Though overshadowed by the protests triggered by the ignorant and ridiculing portrayal of Islam, the Pope went ahead with a planned trip to Lebanon, originally and without taking sides for the seated regime or the rebellion to urge peaceful resolution to the civil war in Syria. Neighbouring Lebanon has taken in tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the violence, and there are fears that the conflict may spread.
As Benedict XVI reaffirmed to his audience, however, Lebanon has struggled to become a model nation, recapturing the harmony and hospitality that was thrown into turmoil with independence and its own civil war, pulled in different directions by other regional players. Much of the crowds that thronged to see the Pope, I am sure was comprised to a large extent by the forty-percent Christian population that the country hosts, but the government declared a public holiday over the weekend for the Pope’s visit so more people might have the chance to see him. Lebanon also hosts the spectrum of Islamic sects and traditions, who by turns, have also been targets of intolerance. The message of peace, understanding and empathy, I think, was not restricted to any one demographic of the audience and takes on a more urgent meaning in light of other, reviled and impugned embassies.
