By Deborah Castellano Lubov
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has begun his five-day visit to the Middle Eastern nation of Lebanon, as had been pre-announced on the Vatican Secretariat of State’s Terza Loggia account on the social platform ‘X,’ where he will be meeting authorities, Church representatives, and visiting humanitarian structures of the Order of Malta.
The visit kicked off today, Jun 23, with meetings with the authorities, the Maronite Patriarchate, the local Church, Patriarchs and religious leaders.
Tomorrow, Jun 24, the Vatican Secretary of State will celebrate Mass on the Solemnity of St John the Baptist, Patron Saint of the Order of Malta, in the presence of the Order’s Ambassador to Lebanon, H.E. Maria Emerica Cortese, and State officials.
Cardinal Parolin will depart Lebanon on Jun 27 after visiting some of the humanitarian centres run by the Order’s Lebanese Association and participating in some charitable activities.
Seeking institutional solution to crisis
“For some time,’ Cardinal Parolin recently said on the sidelines of an event in the Italian Senate, ‘I had been invited by the local Order of Malta to visit their works,” which, he noted, “are of great social impact in a situation of total crisis.”
“The Lebanese crisis,” he acknowledged, “is an all-round crisis,” and, “certainly there, we will also try to work a little, as the Holy See’s diplomacy has always done, to help find an institutional solution.”
Order of Malta on frontlines
For over 70 years, the Order of Malta has been on the frontlines, providing basic healthcare and social support services to the population,” read a statement from the Order.
Since 2020, the Order has focused its commitment on ‘agro-humanitarian’ projects to guarantee food security, promote economic recovery, and support the most vulnerable sectors of the population in Lebanon.
The Order of Malta manages six Agro-Humanitarian Centres and the current coverage of agricultural land covers 69.26% of Lebanon’s territory (about 158 square kilometres), with the aim of reaching 75% by the end of this year.
In the country where 80% of the population lives in poverty and growing insecurity, especially with the eruption of the war in Holy Land, this is a way of responding to the serious economic crisis.
Benedetta Capelli contributed to this article – Vatican News
