortured daily.
Justice delayed is justice denied. Rupnik’s victims have been denied justice.
Ya think this will have a just verdict anytime before the Second Coming? Yadayadayada…
Given the number of sexual abuses cases, it seems almost risible that Rome has to go searching like Diogenes to constitute a panel of judges at the trial level to hear a case. That’s like America saying, “darn, there was a crime! Maybe we should hire some judges?!?!’ This whole procedure, if abnormal to accommodate Rupnik, is laughable. If normal for the way Rome handles such cases, it is ludicrous. Somebody might start teaching the canon lawyers what most of the integral judicial systems of the world already know, because these “canonical” procedures don’t pass the common sense smell test.