ISRAEL: A Lebanese church leader who accompanied Pope Francis on his first ever visit to the Holy Land, meets exiled Christians in Israel

Record ID: 398586

  • Title: ISRAEL: A Lebanese church leader who accompanied Pope Francis on his first ever visit to the Holy Land, meets exiled Christians in Israel
  • Date: 2nd June 2014
  • Summary: KUFR NAUM, ISRAEL (JUNE 1, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MASS
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: People,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVABYBZSIN7E38DYVJ3FNLWF8VDB
  • Story Text: A Lebanese church leader who defied warnings from the powerful Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement by accompanying Pope Francis on his recent Holy Land visit has pledged to help dispossessed Christians in Israel.
    Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai's was welcomed by two Catholic communities in Israel: Arabs expelled from their Galilee village by Israeli forces during the 1948 war of Israel's founding and former members of a pro-Israeli Lebanese militia now living in the Jewish state.
    Having visited Tel Aviv's mainly Arab district of Jaffa whilst in the country, Rai continued on to Kufr Naim where he conducted mass, before moving on to the Haifa area where he held an additional sermon.
    Maronite Christians were happy that he came:
    "It's a nice feeling to have your Pope come visit you after a long absence. It gives you a feeling that they really care about your demands. It's true they are patriarchs outside Israel but they support you and are always around you. Their gaze is toward you from the outside," said Haifa resident Nasim.
    Other believers said it was important to have sectarian unity among all the Arab communities in Israel.

    "After this visit and the unification of the sects... not only Christians participated in the procession in Acre but Muslims as well. Druze also participated. I feel there will be peace. First of all, prayer is the most important thing for peace. God willing peace will come soon", said Carlos Zaknon.
    Israel and Lebanon are in a formal state of war, and Hezbollah warned Rai of "negative repercussions" if he went ahead with his planned trip.
    The patriarch nevertheless remained in Israel after Pope Francis's pilgrimage ended.
    Father Yousef, who also lives in Haifa, commended Rai's gesture.

    "His Holiness is opening a new path for the role of all the patriarchs in the East to be encouraged and not take into account political affairs. First they need to take into account their role and responsibility as patriarchs and carry the concerns of their people and sons. To overcome everything that may stop them from bringing to life this message."
    Maronites follow an Eastern rite of the Roman Catholic church. There are around 900,000 Maronites living in Lebanon, making up about a quarter of the population. About 11,000 Maronites live in northern Israel.
    jrs/mm/jrc
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