Be peacemakers in Middle East, pope tells Christians in Lebanon

Source: Reuters

http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20120916&t=2&i=653433558&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE88F0NMS00

By Erika Solomon and Tom Heneghan

BEIRUT | Sun Sep 16, 2012 6:04am EDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pope Benedict urged Middle Eastern Christians on Sunday to work for peace and against "the grim trail of death and destruction" in the world, in a sermon delivered in Lebanon as civil war raged in neighboring Syria.

Benedict was speaking at an open-air Mass on Beirut's Mediterranean seafront attended by 350,000 worshippers, according to the organizers' estimate, and leaders of Lebanon's Christian and Muslim communities including from militant Shi'ite group Hezbollah.

Peace between warring factions and among the many religious groups in the Middle East has been a central theme of his visit to Lebanon, along with his call to Christians not to leave the region despite war and growing pressure from radical Islamists.

Lebanon, torn apart by a 1975-1990 sectarian civil war, is a religious mosaic of more than four million people whose Muslim majority includes Sunnis, Shi'ites, Alawites and Druze. About a third of the population is Christian, divided into more than a dozen churches.

"In a world where violence constantly leaves behind its grim trail of death and destruction, to serve justice and peace is urgently necessary," Benedict said at the Mass, praying for "Middle East servants of peace and reconciliation".



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