Pope Benedict to visit Lebanon in September

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon from September 14 to 16, the Vatican announced on Sunday. The trip will mark the second to the region for Benedict, who visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 2009. He will hand over an apostolic exhortation to bishops from throughout the Middle East, the Vatican said. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fuad Twal, warned on Sunday in his Easter homily of the plight of Christians in the region, saying that the world was now “less concerned” about the minority. “I wish all of you a beautiful and holy feast of the Resurrection, in the knowledge that the events unfolding in the Middle East threaten our region, our people and our Christians, that add a sombreness to this Easter joy,” he said. Benedict will also bring a message of “peace in the Middle East,” he added. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati invited the pontiff to visit in November last year during a visit to the Vatican. Patriarch Gregory, who is headquartered in Damascus, heads the second-largest Catholic community in the Middle East, with some 700,000 followers in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan and Syria.