Middle East, new appeal from the Pope for peace

“I am following with apprehension the continuation and worsening of violence in the Holy Land of which many civilians in the West Bank and Gaza were also victims – said the Pontiff – I make a heartfelt appeal to return to negotiating a fair political solutionfounded on equal dignity and equal rights of every human person and to reject new military actions and unilateral decisions, in particular those that violate the respect and status quo of the holy places of every religious faith”.

Then Lebanon. “Elijah Hoyek, patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites from 1899 to 1931, founder of the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, was beatified yesterday in Lebanon. He led the Maronite church for more than 30 years with great dedication and pastoral sensitivity: a man of dialogue and hope, an ecclesial, social and political point of reference, so much so that he was called ‘father of greater Lebanon’. The prayer and intercession of the new blessed always accompany the Maronite faithful throughout the world and obtain the gift of peace for the entire people of Lebanon, so dear to me“said Leo XIV.

Furthermore, “in the face of the devastating fires that have affected various locations in France and Spain in recent days”, the Pontiff expressed his closeness and invited “everyone to pray for the people affected and for the work of the rescuers”.