It was reported in Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper:
Yesterday’s announcement of the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Lebanon next June represented the only window of light in the deep Lebanese darkness, following the political class continued to bet the people and gambled the fate of the country in the bottom of Hell.
The announcement came following the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, met the Papal Ambassador to Lebanon, Monsignor Joseph Spitri, who delivered a written message to him informing him that His Holiness Pope Francis had decided to visit Lebanon next June, provided that the date, program and date of the official announcement would be determined, in coordination between Lebanon and the Holy See. Apostolic.
Aoun expressed his happiness for His Holiness the Pope to accept the invitation that he renewed for him to visit Lebanon during their last meeting in the Vatican on Monday, March 21, noting that the Lebanese have been waiting for this visit for some time, to express their gratitude for the stances of His Holiness towards Lebanon and its people, and for the initiatives he took. And the prayers he offered for peace and stability, and solidarity with his people in the difficult circumstances they are going through.
A well-informed source explained to “Nidaa Al-Watan” that “the visit of the Supreme Pontiff, which was submitted to June instead of next November, comes between two important entitlements: the first is the parliamentary elections and what will result from them in determining the sizes within the parliament, and the presidential election, for which the constitutional deadline begins. On August 31 next, that is, two months before the end of the presidential term, and therefore the visit is to confirm that Lebanon must be organized according to the constitution and leave forever the nightmare of a vacuum in any location.
The source pointed out, “The importance of the visit comes in light of the trends towards cooling all the regional fronts from Syria to Yemen to the Iranian Gulf front through the continuation of the Iranian-Saudi dialogue, leading to the Iranian nuclear agreement, which the parties are close to returning to, therefore; the importance lies in not being Solutions and settlements in the region at the expense of Lebanon.
The source pointed out that “there are files strongly pressing on Lebanon and threatening the fate of the entity, represented by the economic, financial and institutional collapse, and the file of the displaced Syrians, following the Vatican had previously informed Lebanon of its concern regarding the existence of a European and international desire to ignore this file, and the President of the Republic in his recent visit to the Vatican He heard clearly, as he had heard before, that there is a link for the return of the displaced to a comprehensive political solution in Syria, which means that the displaced are using a card that accelerates the comprehensive collapse in Lebanon, following its losses since 2011 exceeded $45 billion due to the Syrian displacement.
“The Pope’s visit will constitute a motivating factor and moral pressure on the Lebanese political forces to complete the presidential elections and not enter into a vacuum, because the vacuum this time will have catastrophic results in light of the redrawing of influence maps in the region,” the source stressed.
