Francis, the Pope that loved Lebanon and defended it till the very end

Ya Libnan

28-04-2025

Pope Francis loved Lebanon, always defended it and called it : ' A treasure trove of civilization and spiritual life, which has radiated wisdom and culture throughout the centuries'
By: Dr. Naji M. Qazili
He, who came from 'the ends of the earth,' was the most aware of the essentiality and existence of Lebanon, with their one hypostatic union and their interdependence… of all those who wear the name of Lebanon, who delight in the cloak of superiority by feigning weeping over it. These are the ones who, in their domineering positions, were the ones who most often used his word to expel them from this Lebanon that he knew and loved… while they turned it into a den of criminals and thieves.
The secret of Lebanon and the essence of its existence are: Faith and thought. They are: being and subjectivity, bestowal and manifestation, given from above and perfection from here. Through them, brokenness is overcome, from the cry of eternity to the stillness of eternity.
That is the Lebanon of the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis. And in the climactic pains, he is the highest act of confessing him as a creed.
I said: Faith? Here it is, in a message to all Lebanese, the birth of the year 2020, testifies: 'The greatness of the cedar in the Holy Bible is that it is a symbol of steadfastness, stability, and protection. It is a symbol of the righteous who, through his roots in the Lord, reflects beauty and happiness, and in old age he rises high and bears abundant fruit.' He cites: 'I appeal to the political and spiritual leaders, borrowing this passage from one of the pastoral letters of Patriarch Elias Hoyek: 'You, the authorities (…), you, the judges of the earth, you, the representatives of the people, who live on behalf of the people, (…), you are obligated, in your official capacity and in accordance with your responsibilities, to pursue the public interest. Your time is not devoted to your own interests, and your work is not for you, but for the state and the country that you represent.'
I said thought? Here he is, on the day dedicated to Lebanon in the Apostolic See, July 1, 2021, he cites and bears witness: 'This is the cry of a woman who met Jesus, specifically from the regions of Tyre and Sidon. She pleaded with him with great anxiety and insistence: 'Help me, O Lord!' Today this cry has become the cry of an entire people… and we repeat the hope-filled words of the poet Gibran Khalil Gibran: Behind a curtain In the darkest night, there is dawn awaiting us… Inspired by the poet's words, let us acknowledge that there is no other way to reach dawn than through the night… Together… we can bring light to dark places.'
Yes! Not sojourning in Lebanon, Francis, but rather emulating the permanence of the firmness of self-knowledge. Decisiveness in the most critical and fateful eras of formation and decision-making.
And God in all this?
Is Pope Francis absent from God?
Here he is, on the Vatican's Lebanon Day, confessing with faith: 'We never tire of praying to heaven and asking for the peace that people on earth are unable to achieve. Let us seek it with urgency for Lebanon, this beloved country, a treasure trove of civilization and spiritual life, which has radiated wisdom and culture throughout the centuries.'
And here he is, on this very day, a believer confessing: 'A verse that God once said in the Holy Bible, echoes among us today, as if it were an answer to our cry of prayer. These are a few words with which God declares that his thoughts are 'thoughts of peace and not of affliction' (Jeremiah 29:11)… In times of affliction, we want to affirm with all our strength that Lebanon is, and must remain, a project of peace… Enough of using Lebanon and the Middle East for interests and gains External!'
Today, today, as our earth bids him farewell as he crosses over to the Kingdom of Heaven, we realize why he raised on our altars the testimony of martyrs of faith in blood: the two Abbadite fathers, Leonard Melki and Thomas Saleh, and the example of the example of the martyr-witness, the great scholar Patriarch Estephan Douaihy.
Lebanon-Francis: Faith and thought. God incarnate and the human being of divinity. The existent-exception and the exception-existent. The act of contemplating the essence-existence.
El Nashra , translated from Arabic