{"id":1080,"date":"2012-09-15T18:53:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-15T18:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/pope-encourages-culture-of-peace-in-lebanon\/"},"modified":"2012-09-15T18:53:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-15T18:53:00","slug":"pope-encourages-culture-of-peace-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/09\/pope-encourages-culture-of-peace-in-lebanon\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope encourages culture of peace in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Beirut, Lebanon, Sep 15, 2012 \/ 12:53 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In a speech to Lebanese leaders on Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI called for the strengthening of a \u201cculture of peace\u201d that is built upon respect for life, the family and religious liberty.<\/p>\n

\tIt is \u201cquite demanding\u201d to achieve peace, the Pope told a gathering of political, cultural and religious leaders at the Presidential Palace in the city of Baabda, Sept. 15.\u00a0Peace involves \u201crejecting revenge, acknowledging one\u2019s faults, accepting apologies without demanding them, and, not least, forgiveness. Only forgiveness, given and received, can lay lasting foundations for reconciliation and universal peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe praised Lebanon as a Middle Eastern country where Christianity and Islam \u201chave lived side by side for centuries.\u201d In Lebanon, he said,\u00a0 it is \u201cnot uncommon to see the two religions within the same family.\u201d If it is possible to have harmony within the same family, he asked, \u201cwhy should it not be possible at the level of the whole of society?\u201d<\/p>\n

\tPope Benedict had begun the second day of his apostolic visit with a private Mass at the Apostolic Nunciature of Harissa before being taken by car to the Presidential Palace. There he was greeted by the President of Lebanon, General Michel Sleiman. The two men then had a private meeting.<\/p>\n

\tFollowing further meetings with the President of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, and the country\u2019s Prime Minister, Nagib Mikati, the Pope then held discussions with the leaders of Lebanon\u2019s Sunni, Shiite and Alawite Muslim communities, as well as with leaders of the Druze community.<\/p>\n

\tThe Pope\u2019s subsequent address to civil society leaders concerned \u201cunderstanding and harmony between cultures and religions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tReligious coexistence and peace, he said, require a \u201cprofound transformation of mind and heart\u201d at the level of the individual in order to recover both \u201ca degree of clarity of vision and impartiality\u201d and \u201cthe profound meaning of the concepts of justice and the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWithout this, the Pope warned, \u201call our coveted human \u2018liberations\u2019 prove disappointing\u201d as they become \u201ccurtailed by our human narrowness, harshness, intolerance, favoritism and desire for revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn order to build this desired \u201cculture of peace,\u201d however, there has to be a constant need to \u201creturn to the wellsprings of our humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cA person comes into this world in a family, which is the first locus of humanization, and above all the first school of peace,\u201d he said, \u201cTo build peace, we need to look to the family, supporting it and facilitating its task, and in this way promoting an overall culture of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe effectiveness of our commitment to peace, proposed the Pope, depends on our understanding of human life.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIf we want peace, let us defend life!\u201d he urged.<\/p>\n

\tThis approach should lead society to reject not only war and terrorism \u201cbut every assault on innocent human life, on men and women as creatures willed by God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWherever this \u201ctruth of human nature is ignored or denied\u201d, he cautioned, it becomes impossible to respect the \u201cgrammar which is the natural law inscribed in the human heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSecuring peace for future generations requires that we \u201ceducate for peace in order to build a culture of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEducation in both the family and the school must focus on \u201cthose spiritual values which give the wisdom and traditions of each culture their ultimate meaning and power,\u201d the Pope exhorted. \u201cThe human spirit has an innate yearning for beauty, goodness and truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Pope\u2019s call for peace comes amid armed conflict in Lebanon\u2019s neighbor Syria between government and rebel forces. That conflict has at times reflected religious divisions.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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