Lebanese Patriarch Won't Go With Pope To Syria

BEIRUT, May 2, 01 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch in Lebanon, said today he would not travel to Damascus with Pope John Paul II this week because of recent comments he has made regarding Syria's continuing presence in Lebanon.

The Maronite Catholic Church issued a statement saying, "It was the intention of the cardinal to participate in the festivities that would accompany the visit, if it was not for the unfortunate political significance attached."

Cardinal Sfeir in recent months has led a public campaign calling on Syria to remove its 35,000 soldiers from Lebanon and cease treating the country as a virtual fiefdom, controlling almost all aspects of Lebanon's politics, culture, and economics.

Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
2. mai 2001