A plea. After his visit to Bahrain, Pope Francis on Sunday launched an “appeal” to cooperate with Lebanese politicians, as the country, in the grip of an unprecedented crisis, entered a period of presidential vacancy. “I take this moment to appeal to Lebanese politicians: ‘put aside your personal interests, look at the country and come to an agreement'”, he declared during a press conference on board. of the plane bringing him back from Bahrain.
“I don’t mean to ‘save’ Lebanon, because we are not saviors. But please: support Lebanon, help it so that Lebanon gets out of this bad slope. May Lebanon regain its greatness”, he continued, believing that “there are means” for this. Lebanon “is so generous and it suffers”, added François, expressing his “pain” in the face of the pangs of the country, where 80% of the population now lives below the poverty line.
“First God, then the homeland, after interests,” added the Argentine pontiff on his return from this four-day visit to the Gulf kingdom. However, one of the major obstacles to joint action by Lebanese politicians lies precisely in religious conflicts…